Salt Lake Potash Ltd (ASX:SO4) has begun pumping high-grade brine from the Williamson Pit into a commercial-scale Sulphate of Potash (SOP) brine evaporation pond at its Lake Way Project in WA.
This follows completion of construction of the Williamson Ponds with pond dimensions of 2.5 kilometres by 0.5 kilometres.
These ponds have been designed to receive 1.2GL of high-grade SOP brine from the Williamson pit with de-watering underway and scheduled for completion in the September quarter of 2019.
Precipitation of salts started immediately upon pumping into the evaporation pond.
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Salt Lake Potash chief executive officer Tony Swiericzuk said: “It is very pleasing to see the high-grade Williamson pit brines being pumped into the commercial-scale SOP evaporation ponds.
“It’s a real milestone in the development of our Lake Way project and a first in the development of an exciting industry for Western Australia.
“Importantly, construction of the Williamson ponds has provided the team with invaluable data on both methodology and costs, which will feed into the BFS that is now well advanced and due to be completed during the September quarter.”
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Precipitation of salts started to form upon pumping the brine into the evaporation pond.
The company will now be able to harvest first sales from the Williamson ponds which are expected to be utilised as initial feedstock for processing.
Having recently completed a scoping study, Salt Lake Potash is well underway with a bankable feasibility study and is targeting completion in quarter-three 2019.