Process plant crystalliser being installed on site. Image: Salt Lake Potash
Salt Lake Potash has reached a 60 per cent completion at its Lake Way project in Western Australia, which is on track to deliver its first sulphate of potash (SOP) next year.
Company chief executive Tony Swiericzuk said over the coming weeks on site activity would be accelerating towards first production, which was scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.
Ninety per cent of major vendor procurement packages are committed, and concrete foundations at the process plant site are more than 80 per cent complete.
All permanent buildings are also on site, including the village, construction village, warehouse, workshop, administration, reagents and laboratory.
On-lake, the company has commenced constructing the fourth pond train out of a total six.
Salt Lake has now started receiving long lead procurement items on site.
“(We are moving) into the peak construction phase of the process plant and non-process infrastructure,” Swiericzuk said.
“The (Salt Lake) owners team and (GR Engineering Services) continue to do an outstanding job driving all workstreams on-schedule with first SOP production due in (the first quarter of 2021.”
Salt Lake awarded GR Engineering with two contracts worth a combined $107 million in June, putting the latter in charge of building the process plant and non-process infrastructure at the Lake Way project.
Salt Lake is developing Lake Way into a mine capable of producing 245,000 tonnes of SOP a year for a 20-year mine life.