TORONTO, April 19, 2018 /CNW/ - Potash Ridge
Corporation. (the "Company") (TSX:PRK) is pleased to provide
information on its large alumina resource and co-production
potential. Alumina is a critical raw material under pressure as US
sanctions impact global aluminium supply chains.
Potash Ridge's Large Alumina Resource and Secondary Product
Market Potential
The current US tariffs and sanctions on aluminum have sent
prices surging as well as the price of metallurgical grade alumina
– the material to make aluminum - to over $600/ton in recent transactions.
Based on the mine plan for the Blawn Mountain project in the
April 2017 43-101 Updated
Pre-Feasibility Report ("April 2017
PFS"), 19.4 million tons of unprocessed alumina will be placed in
the tailings over the 46-year project life, potentially
representing approximately 420,000 tons per year of unprocessed
alumina co-production from the alunite going into the tailings.
The Blawn Mountain Alunite deposit represents the largest known
potential nonbauxite source of alumina in the US (1). It
was discovered in the 1970's in a search for nonbauxite sources for
aluminum production as the US has negligible bauxite reserves and
has near-total dependence on imported bauxite and alumina for
primary aluminum production.
Following the release of the January
2017 43-101 Pre-Feasibility Technical Report, several
parties approached the Corporation to explore potential
applications for the alumina-rich residue material such as a raw
material for the production of aluminum with a much smaller
environmental footprint than bauxite and as a binding agent in the
production of concrete and other industrial applications.
Commercial discussions are currently aimed at determining the
optimal product mix. Based on the recommendations from the
April 2017 PFS, Potash Ridge intends
to undertake additional metallurgical testing to determine the most
economic means to extract alumina from the residual waste
material.
"Blawn Mountain is a world-class SOP fertilizer project, with a
long project life and very low operating costs," stated
Andrew Squires, the Corporation's
CEO. "The realization of market demand for the vast amount of
alumina contained in our tailings provides tremendous value upside
potential and diversity to our revenue stream."
The United States Geological Survey reports that in 2016
the quantity of bauxite consumed in the US was estimated to
be 6.8 million metric tons. Alumina imports totalled 1.2 million
metric tons with US primary aluminum production of 800,000 metric
tons. It takes between 1.9 to 3.6 tons of bauxite to make 1 ton of
alumina, and approximately 2 tons of alumina to make 1 ton of
aluminum.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
POTASH RIDGE CORPORATION
Andrew Squires
President & CEO
About Potash Ridge
Potash Ridge's strategy
is to become a premier producer of sulphate of potash "SOP"
in North America. The Corporation owns two SOP projects:
the Blawn Mountain project in Utah that plans
to produce SOP by processing an alunite material and
the Valleyfield project in Quebec that plans to produce SOP through the
Mannheim Process. Potash Ridge has a highly qualified and
proven management team in place with significant financial, project
management and operational experience to take projects into
production.
Qualified Persons
Each of the Qualified Persons
("QPs") shown below has reviewed and approved the scientific and
technical disclosures contained in the Technical Report and in this
release and are independent of the Corporation. QPs have verified
the data including sampling, analytical and test data underlying
the information or opinions contained herein. The QPs responsible
are:
Steven Kerr – Geology
References
(1) World Nonbauxite Aluminum
Resources- Alunite , Robert B Hall, Geological Survey
Professional Paper 1076A
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains
forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future
performance and reflect management's current expectations and
assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's
current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and
information currently available to the Company. Investors are
cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither
promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties
that may cause future results to differ materially from those
expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date
hereof and, except as required under applicable securities
legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update
or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.All of the
forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified
by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings
with SEDAR in Canada (available at
www.sedar.com).
SOURCE Potash Ridge Corporation