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Salt Lake Potash set to release BFS with markets ready to assess results

Last updated: 08:19 11 Oct 2019 AEDT, First published: 17:30 10 Oct 2019 AEDT

Snapshot

The company is expected to return to trading today with news on completion of feasibility study work for the Lake Way SOP Project in Western Australia’s Goldfields.

Salt Lake Potash Ltd - Salt Lake Potash likely to release news on BFS completion with markets ready to assess results

The company is focused on building a sustainable sulphate of potash (SOP) project in Western Australia. 

Its bankable feasibility study for the Lake Way SOP project is expected this month. 

An earlier scoping study for Lake Way judged its SOP cost as the lowest in the world. 

This is an exciting time for Salt Lake Potash with the imminent release of the BFS and continued rapid development of the project.

Salt Lake Potash managing director and CEO Tony Swiericzuk

What does Salt Lake Potash do?

Salt Lake Potash Ltd (ASX:SO4) (LON:SO4) (FRA:W1D) (OTCMKTS:WHELF) is an Australian sulphate of potash company at the feasibility study level.

The Perth company is wrapping up a bankable feasibility study (BFS) for its flagship Lake Way Sulphate of Potash Project in WA’s northern Goldfields.

Salt Lake hopes to be an SOP project pioneer in Australia and recently completed the acquisition of further Lake Way project ground ahead of the imminent release of results from its BFS.

The company’s securities are expected to return to trading with Australian market regulator ASX Ltd (ASX:ASX) this morning.

Who leads Salt Lake Potash?

The company is led by managing director and chief executive officer Tony Swiericzuk, a mining engineer who led Fortescue Metals Group Limited’s (ASX:FMG) (FRA:FVJ) (OTCMKTS:FSUGY) (OTCMKTS:FSUMF) Christmas Creek mine operation for five years.

Swiericzuk oversaw construction, commissioning and ramp-up to 60 million tonnes a year during his tenure on the northwest WA project.

He previously headed up FMG port operations at northwest site Port Hedland for two years and also managed its ramp-up to 60 million tonnes a year.

Salt Lake is chaired by accountant Ian Middlemas who was previously a senior group executive for a decade at Newmont Goldcorp Corp (NYSE:NEM) (FRA:NMM) (TSE:NGT) (SWX:NEM) buy-up Normandy Mining Group (ASX:NDY).

What does Salt Lake Potash own?

The key asset is the Salt Lake Potash Ltd (ASX:SO4) (LON:SO4) (FRA:W1D) (OTCMKTS:WHELF) in the northern Goldfields district of WA.

Salt Lake’s CEO Swiericzuk was appointed last year and has led the company through a series of fundraising drives towards its end goal of taking results from a bankable feasibility study to financiers.

The enthusiastic corporate leader hopes to see Salt Lake Potash “become the first Australian commercial producer of SOP in a global sector with outstanding potential.”

Lake Way is in WA’s Northern Goldfields area near Wiluna, a town featured in Phillip Noyce’s award-winning film Rabbit-Proof Fence.

The company wrapped up the acquisition of tenements from its Wiluna neighbour Blackham Resources Ltd (ASX:BLK) this week after meeting the conditions of a buy deal.

Salt Lake’s acquisition of key tenements has given it security of interest as it prepares to unveil the BFS results.

The company noted the Lake Way sales transaction included water and power rights and brought it “certainty over tenure, timing and capital expenditure required to bring the Lake Way Sulphate of Potash Project near Wiluna in Western Australia’s northern goldfields into production.”

What are Salt Lake Potash’s next steps?

The company’s next step is to update the market on completion of its BFS and share results from the study.

Salt Lake CEO Swiericzuk confirmed this week the BFS was close to release, saying on Tuesday “This is an exciting time for Salt Lake Potash with the imminent release of the BFS and continued rapid development of the project.”

After the company releases results from its BFS to the market it is expecting to share these with financiers, investors and capital markets.

Swiericzuk is expecting the next 12 months will be pivotal for the company as it hopes to jump from study work to development.

Salt Lake has envisaged a start to construction of a processing plant in the period and expects it will also seek final permitting approvals from relevant government agencies.

Inflection points

  • Release of bankable feasibility study results and summaries
  • Market and financier analysis of BFS financial metrics
  • Capital markets reception of feasibility study results and project economics
  • Funding and development milestones
  • Refinements to feasibility study models
  • Processing plant completion
  • Revenues and ramp-ups
  • Key transactions, including mergers and acquisitions
  • Milestones from key competitors and SOP peers in Australia and abroad
  • SOP market sentiment and the state of the mining industry and capital markets
  • Profitability and scale-up

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