Lake disappointment potash project

Lake Disappointment potash project is located in the Little Sandy Desert region of north-west, Western Australia, approximately 340 kilometres east of the mining centre of Newman, via the Talawana track The project is centered on a mineral resource of 564 million tonnes of Potassium Sulphate (SOP) grading at 13.7 kilograms a cubic metre, that is accessible within the top 63 metres of sediments of Lake Disappointment.

Lake Disappointment Project Being Developed by Reward Minerals Limited

The Lake Disappointment SOP project is being developed by Reward Minerals Limited, an Australian SOP resource exploration and development company, with its headquarters in Perth. Reward Minerals Limited, hold a granted Mining Lease over the Lake Disappointment area, as well as a Miscellaneous Licence and a registered Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the lake's traditional owners. The company holds tenements over an area of 5,000 square kilometres and includes palaeovalleys (ancient buried river valleys that no longer function as surface water systems. They were originally formed when climatic conditions were different to what they are today) as well as several lakes, that are known to contain considerable quantities of high density brines rich in potassium.

The Karly Potash Project is Located 200 Kilometres Northwest of the Lake Disappointment Project

Reward Minerals Limited are also looking at developing the potash recovery Karley Project that is located about 200 kilometres northwest of Lake Disappointment and 400 kilometres east of Port Hedland, that can be reached via a road that is sealed for the last 350 kilometres into the Port Hedland area. The Karly Project is situated within a palaeovalley system. Test results show the brine has flowed into the Waukarlycarly Embayment from a south easterly direction and finally concentrated in Lake Waukarlycarly and Lake Dora, therefore providing high quality brines near the lake's evaporation epicentre.

Lake Disappointment Base Camp is a Regional Development Centre

Reward Minerals Limited upgraded the Lake Disappointment Talawana Access Track in 2013, as well as completing the construction of a base camp that served as a base for all Lake Disappointment regional development activities, particularly the undertaking of the different stages of the Lake Disappointment environmental survey study.

In April, 2015, the Lake Disappointment Project Scoping Study, that outlined the detailed plant design, infrastructure and operating costs, proposing a 400,000 tonnes a year mining operation was provided, showing excellent results. The life of mine at Lake Disappointment was estimated to last for at least 13 years although the company is currently engaged in a drilling program at the lake that has the potential to considerably expand the JORC (2004) compliant SOP Resource (at depth) of 24.4 million tonnes, which would also substantially extend the then life of mine prediction. In 2012 the JORC compliant mineral resource at Lake Disappointment was recorded at being 564 million tonnes of SOP grading at 13.7 kilograms a cubic metre.

Recovery of Lake Disappointment Potassium Sulphate is to be achieved by means of solar evaporation of the brine, as a 10,000 litre pilot scheme returned highly encouraging evaporation results, The pilot scheme was conducted over a 180 day period and averaged between seven and eight millimetres of evaporation each day, achieving 87.5 percent Potassium recovery that returned 983 kilograms of product that was sent on to undergo further metallurgical tests.