29th Apr 2016 07:00
29 April 2016
| AIM/ASX Code: SO4
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SALT LAKE POTASH LIMITED March 2016 Quarterly Report
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The Board of Salt Lake Potash Limited (the Company or Salt Lake) is pleased to present its quarterly report for the period ending 31 March 2016.
Highlights:
Expanded Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at Lake Wells
Ø Following completion of a deeper aircore drilling program in late 2015, the Company expanded the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at Lake Wells to a total 80-85 million tonnes (Mt) of Sulphate of Potash (SOP), representing an additional 51-56 Mt of Inferred Resource below the previously reported shallow Resource of 29 Mt.
Ø The Resource has excellent brine chemistry, featuring very high consistency both laterally and at depth, with an average concentration equivalent to 8.74 kg SOP per cubic metre of brine.
Commencement of Scoping Study at Lake Wells
Ø The Company commenced a Scoping Study of the technical and commercial potential of the Lake Wells Project and engaged AMEC Foster Wheeler (AMEC) to manage the Study. AMEC has extensive experience in the potash sector in Australia and internationally.
Ø Leading industry experts Carlos Perucca and Marcelo Bravo have also been engaged to advise on brine processing and SOP production elements.
Next Steps
Ø A pump testing program to measure the hydraulic properties (permeability and storage) of the three aquifer zones identified at Lake Wells has commenced and is ongoing.
Ø Field evaporation trials based on bulk samples collected during pump tests are being planned to further define the evaporation pathway and processing parameters for SOP production.
Successful Placement Raising $8.9 million
Ø The Company completed a placement of 26,175,000 ordinary shares to strategic and institutional investors in Australia and overseas, raising gross proceeds of $8.4 million. Subject to shareholder approval, the Company plans to issue a further 1,600,000 ordinary shares, bringing the total Placement to $8.9 million.
Ø The placement means the Company is now fully funded to continue the drilling, pump testing, evaporation and other testwork currently underway.
Appointment of Chief Executive Officer
Ø Mr Matthew Syme, a Non-Executive Director of the Company, and accomplished mining executive, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Company after effectively acting as CEO.
Lake Wells Project
The Lake Wells Project is located in the Northern Goldfields of Western Australia approximately 200km north of Laverton. The Project comprises 1,126 km2 of granted Exploration Licences, substantially covering the Lake Wells Playa and the area immediately contiguous to the Lake.
Following the completion of a deep aircore drilling program in late 2015, in February 2016 the Company updated the total Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at the Company's Lake Wells Project. The total MRE increased to 80-85 Mt of SOP, representing an increase of 193% on the previous Resource estimate of 29 Mt.
Extended Deeper Inferred Resource Estimate
The estimated tonnage of SOP in the deeper Resource is 51-56 Mt. The additional Resource estimate is classified as an Inferred Resource. The brine chemistry is consistent with the Maiden Resource. The deeper Resource includes an average SOP concentration of 8.99 kg/m3 of brine.
The Resource estimate for the deeper brine is based on data from 27 aircore drillholes with an average drill spacing of 4.2 km. The deeper brine is hosted within 17.3 billion cubic metres of Tertiary Palaeovalley Sediments (PVS) and weathered Proterozoic Fractured Siltstone Aquifer (FSA) with an average thickness of 36.3m, resulting in a total thickness for the entire resource of 52.2m.
Classification | Geological Unit | Bulk Volume (Million m3) | Porosity | Brine Volume (Million m3) | Average SOP1 (K2SO4) Concentration (kg/m3) | K2SO4 Tonnage (Mt) |
Measured | Playa Lake Sediments 2 | 5,427 | 0.464 | 2,518 | 8.94 | 23 |
Indicated | Playa Lake Sediments 2 | 775 | 0.464 | 359 | 8.49 | 3 |
Inferred | Playa Lake Sediments 2 (Islands) | 1,204 | 0.464 | 558 | 5.34 | 3 |
Inferred | Palaeovalley Sediment | 10,600 | 0.40 | 4,240 | 9.07 | 38 |
Inferred | Fractured Siltstone Aquifer | 6,717 | 0.22-.30 | 1,477 - 2,015 | 8.79 | 13 - 18 |
Total | 24,723 | 9,154 - 9,691 | 8.74 | 80 - 85 |
Note: 1) Conversion factor to K to SOP (K2SO4 equivalent) is 2.23
2) Playa Lake Sediment resource estimate reported previously as maiden resource 11/11/2015.
Table 1: Lake Wells Project - Mineral Resource Estimate (JORC 2012)
The Company anticipates future drilling at Lake Wells will provide intact samples for porosity analysis, which should allow upgrading of the Resource category from Inferred.
The current resource estimate is limited to the mapped salt lake boundary. There is potential for additional high grade brine to be defined by drilling off the lake margins.
From the observations during the air core program, most drillholes ended in fractured, brine yielding aquifer and were constrained by the capacity of the aircore drilling method. The siltstone aquifer and brine pool potentially continues some depth below the range of the current drilling program, which indicates the possibility of future resource increases.
Geology and Geological Interpretation
Geological Setting
The investigation area is in the North Eastern Goldfields Province at the margin of the Archaean Yilgarn Craton. The province is characterised by granite-greenstone rocks that exhibit a prominent northwest tectonic trend and low to medium-grade metamorphism. The Archaean rocks are intruded by east-west dolerite dykes of Proterozoic age, and in the eastern area there are small, flat-lying outliers of Proterozoic and Permian sedimentary rocks. The basement rocks are generally poorly exposed owing to low relief, extensive superficial cover, and widespread deep weathering.
A palaeovalley is incised into Proterozoic basement beneath Lake Wells. The lateral extent of the palaeovalley appears well defined by basement outcrop mapped on the 250K geological mapsheet. The palaeovalley appears to be entirely enclosed by basement outcrop, with outcropping basement providing separation from Lake Carnegie to the north, and a ring of outcropping basement providing closure to the south. The palaeovalley is infilled with inferred Tertiary sediment to a maximum intersected depth of 126 m in the northern arm, and exceeding 84 m in the southern arm. These sediments thin toward the lateral margins of the channel and also at the northern extent, southern extent and in the central "neck" area.
The brine resource is hosted within the sediments infilling the palaeovalley, and within the underlying weathered Proterozoic basement.
Geological Interpretation
The geological structure hosting the brine pool comprises the units described in the following sections:
Playa Lake Sediment
Recent (Cainozoic), unconsolidated silt, sand and clay sediment containing variable abundance of evaporite minerals, particularly gypsum. The unit is ubiquitous across the salt lake surface. The thickness of the unit ranges from approximately 10 to 20m. This unit hosts the Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource, estimated on the basis of shallow Auger Core drilling (see ASX Announcement dated 11 November 2015).
The upper part of the unit comprises unconsolidated, gypsiferous sand and silt with a strong overprint of ferric oxides from 0.5 to around 3 - 8m depth. The unit is widespread, homogeneous and continuous with the thickest parts in the centres of the northern arm and southern arm respectively. This is underlain by well sorted, lacustrine silt and clay, from 5 to 20m depth. This zone is relatively homogeneous across the lake. Permeability is variable and is likely controlled by grainsize and sorting of the soft sediment.
Palaeovalley Sediment
Clay silt and sand: Tertiary, unconsolidated clay with variable inter-beds of silt and sand. The thickness varies considerably, from negligible at the southern and northern margins of the lake, to greater than 60m thick in the central and northern parts of the lake. Recovery of brine samples from this unit was difficult due to the fine grained lithology. Intermittent samples were obtained from more permeable silt and sand inter- beds. Some brine samples were obtained by compression of the aircore chips to yield a small volume of brine for assay. These few samples exhibited high grade brine, consistent with overlying and underlying strata.
The upper part comprises grey, massive, firm to indurated, plastic, lacustrine clay, with rare fine quartz grains throughout. The topography of this unit essentially mirrors the morphology of the lake and these sediments are interpreted to drape the underlying sediments in the lake.
The grey clay is underlain by dark-coloured, firm to indurated, lacustrine, massive clays. These sediments are similar to the overlying plastic grey clays but contain organic material.
Paleochannel Basal Sand
Tertiary, unconsolidated medium to coarse grained sand. This unit was intersected in only a few holes that reached the deepest parts of the paleochannel in the northern part of the lake. The maximum intersected thickness was 15m (LWA006). The inferred permeability is high on the basis of coarse-grained lithology and relatively high brine flow rates observed during air core drilling. This unit is expected to represent a productive aquifer. The extent of the unit is poorly defined since most drillholes in the deeper sections of the northern part of the lake failed to reach the basal units.
Basement (Basal) Siltstone
Proterozoic age siltstone, representing the primary basement rocks, and interpreted as the equivalent of regional Proterozoic metasediments. These rocks are red to brown to green, well indurated, fine-grained, meta-siltstone and meta-sandstone. These rocks are composed of predominately quartz and lithic fragments with common presence of muscovite and chlorite and an interlocking texture suggesting metamorphism up to Lower Greenschist facies. Foliation is prevalent and occurs parallel to the original bedding suggesting burial, rather than dynamic, metamorphism, without significant large-scale folding
The upper part of the basement yielded water at variable rates for most drillholes which demonstrates elevated permeability. The permeability of this unit is likely to be associated with weathering and fracturing of the rock matrix. Where fractured, the rock is expected to act as a productive aquifer. The maximum thickness of fractured, brine yielding aquifer was 45m (LWA009).
Most drillholes ended in fractured brine yielding aquifer and were constrained by the capacity of the aircore drilling method. The siltstone aquifer and brine pool potentially continues some depth below the range of the current drilling program.
Basement structure is variable. Basement is shallow (
Lake Hydrology
Surface Water
The hydrology (surface water run-off and inundation) of Lake Wells has not yet been studied in detail. The lake exhibits a catchment 19,000 km2, making it the tenth largest salt lake basin in Australia. The total lake area is approximately 477 km2 yielding a catchment to lake area ratio of 40.
The morphology of the salt lake shape and surface is consistent with the classification system described by Bowler, (1986)1. The Northern part of the Lake exhibits morphology typical of some degree of surface water influence and periodic inundation (smooth lake edges, no islands). The southern part of the lake exhibits morphology consistent with a groundwater dominated lake with rare inundation (irregular shoreline, numerous islands).
The inference is that the northern part of the Lake receives episodic surface water inflow from the drainage line to the north, and that this water rarely if ever reaches the southern parts of the Lake.
Surface conditions on the lake observed during drilling were wetter at the northern part of the Lake compared to the southern part, which is consistent with this concept.
The Lake is a terminal feature in the surface water system, i.e. there are no drainage lines that exit the Lake.
1 Turk, 1973 Hydrogeology of the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Water‐Resources Bulletin 19 Utah Geological Survey
Groundwater
The Lake is inferred to be a terminal groundwater sink on the basis of the large area of the lake and the shallow water table observed at all sites beneath the lake which will facilitate evaporative loss. Groundwater beneath the lake is hypersaline and comprises the brine potash resource.
The drilling undertaken at Lake Wells has identified 3 aquifer units:
Cainozoic Playa Lake Sediments exhibit variable lithology comprising sand, silt and clay. An upper zone of evaporite rich sediment approximately 5m thick is likely to provide the most permeable zone. Some coarser grained sand horizons are logged in the deeper sediment which will yield water.
Tertiary Palaeovalley Sediments (PVS) represent essentially the palaeovalley valley fill and comprised of unconsolidated clay with variable inter-beds of silt and sand. The thickness varies considerably, from negligible at the southern and northern margins of the lake, to greater than 60m thick in the central and northern parts of the lake.
At the base of the PVS, a basal sand unit has been identified in some drillholes. This unit comprises fine to coarse grained, well sorted sand and, accordingly it is expected to represent a productive aquifer. The extent is poorly defined by the current widely spaced drilling. Basal sands typically infill the "Thalweg" or deepest part, of the paleochannel which typically range from 60 to 2.5 km in width (deBroekert and Sandiford (2005) 2.
While the unit is very important as a potential production zone for pumping brine to the surface via deep bores, for the purpose of resource estimation it has been incorporated in the PVS unit.
Underlying the Tertiary PVS the Proterozoic siltstone exhibits some permeability due to fracturing and weathering. Aircore drilling produced yields up to 0.8 L/s from this unit (constrained by the annulus of the drill pipe). Permeability is variable, as some drillholes did not yield water. The permeability is likely controlled by structure (faulting) where faulted areas facilitated weathering and fracturing. Any structural control on fracturing has not yet been defined, though it is suggested that fracturing might be associated with regional lineaments mapped on the basis of regional gravity and aeromagnetic survey.
Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths
The brine resource is inferred to be consistent and continuous through the full thickness of the defined geological units. The unit is flat lying and drillholes are vertical hence the intersected downhole depth is equivalent to the inferred thickness of mineralisation.
2 de Broekert, P.P., Sandiford, M., 2005. Buried inset‐valleys in the Eastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: geomorphology, age, and allogenic control. The Journal of Geology 113, 471-493.
Drilling and Sampling Techniques
Drilling entailed drilling 85 mm holes using conventional aircore rig. A total of 27 holes were completed for 1,697m of drilling with the average depth being approximately 63m, with a range of 15m-126m. Brine samples were recovered at nominal 3m intervals and sent for laboratory analysis.
Drilling Techniques
The drill program utilised a track mounted aircore drill rig using conventional aircore blade bit. Drillhole size was 85mm.
Sampling Techniques
Geological chip samples were taken every meter. Brine samples were taken from the cyclone at the end of each 3m drill rod where possible. Penetration was stopped at the end of each rod, and the hole purged with low pressure air. Once brine flow had stabilised flow rate was measured by timing flow into a bucket, and a brine sample then taken.
Drill sample recovery
Geological sample recovery was high, effectively 100%.
Brine sample recovery was low, approximately 40%. Fine grained lithologies do not yield brine at a rate that can be sampled by aircore methods. A subset of samples was obtained by compression of the chip samples. This method was successful at recovering a small brine sample volume from the chip samples.
Sample bias is not considered to have occurred. There is a relationship between brine recovery and lithology, but no identified relationship between brine recovery and brine concentration.
Classification criteria
The MRE has been classified and is reported as Measured, Indicated and Inferred in accordance with the requirements of the 2012 JORC Code. Classification of the Mineral Resource estimates was carried out taking into account the robustness of the geological understanding of the deposit, the quality of the sampling and density data, and drill hole spacing.
The geology (rock volume) and brine grade (concentration) are reasonably well defined. However the porosity value applied in the resource calculation is not measured and is based on analogy to similar projects, which limits the confidence of the estimate to Inferred.
Resource Estimation Methodology
Overview
The resource is calculated as the tonnage of minerals dissolved in the liquid brine contained in pores within the host rock. Tonnages are calculated as dissolved minerals in brine on a dry weight by volume basis e.g. kilograms potassium per cubic meter of brine. The potassium tonnage of the resource is then calculated as: Rock volume x volumetric porosity = brine volume Brine volume x concentration = tonnage.
The deeper resource estimate considers only the deeper resource which underlies the previously defined shallow brine resource hosted within the Playa Lake Sediments (Refer to ASX Announcement 11 November 2015).
Area
The lateral extent of the resource is constrained by the salt lake boundary as defined in Geoscience Australia's 1:250K topographic dataset supplied by the Company. The resource is further constrained by the tenement boundaries which do not encompass the entire lake surface. The total area of the resource is 477 km2.
The current resource estimate is clipped to the mapped salt lake boundary. There is potential for additional high grade brine to be defined by drilling off the lake margins. Particularly in areas to the south of the Southern arm and to the south of the Northern arm where discontinuous small saline playas provide evidence of shallow water table and evaporative concentration of groundwater.
Thickness
The top of the resource is defined by the base of the PLS geological unit which is the base of the previously defined resource. The base of the PVS unit was defined by the basement contact in drillholes. Cross sections were constructed, and the shape of the paleo-valley was modelled manually. The modelled shape of the palaeochannels was generally u-shaped on the basis of typical Yilgarn craton paleochannel morphology described by deBroekert and Sandiford, (2005) 3. The cross sections were imported into Mapinfo as xyz data points on a 500m spacing. Basement outcrop mapped on the 250K geological map series was used to define paleochannel extent zero thickness at the margins. A grid of PVS thickness was then modelled using a minimum curvature algorithm. Grid size was 500 x 500m.
The thickness of the FSA was defined by the thickness of brine yielding basement rock intersected at each drillhole that penetrated basement. Thickness between drillholes was then interpolated using an Inverse Distance algorithm with exponential model to the power of 4. This produced a roughly polygonal model around each drillhole, expressed as a 500 x 500m grid. Drillholes which yielded no brine from basement were assigned a zero thickness, and hence a polygon with a volume of zero was defined around the drillhole.
3 de Broekert, P.P., Sandiford, M., 2005. Buried inset‐valleys in the Eastern Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia: geomorphology, age, and allogenic control. The Journal of Geology 113, 471-493.
Porosity
Total porosity (Pt) relates to the volume of brine filled pores contained within a unit volume of aquifer material. A fraction of this pore volume can by drained under gravity, this is described as the specific yield (or drainable porosity). The remaining fraction of the brine, which is held by surface tension and cannot be drained under gravity, is described as the specific retention (or un-drainable porosity). The form of porosity used in brine resource estimation varies with different proponents. The Company elected to use total porosity to assess the Lake Wells resource.
Porosity was not sampled during the aircore drilling program. The aircore drilling method results in destruction of the sediment structure and the insitu porosity is lost. For this resource estimate porosity values from literature are applied. This is analogous to the use of assumed values of rock density for inferred resource estimation in conventional hard rock deposits, though the possible range of porosity values is larger than for typical rock density values.
Palaevalley Sediment
The PVS unit was assigned a porosity value of 40% v/v. This value is based on the measured porosity of a limited number of samples recovered from the upper part of the unit during auger drilling and typical values for fine grained un-consolidated sediment. Reference values for porosity of unconsolidated sediment are presented as Table 2.
Reference | Porosity (%) | Comments |
Houston and Eren (2011) 4 | 32-44 (Sand, silt, clay mix) | Salar de olaroz lithium brine project |
Spitz and Moreno (1996) 5 | 40-44 (Lacustrine Clay) | |
Athy (1930) 6 | 40-44 (Shale 20m to 100m depth) | Equation estimating porosity reduction with depth of Palaeozoic shale Implemented with porosity of 46.4% at surface. |
Domineco and Shwartz (1990) 7 | 34-61 (Silt and Clay) 38-41 (Silty Clay) |
Table 2: Paleo valley sediment porosity reference values.
4 Houston and Ehren, (2010) Technical Report on the Olaroz Project, NI 43‐101 report prepared for Orocobre Ltd.
5 Spitz and Moreno (1996) A Practical Guide to Groundwater and Solute Transport Modelling. John Wiley and Sons, New York 461pp
6 Athy (1930) Density, porosity and compaction of sedimentary rocks. Association of Petroleum Geology Bulletin. V14, p 1‐24
7 Domenico and Schwartz (1990) Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology, Wiley, New York, 824 pp.
Fractured siltstone aquifer
The FSA unit was assigned a porosity value of 22% for the base estimate up to an upper estimate of 30%. Proterozoic rocks are by definition old, typically metamorphosed and lithified. In a fresh (unweathered) state the porosity is typically low. Data exists for Proterozoic sandstone evaluated as petroleum reservoirs and the porosity ranges from 5 to 20% averaging around 10%. The tighter sandstones (i.e. finer grained) report porosity consistently
1. The altered and weathered soft rock logged during the aircore program.
2. The brine yielded during aircore drilling which indicate secondary porosity (fracturing).
3. Review of data from Reward Minerals drilling at Lake Disappointment reporting an extensive data-set of porosity measurement for a basement siltstone, tentatively identified as the Proterozoic Yeneena Group (Williams Et Al, 1975). Reported porosity for the siltstone averaging approximately 22% (standard deviation 8%) for 82 samples.
4. Review of data from Rum Jungle Resources drilling at the Karinga Lakes chain in the Northern Territory. A porosity of 36% is reported for the upper weathered Palaeozoic Horseshoe Bend Shale.
Reference | Porosity (%) | Comments |
Spitz and Moreno (1996) 8 Citing USGS (1967) 9 | 21-41% Siltstone | (mean 35%, 7 samples) |
Domenico And Schwartz (1990) 10 Citing USGS, (1967) | 21-41% Siltstone | (mean 35%, 7 samples) |
Reward Minerals -Lake Disappointment | 22% mean Proterozoic Siltstone (Yeneena Group) | (std dev 8% for 82 samples) |
Rum Jungle Resources - Karinga Lakes | 36% | Paleozoic Siltstone |
Table 3: Fractured siltstone aquifer porosity reference
Solute Concentration
The brine concentration is relatively consistent with depth. The maximum downhole variance from the drillhole mean was 15.8%, whilst the average variance was 5.3%. Average solute concentration for the full thickness of the geological unit penetrated at each drillhole was calculated as a length-weighted average of all samples taken from that unit. The resulting dataset was used for interpolation of brine concentration for each geological unit across the lake.
8 Spitz and Moreno (1996) A Practical Guide to Groundwater and Solute Transport Modelling. John Wiley and Sons, New York 461pp
9 USGS, (1967) Summary of hydrologic and physical properties of rock and soil materials, as analyzed by the hydrologic laboratory of the U.S. Geological Survey,
1948‐60 Water Supply Paper 1839‐D
10 Domenico and Schwartz (1990) Physical and Chemical Hydrogeology, Wiley, New York, 824 pp.
Modelling / Interpolation
Solute concentration was interpolated across the lake area using inverse distance weighting algorithm with power of 2, search radius of 3800m, single search sector, three grid passes, and a requirement for minimum of 1 sample point per sector. The interpolated grid had a cell size of 500 x 500m.
The contained solute in each cell was calculated as the product of the area, thickness (from the geological model), porosity, and interpolated solute concentration for that 500 x 500m cell.
Total Mineral Resource Estimate
Potassium (K) | Magnesium (Mg) | SO4 | |||||||||
Area (km2) | Sediment Volume (M m3) | Porosity | Brine Volume (M m3) | Concent-ration (kg/m3) | Tonnage (Mt) | Concent-ration (kg/m3) | Tonnage (Mt) | Concent-ration (kg/m3) | Tonnage (Mt) | ||
Measured | 341 | 5,427 | 0.464 | 2,518 | 4.009 | 10.1 | 6.886 | 17.3 | 19.175 | 48.3 | |
Indicated | 59 | 775 | 0.464 | 359 | 3.806 | 1.4 | 6.968 | 2.5 | 17.809 | 6.4 | |
Inferred | 77 | 18,521 | 0.368 | 6,814 | 3.949 | 26.5 | 7.058 | 47.7 | 17.855 | 120.3 | |
Total | 477 | 24,723 | 0.392 | 9,691 | 3.921 | 38.0 | 7.011 | 67.5 | 18.218 | 175 | |
Table 4: Mineral Tonnage Calculation
Classification | Sulphate of Potash (Mt) |
Measured | 23 |
Indicated | 3 |
Inferred | 59 |
Total | 85 |
Table 5: SOP Resource Estimate
Commencement of Scoping Study and Ongoing Test-work
The Company has engaged AMEC Foster Wheeler (AMEC) to conduct a Scoping Study for the Lake Wells project. AMEC is a recognised leader in potash mining and processing with capabilities extending to detailed engineering, procurement and construction management. AMEC will be able to leverage an international network, including access to its Centre of Potash Excellence located in Saskatoon, Canada.
In addition to the expertise that AMEC will provide to the Scoping Study, the Company has engaged brine-processing experts Carlos Perucca Processing Consulting Ltd (CPPC) and AD Infinitum Ltd (AD Infinitum) and their principals Carlos Perucca and Marcelo Bravo, who are highly regarded experts in the potash industry. Marcelo previously worked as Process Manager Engineer at SQM, the third largest salt lake SOP producer globally. He specialises in the front end of brine processing from feed brine through to the crystallisation of harvest salts. Carlos Perucca has over 25 years of experience in mineral process engineering and will provide high-level expertise with respect to plant operations for the processing of harvest salts through to final SOP product.
CPPC and AD Infinitum have undertaken a review of preliminary lab-scale evaporation test-work on Lake Wells brine and designed a conceptual flow sheet for the production of SOP. This conceptual work has provided three preliminary brine-processing routes. The processing parameters for SOP production will be further defined via field evaporation trials. A bulk brine sample of approximately 10,000L is being collected during the pump test work currently underway at Lake Wells, which will supply the field evaporation trial to be supervised by CPPC and AD Infinitum.
The preliminary lab-scale (approximately 120L each) isothermal evaporation trials were performed at MWH Perth Laboratory on three brine samples of collected from Lake Wells during the course of the November 2015 aircore drilling program at three locations. The main objective of the lab-scale evaporation trials was to provide an indication of the evaporation trend and crystallisation pattern to be expected by solar evaporation of Lake Wells brines. Ternary phase diagrams produced from the results of the evaporation trial indicated that the chemical composition of all three bulk samples consistently fell within the Schoenite (MgSO4K2SO46H2O) mineral precipitation field (a key step in the production of SOP).
CORPORATE
Placement Raising $8.9 million
The Company was pleased to complete a placement to a range of strategic, institutional and sophisticated investors in Australia and overseas. The total fundraising will ultimately raise a total of $8.9 million, subject to shareholder approval, with the placement of 27,775,000 ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.32 in the Company.
Baillieu Holst Limited and Argonaut Securities Pty Ltd acted as Joint Lead Managers to the first tranche of the placement.
To date, a total of $8.4 million has been raised with $5.2 million raised in Australia (completed 31 March 2016) and $3.2 million to overseas investors (completed 4 April 2016). The Company also plans, subject to shareholder approval, to issue a further 1,600,000 ordinary shares on the same terms as the placement to Australian clients of the Joint Lead Managers, bringing the total placement to approximately $8.9 million.
Proceeds from the placement will be used to accelerate the Company's planned development initiatives at its flagship Lake Wells SOP Project.
The Company also appointed Cenkos Securities plc (Cenkos) as its Broker for the AIM market. United Kingdom based Cenkos, has a strong reputation in the natural resources sector with the team making an important contribution to the recent placement.
A notice of General Meeting to approve the additional issue of shares will be provided by the Company to shareholders in due course.
Appointment of CEO
Mr Matthew Syme is to be appointed Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company on 29 April 2016, previously serving as a Non-Executive Director and effectively acting as Chief Executive Officer since being appointed to the Board on 9 April 2015.
Mr Syme assisted in the acquisition and progress of the Company's Lake Wells Sulphate of Potash (SOP) Project and the recent placement raising $8.9m to fund the Company's operations. The Board is confident that the appointment will greatly enhance the Company's ability to fulfil its vision of becoming an Australian salt lake SOP producer.
Mr Syme is an accomplished mining executive with over 28 years' experience in senior management roles in a wide range of commodities and countries.
Mr Syme's immediate focus will be to continue to develop the Salt Lake team managing the exploration and process testwork currently underway and to enhance the presentation of the Company and its projects to the various stakeholders interested in the potential for production of low cost, organic agricultural nutrients from Australian salt lakes.
Remuneration
Mr Syme will receive cash remuneration of A$250,000 plus statutory superannuation entitlements and will be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus up to $150,000 as determined by the Board of Directors. Mr Syme will be employed on a rolling 12 month term and either party may terminate with three months written notice.
Subject to shareholder approval, Mr Syme (or his nominee) will also be granted the following incentive options:
· 750,000 incentive options exercisable at $0.40 each on or before 29 April 2019;
· 750,000 incentive options exercisable at $0.50 each on or before 29 April 2020, vesting on 29 April 2017; and
· 1,000,000 incentive options exercisable at $0.60 each on or before 29 April 2021, vesting on 29 April 2018.
Subject to the Board's discretion and Shareholders' approval of a Performance Rights Plan, Mr Syme may also be entitled to participate in a proposed Company Performance Rights Plan.
Table 6 - Summary of Exploration and Mining Tenements
As at 31 March 2016, the Company holds interests in the following tenements:
Australian Projects:
Project | Status | Type of Change | License Number | Area (km2) | Term | Grant Date | Date of First Relinquish-ment | Interest (%) 1-Jan-16 | Interest (%) 31-Mar-16 | ||||||
Western Australia | |||||||||||||||
Lake Wells | |||||||||||||||
Central | Granted | - | E38/2710 | 192.2 | 5 years | 05-Sep-12 | 4-Sep-17 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
South | Granted | - | E38/2821 | 131.5 | 5 years | 19-Nov-13 | 18-Nov-18 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
North | Granted | - | E38/2824 | 198.2 | 5 years | 04-Nov-13 | 3-Nov-18 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Outer East | Granted | - | E38/3055 | 298.8 | 5 years | 16-Oct-15 | 16-Oct-20 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Single Block | Granted | - | E38/3056 | 3.0 | 5 years | 16-Oct-15 | 16-Oct-20 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Outer West | Granted | - | E38/3057 | 301.9 | 5 years | 16-Oct-15 | 16-Oct-20 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Lake Ballard | |||||||||||||||
West | Granted | - | E29/912 | 607.0 | 5 years | 10-Apr-15 | 10-Apr-20 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
East | Granted | - | E29/913 | 73.2 | 5 years | 10-Apr-15 | 10-Apr-20 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
North | Granted | - | E29/948 | 94.5 | 5 years | 22-Sep-15 | 21-Sep-20 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
South | Granted | Granted | E29/958 | - | 5 years | 20-Jan-16 | 19-Jan-21 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Lake Irwin | |||||||||||||||
West | Application | Granted | E37/1233 | 203.0 | 5 years | 08-Mar-16 | 07-Mar-21 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Central | Application | Granted | E39/1892 | 203.0 | 5 years | 23-Mar-16 | 22-Mar-21 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
East | Application | Granted | E38/3087 | 139.2 | 5 years | 23-Mar-16 | 22-Mar-21 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
North West | Application | Application Lodged | E37/1260 | 203.0 | - | - | - | - | 100% | ||||||
North | Application | Application Lodged | E37/1261 | 107.3 | - | - | - | - | 100% | ||||||
Central East | Application | Application Lodged | E38/3113 | 203.0 | - | - | - | - | 100% | ||||||
South | Application | Application Lodged | E39/1955 | 118.9 | - | - | - | - | 100% | ||||||
South West | Application | Application Lodged | E39/1956 | 110.2 | - | - | - | - | 100% | ||||||
Lake Minigwal | |||||||||||||||
West | Application | - | E39/1893 | 246.2 | - | - | - | 100% | 100% | ||||||
East | Application | - | E39/1894 | 158.1 | - | - | - | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Lake Way | |||||||||||||||
Central | Application | - | E53/1878 | 217.0 | - | - | - | 100% | 100% | ||||||
South Australia | |||||||||||||||
Lake Macfarlane | Application | Granted | EL 2015/085 | 816 | 5 years | 20-Jan-16 | 19-Jan-21 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Island Lagoon | Application | Granted | EL 2015/084 | 978 | 5 years | 08-Feb-16 | 07-Feb-21 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Northern Territory | |||||||||||||||
Lake Lewis | |||||||||||||||
South | Granted | - | EL 29787 | 146.4 | 6 year | 08-Jul-13 | 7-Jul-19 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
North | Granted | - | EL 29903 | 125.1 | 6 year | 21-Feb-14 | 20-Feb-19 | 100% | 100% | ||||||
Other Projects:
Location | Name | Resolution Number | Percentage Interest |
USA - Colorado | C-SR-10 | C-SR-10 | 80% |
USA - Colorado | C-JD-5A | C-JD-5A | 80% |
USA - Colorado | C-SR-11A | C-SR-11A | 80% |
USA - Colorado | C-SR-15A | C-SR-15A | 80% |
USA - Colorado | C-SR-16 | C-SR-16 | 80% |
USA - Colorado | C-WM-17 | C-WM-17 | 80% |
USA - Colorado | C-LP-22A | C-LP-22A | 80% |
USA - Colorado | C-LP-23 | C-LP-23 | 80% |
Competent Persons Statement
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results for Lake Wells, is extracted from the reports entitled 'Aircore Drilling Confirms Deeper Potential At Lake Wells' dated 23 November 2015, 'Successful Shallow Core Drilling Completed at Lake Wells' dated 22 September 2015 and 'Wildhorse Acquires Two Large Scale High Grade Sulphate Of Potash Brine Projects' dated 9 April 2015 and are available to view on the Company's website www.saltlakepotash.com.au. The information in the original ASX Announcement that related to Exploration Results for Lake Wells based on information compiled by Mr Ben Jeuken, who is a member Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Jeuken is employed by Groundwater Science Pty Ltd, an independent consulting company. Mr Jeuken has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity, which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.
The information in this Report that relates to Mineral Resources is extracted from the reports entitled 'Lake Wells Resource Increased by 193% to 85Mt of SOP' dated 22 February 2016 and 'Significant Maiden SOP Resource of 29Mt at Lake Wells' dated 11 November 2015. The announcement is available to view on www.saltlakepotash.com.au. The information in the original ASX Announcement that related to Mineral Resources was based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr Ben Jeuken, who is a member Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a member of the International Association of Hydrogeologists. Mr Jeuken is employed by Groundwater Science Pty Ltd, an independent consulting company. Mr Jeuken has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity, which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and, in the case of estimates of Mineral Resources, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person's findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.
For further information please visit www.saltlakepotash.com.au or contact:
Matthew Syme/Sam Cordin | Salt Lake Potash Limited | Tel: +61 8 9322 6322 |
Colin Aaronson/Richard Tonthat/Daniel Bush | Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser) | Tel: +44 (0) 207 383 5100 |
Nick Tulloch/Beth McKiernan | Cenkos Securities plc (Broker) | Tel: +44 (0) 131 220 6939 |
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