Overview

Mine Type	In-Situ
Stage	Construction
Commodities	Sulfate of potash (SOP) Potassium
Mining Method	Brine mining
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	A drilling campaign commenced in March 2020 to install test production bores into the paleochannel basal sand unit. A total of 111 bores have been installed and include 32 in the paleochannel basal sands (19 monitoring bores and 13 production bores) and 79 in the intermediate lakebed sediments unit (18 monitoring bores and 61 production bores). This program is still underway as of December 2021. Brine production commenced in September 2020 and the borefield has been operating continuously with 52 production bores pumping as of December 2021.

Deposit type

• Brine

Summary:

The deposit is a salt-lake brine deposit. The lake setting is typical of a Western Australian palaeovalley environment. Ancient hydrological systems have incised palaeovalleys into Archaean basement rocks, which were then infilled by Tertiary-aged sediments typically comprising a coarse- grained fluvial basal sand overlaid by palaeovalley clay with some coarser grained interbeds. The clay is overlaid by recent Cainozoic material including lacustrine sediment, calcrete, evaporite and aeolian deposits.

The province is characterised by granite–greenstone rocks that exhibit a prominent northwest tectonic trend and low to medium-grade metamorphism. The Archaean rocks are intruded by East– West dolerite dykes of Proterozoic age, and in the eastern area there are small, flat-lying outliers of Proterozoic and Permian sedimentary rocks. The basement rocks are generally poorly exposed owing to low relief, extensive superficial cover, and widespread deep weathering. A key characteristic of the goldfields is the occurrence of paleochannel aquifers. These paleodrainages are incised into the Archean basement and in-filled with a mixed Tertiary and Quaternary sedimentary sequence.

The paleochannel sediments of Lake Way are characterised by a mixed sedimentary sequence including sand, silts and clays of lacustrine, aeolian, fluvial and colluvial depositional origins. These near-surface deposits also include chemically-derived sediments of calcrete, silcrete and ferricrete. Beneath eastern parts of the playa, there is a deep paleochannel that is infilled with Tertiary-aged paleochannel clay and basal sands in the deepest portion.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

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Production

Operational metrics

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Phone	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................	...........		Jan 10, 2024
.......................	.......................			Oct 11, 2019