TORONTO, June 23 - IC Potash Corp. ("ICP" or the "Company") (TSXV: ICP) today reported the results of the first metallurgical module of the Project Pre-Feasibility Study, which has now been completed.
The findings of the IC Potash Corp. metallurgical study are:
· Production costs are US$188 per long ton of SOP. At such a projected cost, IC Potash Corp. would be one of the lowest cost producers of Sulphate of Potash ("SOP") in the world. (It is the Company's goal to produce SOP, which is sold at a premium price and to produce it at a lower cost compared to most other producers of SOP.)
· The recovery will be 92% of the Potassium (K2O) contained in the polyhalite ore. This would be a substantially higher recovery than available from traditional salt lakes brines.
· 1500 acres of solar ponds would be required to produce 600,000 tons per year of SOP. This small acreage requirement, is very small compared to those of other SOP producers who use the solar evaporation process. A low acreage reduces costs and makes environmental permitting easier.
· Detailed flow sheets for operations have been finalized.
“These initial indications further validate that our project is economic and at a low cost,” said Sidney Himmel, President and CEO of IC Potash Corp. “Completing the metallurgical simulation model prior to the initiation of the full Pre-feasibility Study will reduce the time needed to complete that Study. During the full study, additional testing will be carried out to further refine the specific details of the metallurgical processing. Evaporation pan tests will be used. Currently we are in the field carrying out the second drill program, and this program will provide small bulk samples of polyhalite ore for optimization process testing.”
All scientific and technical disclosures in this press release have been prepared under the supervision of Marc Melker with IC Potash. Marc Melker is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
About IC Potash Corp
IC Potash intends to become a primary producer of Sulfate of Potash ("SOP") by mining its 100%-owned Polyhalite Ochoa property in New Mexico. SOP is a non-chloride based potash fertilizer that generally sells at a substantial premium over the price of Muriate of Potash ("MOP"), the most widely used fertilizer in the world. Over the past several years, SOP has traded at approximately a 50% premium to MOP in international markets. Using a simple, low cost and proven technology to produce SOP from Polyhalite, IC Potash is focused on being the lowest cost producer of SOP in the world.
The SOP market is approximately 4 million tonnes per year and is a significant alternative fertilizer for agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, tobacco, potatoes, and horticultural plants. SOP has low "salinity" compared to MOP, and therefore is also used in various saline soils in the world, which are found for example in China, India, the Mediterranean, and the United States.
IC Potash Ochoa property now consists of federal sub-surface potassium permits granted by the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") and State of New Mexico Potash Mining Leases, in total covering, in conjunction with outstanding federal prospecting permits, approximately 112,000 acres of land, equivalent to 175 square miles. All federal exploration reclamation plans, environmental plans, and archeological work have been approved by BLM. IC Potash carries out all activities through its wholly owned subsidiary, Intercontinental Potash Corp.
Forward-Looking Statements
