untouchable 3.8 billion tonnes potash ev $108k, page-62

http://www.redmetal.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=186&Itemid=122

"Solution mining involves injecting a hot brine solution to the depth of the potash in order to dissolve out the potassium. That brine solution would then be pumped out, and likely evaporated in a closed system (as opposed to evaporation ponds), in order to precipitate out the salts while conserving the water for reuse.

With water a scarce resource in the Egnar area, I doubt very seriously that anyone is going to sell us enough water to waste in evaporation ponds, said Thorson."

Do TRH need Evaporation Ponds? What is this closed system as mentioned in the article for RDM.





Australian Company Will Seek Valuable Agricultural Product

SAN MIGUEL COUNTY - If Paradox Basin in the far west end of San Miguel County is as rich in potassium-bearing compounds typically used for agricultural fertilizer as an Australian mining company suspects it may be, uranium may not be the only substance mined from that lonely landscape in the coming years.

RM Potash, Inc., a subsidiary of the Sydney, Australia-based Red Metal Limited mineral exploration company, is currently working with federal officials from the Dolores Public Lands Office to locate between one and three initial drill holes to help ascertain the feasibility of a full-scale potash mining operation in the West End, agency officials told the San Miguel County Commissioners last week.

This company is interested in looking at the geologic viability of the formation to see if it's something that could be developed for commercial use, said Tom Rice, associate field manager/deputy district ranger for the Dolores Public Lands Office.

Those wells would be test holes to collect samples in order to decide whether there's any economic viability for development of potash.

If the results from the initial drill tests are encouraging, the exploration could be expanded to include perhaps a dozen more holes in the future, said Dolores Public Lands Office geologist James Blair. However, the company has not yet submitted a finalized exploration proposal, so the exact time frame and scope of the exploration remains unknown at this time. Once that exploration plan has been formally submitted, the official scoping and public comment period will begin.

If a full-scale operation is ultimately developed, It could be a brand new industry in Colorado, and provide a lot of jobs and opportunity in Colorado, said Denver-based RM Potash project manager Jon Thorson.

Based upon similarly sized potash extraction operations elsewhere, Thorson roughly estimated that a full-scale operation here could generate anywhere from 100-150 jobs and significant tax revenue in an otherwise economically challenged part of the state.

The findings from the initial exploratory holes will help determine the future as it relates to the 21 potash prospecting permits in a 41,000-acre area for which the company has applied. The area, notable for its location in the Paradox Basin geologic formation, is located to the west of the Dolores River Canyon. It stretches in an arc from just north of Dove Creek to travel past Egnar and slightly west of Slick Rock, terminating at the Utah border.

The Paradox Basin, most of which is located in southwest Colorado and southeast Utah, was formerly an inland sea that dried out episodically during the long course of geologic history.

This basin would dry out and deposit salt, re-flood and deposit more salt, Blair explained.

Noting that successful potash mining has already taken place in the formation near Moab, Utah, It would be highly likely that you'd find some potash in the Colorado portion, he said.

But whether the quality and character is such that it is amenable to mining is unknown at this point.

According to the Red Metal Limited website, which contains information about its New Colorado Potash Project's under a tab entitled Potash Summary, the company is confident it will find potash in Paradox Basin, and its decision to apply for the large permit acreage followed the completion of a detailed consultant study it commissioned. That study indicated a high potential for economically significant potash resources in the area leading the company to target economic resources capable of producing between 200,000 and 2 million tons of potash annually, its website states.

If a rich potash deposit is found there, it will likely be found at depths in excess of 5,000-6,000 feet deep, where it would be extracted by solution mining, the method used by Intrepid Potash near Moab.

Solution mining involves injecting a hot brine solution to the depth of the potash in order to dissolve out the potassium. That brine solution would then be pumped out, and likely evaporated in a closed system (as opposed to evaporation ponds), in order to precipitate out the salts while conserving the water for reuse.

With water a scarce resource in the Egnar area, I doubt very seriously that anyone is going to sell us enough water to waste in evaporation ponds, said Thorson.

In situating the initial test hole locations, the Dolores Public Lands Office is looking to create the least amount of disturbance possible.

We're looking for areas that have already been disturbed for uranium or oil and gas development, whenever possible, said Rice.

Each drill hole would affect an area of two to three acres, leading Blair to estimate a maximum disturbance of 10 acres in the initial phase of exploration.

The agency is beginning its federal National Environmental Policy Act review of the first phase of the proposed exploration project by compiling an Environmental Assessment. Public notice of the action, including scoping documents, newspaper advertisements and stakeholder notification; the times and locations of public hearings will be forthcoming.

If the initial drilling proves productive, the company would likely look to conduct further exploration to fill in the geology of where the deposit is and make sure it's connecting up, Blair said.

At that point, the agency would do further environmental analysis and seek additional public input. It expects that the exploration drilling would occur over the next two-six years, according to Blair.

If the company succeeds in proving the existence of a valuable potash deposit once exploration is completed, the process would then shift into a lease phase in which the US Bureau of Land Management reviews the company's findings and conducts an environmental analysis on a full-scale mining operation.

Only after that point BLM could award non-competitive preference right leases to RM Potash and approve a Mine Plan, Blair said.

It's important to understand that this is simply an effort to gather geologic data to decide whether pursuing the development of potash is economically feasible, said Rice. It doesn't mean we're already looking at full-scale development.

We have permit applications that we have filed for and that's about as far as we've gotten, Thorson confirmed.