Replies to post #25 on SIRIUS MINERALS PLC - ADRs (bundles of 500 shares) (SRUXY)

[Thunderbolt]

Can you post the link?

[Thunderbolt]

Hi Dave, Looks like North Dakota is in the news again re renewable energy. This is very good for Sirius Exploration (SRUXY) and Dakota Salts.

http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/536359.html

Shifting a quarter of the nation's electrical generation to renewable sources would create 274,000 jobs nationwide, including 4,900 jobs in North Dakota, according to a study conducted for an alliance of renewable energy companies.

The RES Alliance for Jobs is promoting a federal renewable energy standard requiring electrical utilities to get 25 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2025.

Basin Electric Cooperative in Bismarck, which provides electricity to a consortium of rural co-ops, reported it was already at 22 percent from hydropower and wind at the end of 2009. That exceeds the goal of Basin Electric members, who voted in 2005 to aim for 10 percent of power from renewable sources by 2010.

Basin Electric brought its PrairieWinds 1 and Minot Wind 2 projects on line in December. It expects to maintain an employment of eight to 10 people in the 120-megawatt operations.

Xcel Energy, which serves Minot, is the nation's top wind power provider among investor-owned utilities, according to the American Wind Energy Association. At the end of 2009, Xcel Energy had 3,176 megawatts of wind power capacity in its eight-state service territory, including 1,265 megawatts in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

The company will get 10 percent of its capacity from renewable sources once two new wind projects come on line in the next two years. By 2025, Xcel Energy's goal is to have 30 percent of its power coming from renewable sources, of which 25 percent would be wind, said spokeswoman Bonnie Lund, Fargo.

One of Xcel's proposed wind projects is the 150-megawatt Merricourt wind farm in southeastern North Dakota. According to national averages provided by the American Wind Energy Association, a 150-megawatt wind energy project would be expected to create about 150 construction jobs, 10 long-term operation and maintenance jobs and 300 manufacturing jobs.

The "Job Impacts of a National Renewable Electricity Standard" study released Thursday was conducted by an independent firm for the RES Alliance for Jobs. It linked most of the 4,900 new jobs in North Dakota to wind energy. Fewer than 250 new jobs would be created in the hydropower industry. New jobs include direct, indirect and induced, which are created from wages spent.

A national breakdown of direct jobs shows 52 percent would be in manufacturing, 23 percent in construction, 11 percent in engineering and technical services and 14 percent in operation, maintenance, administration and management.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission reports wind projects are producing 1,186.72 megawatts of energy in the state. Companies have either received permits or have applied for permits for another 7,010.72 megawatts in 14 proposed projects. They include Merricourt as well as Sequoia Energy's 150-megawatt Border Winds project in Rolette and Towner counties and Hartland Wind Farm's 2,000 megawatts in Ward, Burke and Mountrail counties.

In addition, the PSC has received numerous interconnectivity requests to transport wind-generated power through the Midwest grid.

"Future development does hinge on getting transmission lines," said Jerry Lein, public utilities analyst with the PSC.

Daryl Hill, spokesman for Basin Electric in Bismarck, said transmission is particularly important for North Dakota.

"Certainly you have to have the transmission capabilities to move this power because North Dakota is a power-exporting state," he said.

Basin Electric has the transmission capacity to move ahead with plans to add more wind power to its energy grid, Hill said. The cooperative plans to start construction later this year on a wind farm in South Dakota and will purchase energy from another wind project there.

[Thunderbolt]

http://www.dakotasalts.com/

http://www.dakotasalts.com/about-us.html

http://www.dakotasalts.com/projects.html

Dakota Salts LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sirius Exploration Plc and is incorporated in Colorado, USA. Based in Denver, Dakota Salts holds mineral leases in excess of 5,000 acres in North Dakota, USA, allowing for the exploration and extraction of salt and potash and the creation of caverns for the storage of natural gas and other hydrocarbons or the storage of compressed air for electricity generation.

North Dakota is the base of one of the largest wind farm, electricity generation projects in North America with capital investment expected to exceed $4 billion. President Obama has stated his commitment not only to renewable energy but also to connecting these wind farms into the grid to supply Chicago with power. Wind power is one of the most environmentally friendly sources of power but does not provide a consistent output since power is only generated when wind is blowing. This can lead to complex power management issues. These can be potentially resolved by storing compressed air in underground storage caverns and then releasing it when required to power turbines to generate electricity when it is needed. Dakota Salts and the Sirius Exploration group of companies are committed to identifying innovative new ways to commercialize its properties concurrently or after the mining activity has been concluded that help reduce carbon emissions.


Based on the analysis of historic data, the Dakota Salts properties overlie:

Known Exploration Targets:

* Typically over 165 meters of salt thickness

* In excess of 10 meters of potash

* 2,450 meters to 2,750 meters deep for solution mining



And, based on calculations drawn from historic preliminary core tests, suggest initial volumetric calculations of:

* 6 to 10.7 meters thick of potash deposit

* 18 to 25 % grade sylvite

* 2.1 to 5.2 million metric tons per square kilometre

* 5.5 to 13.4 million metric tons per square mile