Potash is the common name given to a group of minerals and chemicals that contain potassium (K) which is a basic nutrient for plants and an important ingredient in fertilizer. Potash is produced as potassium chloride (KCl) in Saskatchewan from sylvinite rock that is a mixture of Sylvite (KCl) and Halite (NaCl) minerals. The KCl content is measured and refer to it in terms of potassium oxide (%K2O) equivalence. %K2O grade is equivalent to KCl content using the mineralogical conversion factor of 1.583. Jansen potash deposit is composed of combinations of halite (NaCl), sylvite (KCl) with variable mounts of disseminated insolubles and clay seams.

The Jansen potash deposit is located within the Williston Basin, a large, intracratonic, horizontally bedded sedimentary basin.

The potash beds are hosted within the Prairie Evaporite (PE) formation, in regionally extensive, horizontal layers during the repeated, cyclical evaporation of a shallow, inland sea during the Devonian period.

In Jansen, the potash is at a depth of approximately 800 metres to approximately 1,050 metres. Two Potash members are present in Jansen those being the Patience Lake and Belle Plaine members. The Patience Lake member is further subdivided into Upper Patience Lake (UPL) and Lower Patience Lake (LPL) sub-members. The LPL sub-member is the potash horizon targeted for Jansen. The LPL sub-member is composed of sylvite (KCl), halite (NaCl) with variable amounts of disseminated insolubles and clay seams. Carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6H2O), a mineral which can impact processing and ground stability, occasionally occurs in place of sylvite within the potash layer.

The potash deposit extends from east to west in the province and, based on information available to date, shows relative uniformity, except where there are anomalies due to local dissolutions of the potash beds or clay seams. The main types of anomalies are called washout, leach and collapse anomalies.

Local Geology
During the Middle Devonian period, the Alberta Basin and the Williston Basin formed one larger unit, the Elk Point Basin, which was connected to the ocean in the northwest. Later, basin restrictions began to increase its salinity and induced the deposition of the Prairie Evaporite (PE) which hosts the potash bearing members. Middle Devonian cyclic deposition continued with Manitoba Group and Saskatchewan Group after the Elk Point Group sediments. The Jansen potash deposit is located within the Williston Basin, a large, intracratonic, structurally simple, and horizontally bedded sedimentary basin. The Williston Basin extends from southern Saskatchewan, Canada into the northern states of the United States of America.

Deposition of sediments in the basin began during the Cambrian geological time period, followed by an intense period of limestone, dolomite, evaporite, sandstone, and shale deposition during the geological time periods Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian ending with Cretaceous sediments.

Deposition of sediments in the basin began during the Cambrian geological time period, followed by an intense period of limestone, dolomite, evaporite, sandstone, and shale deposition during the geological time periods Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian ending with Cretaceous sediments. The potash beds are approximately 900 metres below surface, at the top of the PE Formation which conformably overlies the predominantly carbonate layers of Winnipegosis Formation. There are three main potash bearing members present in the PE Formation. Two are present in the Jansen area, those being the Patience Lake and Belle Plaine members. The Patience Lake member is further subdivided into Upper Patience Lake (UPL) and Lower Patience Lake (LPL) sub-members.

The LPL sub-member is the potash horizon targeted for Jansen. These potash members were deposited in regionally extensive (hundreds of kilometres), horizontal layers during the repeated, cyclical periods of evaporation of a shallow, inland sea during the Devonian Period. Mineralization within the potash layers consists of a layered, repetitive sequence of sylvite (KCl) with halite (NaCl) and thin layers of insoluble dolomitic clay material (clay seams). Carnallite (KCl.MgCl2.6H2O), a mineral which can impact processing and ground stability, occasionally occurs in place of sylvite within the potash layer.

The Dawson Bay formation, includes the Second Red Beds member and the Dawson Bay carbonate members on top and overlays the PE Formation.

Approximately 400 metres below the PE Formation are the Cambrian-Ordovician Winnipeg and Deadwood formations. Sediments of these formations were deposited in near shore, shallow water marine environments on top of the Precambrian rocks. The coarse to fine sands of the formations, host a vast deep saline aquifer that is used for brine disposal.

Mineral Deposit
The Jansen Lower Patient Lake (LPL) sub-member is hosted within the Prairie Evaporite (PE) Formation, and was deposited in regionally extensive, horizontal layers during the repeated, cyclical evaporation of a shallow, saltpan environment during the Devonian period. LPL potash is composed of combinations of halite (NaCl), sylvite (KCl) with variable amounts of disseminated insolubles and clay seams.

The LPL is subdivided into four mineralization cycles for detailed geological characterization of the potential mining horizon. The LPL sub-member is an approximately five metres thick potash unit interspersed with thin clay seams. The LPL top is marked by a clay seam (named the 406) that is overlain by an approximately 2.5 metres thick halite unit. The bottom of the LPL unit is marked by a clay seam (named the 401). The mineralization of the LPL is restricted to the 406 to 401 interval. The clay seams are consistent throughout the potash basin and the Jansen area and can be easily correlated between the drill holes.

Safe mining practice in the Prairie Evaporate Formation requires a competent rock immediately above the top of the LPL sub-unit. The interval clay seams, mainly consists of halite with some minor insoluble bands, traditionally known as the Shadow band (SB) and Henry Marker (HM). These are considered potential geotechnical hazards as they, in some areas, weaken the mining roof and may require extra ground support or additional cutting and increase the dilution. Their effect was taken into account in reserve calculations.

The Jansen Mine is expected to be an underground potash mine extracting the Lower Patience Lake sub-member within the Prairie Evaporite formation. The orebody gently undulates over large distances, has well defined boundary conditions, and has a reasonably consistent ore grade. Mining will take place on a single level in two separate districts.

The planned mining method is long room and pillar. Production mining rooms are expected to be excavated in two passes to a final width of 12 metres using track-mounted borer miners and extendable conveying systems. Mined ore is expected to be transported to the shaft area for hoisting using a roof or floor mounted conveyor network.

Pillars contribute to the mining room stability for safe working conditions and are derived from empirical and numerical models using expected geological conditions, depth, extraction ratio, extraction rates, and expected useful life of the entries. The mine has been designed with consideration of the expected geotechnical and hydrogeological conditions to manage the mining induced subsidence. Maintaining the integrity of the overlying shale, limestone and halite units act as a protective barrier from risk of brine inflow to the mine.

The mine is divided into four districts, which contain mining blocks comprised of development entries and production panels. Excavated ore is transported via conveyor network to the shaft for hoisting and subsequent processing. Development mining takes place within the LPL zone. Production room mining is completed in a two pass routine, where pass 1 is excavated from the panel travelway to the turn-around entry while a temporary conveyor system is installed as the mining face advances. Pass 2 follows the excavation wall from pass 1, and reclaims the conveyor as the mining face advances back towards the travelway. This process is repeated until all rooms have been mined in a panel.

The production mining rooms are excavated in two passes, yielding a 12 metre wide opening of varying length. Production panel pillar widths vary with deposit depth between 17 metres and 15 metres. There is no minimum room design length, rather minimum pillar dimensions. In general terms the mine design strives for the longest panel room length, up to a maximum of 1,800 metres. The mine plan strives to assign mining rooms less than 1,000 metres in length to be excavated by a drum miner with batch haulage.

Development mining rooms are subject to the same minimum room sizes, although are excavated larger given the required useful life of the development entry is longer than a production mining room.

Mining height is variable between 3.7 metres and 4.4 metres. Except for the shaft pillar area, all excavations are expected to occur in the LPL. Each mine design shape undergoes an evaluation of excavation heights to determine the highest ore grade. Determining the planned excavation height is an iteration which first considers the grade of the minimum mining height and the thickness of the overlying dilution material, then compares the grade against a mining height that includes an additional resource model ply.

Mining dilution is captured in the mine plan through the planned overcut of the 406 clay seam and, where required, cutting the overlying halite unit to achieve stable roof conditions. The overlying roof dilution is primarily salt and has a fixed grade of 3 % K2O applied. The primary driver for excavating roof dilution is the depth and type of the shadow band (SB). The SB has been interpreted and modelled as a continuous zone of clay bands with categories of alteration. The first category of shadow band are recognised as discrete mud parting planes with varying thickness. The remaining SB do not form a distinct defined parting plane.

The mining dilution has been reasonably reflected in the mine plan, and therefore the economic evaluation, through the use of a planned global overcut of 10 centimetres on the targeted roof strata, and the use of roof beam thickness thresholds triggered by the capability of the ground support and a modelled shadow band interpretation. Of noteworthy comparison is the positive economic value shown in the Min range case, despite an aggressive overcut of 20 centimetres in all instances, and complete removal of all shadow band types for the entirety of the mine life.

As no production has occurred to date, no reconciliation data is available. The mining recovery is estimated to be 100 per cent recoverable. Ore losses from transport between mining face and the ore processing plant have not been considered. The reported mineral reserve grade is considered fully diluted.

The use of backfill at Jansen is not currently planned. Fine and course tailings will be placed in the tailings management area. Mine development entries will be excavated in the LPL ore zone. Backfill in the sense of providing geotechnical support is not currently planned at Jansen. However, periodic storage of material will occur due to rehabilitation work that will take place over time. The destination of this material may either be stored in stable old entries or loaded onto the conveyance system to the mill.

According to the mine plan, underground construction and mining activities of the Jansen mine will be supported by a fleet of mobile equipment. The listed equipment is to be purchased and commissioned prior to the start of CY2028. The dimensions of the mine design reflects the use of this equipment. Asset management at Jansen is based on fit-for purpose lifecycle cost analysis and maintenance planning is in alignment to the life of mine plan. The mine plan considers the frequency and duration of maintenance activities in the schedule.

The underground mobile equipment fleet is expected to include all equipment required for:
• Early shaft pillar development and mine construction
• Shaft and mine services, including conveyance system construction and upkeep
• Production panel support, including development of cross-cuts and stubs
• Mains development support
• Ground support and rehabilitation
• Emergency response
• Personnel transport

The Sandvik MF460 borer miner and PO140 EBS make up the selected mining system for continuous mining in both production rooms and development drives. The fleet will consist of five MF460 borer miners and four PO140 EBS units.

Unit operations that are expected to make up the Jansen processing facilities are common to conventional potash mines in Saskatchewan, and will include:
• Raw ore handling, storage, and crushing;
• Process mill building wet area comprising attrition scrubbing, desliming, flotation, and debrining;
• Process mill building dry area comprising drying, screening, compaction, and glazing;
• Tailings processing, crystallizer, and reagents;
• Product handling, storage, screening, and loadout.

The Jansen Stage 1 process plant is designed to be a fit-for-purpose high-recovery facility, capable of processing 1,483 tonnes per hour wet basis (or 1,479 tph dry basis) of raw ore to produce red fertilizer grade potash (muriate of potash) sized for both standard and granular product types.

Conveyors will transport raw ore (approx. 40 % KCl salt, 53 % NaCl salt, and 7 % water insoluble) from the Service shaft to the processing plant or the raw ore stage bui ........