Passport Potash Inc fka PPRTF

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Passport Potash Announces New NI 43-101Compliant Mineral Resource of 713.4 Million Tonnes Which Includes an Indicated Mineral Resource of 125.6 Million Tonnes

Company Announces Investor Conference Call Today at 11AM Eastern Time to Summarize Report Details Below

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -04/02/12)- Passport Potash Inc. (TSX-V: PPI.V - News)(OTCQX: PPRTF.PK- News) ("Passport" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the receipt of a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate by ERCOSPLAN Ingenieurgesellschaft Geotechnik und Bergbau mbH (ERCOSPLAN), a consulting and engineering firm, specialized in the potash and salt industry, headquartered in Erfurt, Germany, for its Holbrook Basin property in Northern Arizona. This initial resource estimate consists of 125.6 million tonnes of indicated mineralized material with an average KCl grade of 14.29% (equivalent to an Indicated Resource of 17.96 million tonnes of KCl) and 587.8 million tonnes of inferred mineralized material with an average KCl grade of 12.20% (equivalent to an Inferred Resource of 71.71 million tonnes of KCl). It is important to note that at present the estimated resources cover only about 40% of the Company’s current holdings. (“Passport Property”).

In the opinion of ERCOSPLAN, the investigated part of the Passport Property contains sufficient resources to justify further expenditures of funds to expand and upgrade the present Indicated and Inferred resource, to start work on a (pre-) feasibility study to identify the best mining method, to verify the economical feasibility of the project and to eventually transform the Indicated and Measured Resources to reserves in compliance with NI 43-101.

Indicated resources occur within a radius of 1,000m of an investigated Passport drill hole and Inferred resources occur within a radius of 2,000m of an investigated Passport drill hole, minus any indicated resources in this area.

A summary of the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource within the state and private holdings areas is presented in Table 1.

Resource Area (km2) Horizon Thickness (Metres) Average KCl Grade (%) Mineralized Mass
(*MMT) KCl Mass
(*MMT)
Indicated Resources 22.52 3.03 14.29 125.62 17.96
Inferred Resources 112.31 3.17 12.20 587.76 71.71 (*millions of metric tonnes)

Generally, the deposit is divided into three potash beds dominated by Halite with appreciable amounts of Sylvite (up to 50%) and Carnallite locally (up to 20%), while subordinate amounts of Anhydrite and Insolubles occur. The single beds are separated by relatively low grade mineralized beds dominated by Halite.

In their report ERCOSPLAN recommends an additional drill program consisting of 15 additional wells. The recommendation is designed to further expand the indicated and inferred resource as well as toconfirm the continuity of the deposit.

Passport is currently in the process of fulfilling the drilling recommendations from ERCOSPLAN. A portion of the wells have already been completed and will be sent to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories for full analysis. Drill results will be released to the market on a hole by hole basis when completed.

The Company anticipates that it will commence a preliminary economic assessment of the Holbrook Basin Project as soon as the current definition phase is completed. The preliminary economic assessment will aim to conceptualize the viability of a potash mining operation within the Holbrook Basin. The assessment will place particular focus on quantifying the expected benefits of the shallow depth of the deposit as well as the extensive pre-existing infrastructure.

The President and CEO of Passport Potash, Joshua Bleak was very pleased with the initial resource report commenting, “We are vey happy with the initial resource calculation that we have received from ERCOSPLAN. The initial resource is based on only 40% of our total land holdings, so there is great optimism in the future expansion of our resource. We are currently following the recommendations from ERCOSPLAN and drilling the targets that were identified in the report. We look to include that data in a future NI-43101 resource update. We look to begin our preliminary economic assessment shortly as our next step.”

To view the report in its entirety click here http://passportpotash.com/pdf/report.pdf


The Passport Potash management team is also pleased to announce that it will be hosting a conference call today at 11AM Eastern time to discuss the highlights of the NI 43-101 Report as well as other ongoing corporate activities. A Question & Answer Session will follow the discussion. The Conference call will be readily available on Passport’s website within 24 hours. Please dial the following number depending on geographic location:

Canada & USA Toll Free Dial In: 1-800-319-4610
Outside of Canada & USA call: 1-604-638-5340
Switzerland Toll Free Dial In: 0800-802-457
United Kingdom Toll Free Dial In: 0808-101-2791

Callers should dial in 5 – 10 min prior to the scheduled start time and simply ask to join the call.

Stephen B. Butrenchuk, P. Geo, P.Geol., Director of Passport, is the Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

About Passport Potash Inc.

Passport Potash Inc. is a publicly-traded corporation engaged in the exploration and development of advanced potash properties with its major focus on a previously explored potash property in Arizona. Passport has acquired a strategic position in the Holbrook Basin with land holdings encompassing over 81,315 acres. For more information on our company, please visit www.passportpotash.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Passport Potash Inc.
Contact:

Passport Potash Inc.
Peter J. Kletas
Manager of Corporate Development
866-999-6251-Toll Free
[e-mail]


Clive Mostert
Corporate Communications
780-920-5044
[e-mail]
www.passportpotash.com