New Results Highlight Carnegie SOP Project's Prospectivity

Kalium Lakes (ASX:KLL) and BCI Minerals (ASX:BCI) have released brine analysis results from an initial auger sampling program at their Carnegie sulfate of potash (SOP) project.
The companies, which control the Western Australia-based project via a joint venture, said the 64-auger-hole program has returned potassium grades of up to 4,790 mg/L, equivalent to a SOP grade of 10,674 mg/L. The holes are located in tenement E38/2995.
SOP is not a naturally occurring mineral, and is created using resource-intensive production processes. As a result, SOP is a more expensive product compared to muriate of potash (MOP), another type of potash fertilizer. SOP also commands a smaller share of the potash market than MOP. 

Brine samples were also collected from Carnegie. They will be used for evaporation and processing bench-scale testwork that is scheduled to start later in January and will then continue for a period of several months. About 120 kilometers of geophysical traverses were completed as well, identifying the “ likely continuation of a palaeochannel from Lake Wells north through the [Carnegie] tenure.”
The joint venture partners have identified exploration targets along the interpreted palaeochannel, and have planned for drill testing and further exploration to start in the coming months.
BCI Managing Director Alwyn Vorster commented in a Thursday (January 11) press release that “Carnegie offers multiple technical and commercial synergy points with BCI’s Mardie Salt Project and forms part of BCI’s diversification into agricultural and industrial commodities.”
The firms noted that a scoping study program at Carnegie is “well advanced,” with hydrogeological desktop study works completed and environmental and regulatory approval requirements identified. They are targeting a completion date of April 2018 for the scoping study, and believe the work completed to date confirms Carnegie’s potential scale and prospectivity.
“The prospectivity of the Carnegie system is now evident and these results confirm its status as a significant second project in our portfolio, although it has received little recognition from the market to date,” said Kalium Lakes Managing Director Brett Hazelden.
He added, “[t]his project also provides a growth opportunity to expand from our initial development of the Beyondie Sulphate Of Potash Project and will utilise all of the synergies and learnings that go with it.”
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Shaw, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.