Gensource Potash Corporation provides update on geotechnical field programme for potash project near Tugaske, Saskatchewan
Published by Emily Thomas,
Deputy Editor
World Fertilizer,
Gensource Potash Corporation has announced the recent completion of a geotechnical field programme for its potash project located near Tugaske, Saskatchewan. The Tugaske Project is the first modular, vertically integrated, and environmentally sustainable potash production facility proposed to be constructed on Gensource’s mineral leases in its Vanguard Area, and besides surveying work, the geotechnical programme represents the first field activities on the project. The Tugaske Project is intended to set a new environmental bar in the potash industry by using 75% less fresh water per ton of product compared to conventional solution mining methods and creating no salt tailings and needing no brine or cooling ponds.
Highlights
- Geotechnical field programme complete at Tugaske, successfully defining the subsurface soil strata over the project
- Results from the sampling programme will inform the structural and civil designs for Project construction
- Completion of this fieldwork represents an important pre-development project milestone in this increasingly relevant potash project that will support the agriculture sector
As disclosed in a news release on 02 September 2021 Gensource has formed a special purpose vehicle called KClean Potash Corporation which is intended to finance, own, construct and operate the Tugaske Project. KClean is currently wholly-owned by Gensource but is anticipated to be partially owned by HELM AG and its North American subsidiary, HELM Fertilizer Corp. following final equity investments in KClean by Gensource and HELM. KClean has engaged Clifton Engineering Group as the geotechnical consultant for the Tugaske Project. CEG and its subcontractor, Earth Drilling Ltd., have completed the field work component of the geotechnical investigation, collecting over 50 borehole samples totalling over 330 metres of drilling. Overall site management for the geotechnical investigation was led by the Tugaske Project’s general construction partner, South East Construction, and technical oversight was provided by the Tugaske Project’s engineering consulting partner, Engcomp.
The purpose of the geotechnical work is to define the subsurface soil strata, including material properties and existing conditions, for locations selected for construction of the plant site and wellfield area. CEG will perform laboratory testing and analysis on the samples collected and provide recommendations for several civil and structural related design elements of the Tugaske Project, for example building and equipment foundations, access roads, site rail, buried pipelines, etc.
“We are pleased with the safe and speedy completion of the field work component undertaken so far for the Tugaske Project”, commented Mike Ferguson, President & CEO of Gensource. “This is a key step in providing our technical team with the field information required to complete their detailed civil and structural designs, which allow us to proceed with the necessary construction licensing for the first elements of the Tugaske Project. The Tugaske Project is proceeding as expeditiously as we can advance it.” In addition, Mike Ferguson said, “As disclosed in a news release on 23 September 2021, the company has already secured at C$280 million Senior Debt Facility from its two mandated joint lead debt arrangers, KfW IPEX-Bank and Société Générale as well as a C$50 million equity commitment from the Project’s off-taker, Helm. Over the past months, Gensource has been extremely active in the equity financing of the Tugaske Project. That effort is the highest priority of the Company and progress is being made, even in spite of the extremely difficult current public market environment. Management believes that the Tugaske Project represents one of the fastest paths to new potash production at an estimated two years to first product while showing strong anticipated economic performance (see the Company’s publicly available NI-43-101 Technical Report available on sedar.com).”
The integrated project delivery team comprising KClean, Engcomp, and South East Construction, continue to progress with engineering, procurement, regulatory and permitting, and construction readiness tasks, preparing the Tugaske Project for the ramp-up to full execution once equity financing is complete. The work and services being performed in this current phase is referred to as ‘Bridge Engineering’. Besides beginning site definition work for the plant site area, another goal of the Bridge Engineering phase is to finalise, to the extent possible, the main contracts for the Tugaske Project, those being: the contract to provide the full process plant equipment package; the site energy system and the full electrical and instrumentation system, and; the cavern drilling and development contract.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/potash/26052022/gensource-potash-corporation-provides-update-on-geotechnical-field-programme-for-potash-project-near-tugaske-saskatchewan/
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