Green light for SOP plant
KALIUM Lakes will begin development of its 100pc-owned Beyondie Sulphate of Potash (SOP) Project located 160km south east of Newman in WA, making it one of only a handful of primary SOP producers globally.
The move follows the successful completion of the company’s A$72m capital raise in August, in conjunction with the loan facilities to be provided by KfW IPEX-Bank (about $102m) and Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility ($74m), plus a working capital facility from Westpac Banking Corporation ($15m).
The Board’s Final Investment Decision allows the acceleration of activities from the current approved early works program to full scale construction.
Company chairman Mal Randall said the decision was the most significant in Kalium Lakes’ relatively short history and represented the culmination of an enormous amount of “unremitting hard work by our close-knit team and key technology partners here in Australia and in Germany”.
“This milestone effectively triggers the use of the company’s financial capacity, to transform our core objective of becoming Australia’s first commercial Sulphate of Potash producer into reality,” he said.
“The world-class Beyondie SOP Project is now on track to join only a handful of existing primary SOP production facilities that are sparsely found around the world.”
Kalium Lakes is also happy to have the support and consent of the traditional owners from the Gingirana and Birriliburu people, who undertook a Welcome To Country ceremony on site as part of the company’s strong relationship with local indigenous communities.
Following the ceremony, guests were able to view the recently completed infrastructure and facilities, as well as gaining an appreciation of the scale of the preparations for the brine extraction and evaporation pond system at the Beyondie site.
KLL managing director Brett Hazelden said the company was formed only five years ago as a private company and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange just before Christmas, 2016.
“To be able to have the support of the traditional owners over this period has been key to the success of the project and we look forward to everyone’s involvement during the coming decades,” he said.
“Kalium Lakes looks forward to Australian and New Zealand farmers being able to utilise our SOP towards the end of 2020, with full production capacity being achieved in 2021.”