Name of the Project
Khemisset potash project.

Location
Northern Morocco.

Client
Emmerson PLC.

Project Description
A scoping study has confirmed Khemisset’s potential to be a low capital-cost and high-margin potash mine.

The study is based entirely on the Joint Ore Reservess Committee- (Jorc-) compliant inferred mineral resource estimate of 311.4-million tonnes at an average grade of 10.2% potassium oxide (K2O) and delivers an initial mine life of 20 years.

Envisaged is the mine’s extracting about six-million tonnes of run-of-mine ore, with an average grade over the life-of-mine (LoM) of 9.35% K2O.

Processing will be undertaken using a hot leaching and crystallisation process to extract and purify the potassium chloride in the ore into saleable grade K60 muriate of potash. Over the LoM, the process plant will deliver an average of about 800 000 t/y of K60 product for sale.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, of $795-million and an internal rate of return of 29.8%, with a payback of 3.25 years.

Value
$405.9-million, including a $90.4-million contingency.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The completion of the environmental baseline study has brought the Khemisset potash project closer to production, with the study identifying no areas of concern that could impact on the scale, location, cost or profitability of the project.

Emmerson is now planning to start the full environmental- and social-impact assessment (ESIA), which will form a core component of the application for a mining licence at Khemisset.

The study was the initial workstream and framework for the development of the detailed ESIA, which will be submitted to the Ministry of Mines as part of the process to convert Emmerson's exploration permits to a mining licence.

"The completion of the baseline study is an important step forward and allows us to continue to rapidly advance the project while minimising the potential for adverse social and environmental impacts in the future,” Emmerson CEO Hayden Locke has said.

The findings of the baseline study, completed by Moroccan environmental consultants Phénixa and overseen by international consultants Oteba, has highlighted no environmental or social red flags that could impact on the company’s planned accelerated development schedule for the project, as envisaged in the scoping study completed in November 2018.

The study assessed the potential impacts on various aspects within the project area including land uses, social settings and habitat types; soil types, flora and fauna; climate, topography and elevation; surface and ground water; and archaeology, anthropology and cultural heritage.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Golder Associates (scoping study) and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (design and estimates).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Emmerson PLC, tel +44 207 236 1177.