Modern Mining February 2021

operations in the future without the requirement to re-permit. Graham Clarke, Emmerson’s CEO, tells Modern Mining that the granting of the mining licence is a significant milestone for the project and obviously key to the project progressing through financing, construction and into production. The licence cov- ers the whole of the mineral resource area that the project has and gives the company exclusive rights to mine the mineral. “It is particularly important that the licence covers not only the portion of the resource in our current mine plan (giving a mine life of 19 years from less than 50% of the resource) but the remaining resource area, enabling us to increase the mine life with the licence we now have. I would like to add that the authorities have been extremely supportive through the process and fully recognise the substantial eco- nomic benefits the Khemisset project will bring to the local area, region and Morocco at large,” he says. Major milestone Clarke says this is another major milestone in the development of what is to become the first large scale potash mine in Africa. “We are grateful to the Ministry that provided considerable support, greatly assisting us throughout the application process,” he says. “By producing up to 800 000 tonnes of pot- ash per year, for export or domestic consumption, Khemisset is forecast to deliver considerable eco- nomic benefits to our stakeholders, including an anticipated 1% increase to the national tax revenues of Morocco. At the local level, the benefit to our stakeholders is even more important, with an esti- mated 40% increase to the local area GDP,” he adds. “We are all extremely proud to have achieved this most recent milestone, with the help of an expert team focused on putting this potash mine into pro- duction. I want to thank our hosts in Morocco and all the key members of the Emmerson team who have worked hard to deliver this well ahead of our original timeline.” The company continues to make strong progress with its financing discussions, including engagement with several potential equity funding partners. Overview of mining licence The mining licence covers an area of 558 km² and all of the current mineral resource estimate area, which has a global resource of over 500-million tonnes. Of the mineral resource estimate, only 43% is included in the current 19-year mine life, identified in the fea- sibility study. Licencing the expanded area was an important strategic decision for the company as it allows for future expansions or mine life extensions under the current permit. The grant process consisted of converting 22 research permits, including the already fused

research permit into a single mining licence and required detailed submissions confirming the min- eral resources and viability of the exploitation plan. The company retains the right to explore in the investigation permits covering the highly prospec- tive ground around the mining licence, in particular the extensions to the north east of the project. The mining licence is valid for an initial 10-year period, which is renewable in 10-year increments until the resource is exhausted and provides exclusive rights to extraction. Next step Clarke tells Modern Mining that this year will see several more milestones for Emmerson and the proj- ect. Following the granting of the mining licence, the company needs to secure its environmental licence (the application was submitted in Q4 2020 and is currently going through the formal process) which is expected in the first half of the year. In parallel, Emmerson will continue to engage with potential strategic partners/investors and is work- ing on the debt funding to ensure it has a financing

The company retains the right to explore in the investigation permits covering the highly prospective ground around the mining licence.

February 2021  MODERN MINING  13