Modern Mining September 2022

The Kola project will take 40 months to construct. The company has inked a heads of agreement for the construction of the Kola Potash Project with the Chinese construction and engineering com pany and expects to receive an EPC proposal from the Dubai-based contractor by the end of August. Project construction is anticipated to commence early next year. According to the definitive feasibility study, the Kola project will take 40 months to construct with construction completion scheduled for 2026. Targeting a low-cost producer status, the com pany will produce granular Muriate of Potash (MoP) at a minimum quality of 95,3 % Potassium Chloride, in line with international standards. The project is designed as a conventional mechanised underground operation with shallow shaft access, producing 2,2 mtpa of MoP over an initial 31-year life. “The Kola project offers attractive fundamentals as it is a shallow high-grade orebody with a low level of ore impurity (0.15 % insoluble level) and a low carbon-footprint given that ore produced will be

transported via conveyor-belt directly to the process ing plant. When compared to most potash projects, which are located at a depth of at least 1 km below surface, the Kola project with shaft depths of 270 m offers an appealing proposition. A further advantage is that it is designed to deliver product efficiently to the export market and negates the need for a tail ing’s storage facility, thereby having a smaller mining footprint,” Sampson explains. Ore mined from the underground operation will be transported to the process plant via an overland conveyor about 25 km long and, once processed, the MoP will be conveyor transported 11 km to the marine export facility ahead of being shipped to its final destination. “Kola Potash is located close to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, allowing for an easy and cost effective final product delivery to African and South American markets.” For the largely subsistence driven community surrounding the project, the Kola project will bring significant benefits, notwithstanding employment opportunities when the mine is in production and employing in excess of five hundred employees. It will also provide considerable revenue injection into the economy through the establishment of indirect businesses supporting the mining community. “The Kola project will add to the country’s eco nomic prosperity via taxes and royalties paid to the RoC government, which already has a 10% stake in the project,” concludes Sampson. 

Kore Potash is an advanced stage mineral exploration and development.

Almost 95% of the world’s potash produced is used in farming to fertilise food supply.

September 2022  MODERN MINING  23