BCI Minerals has begun construction of the Mardie Salt and Potash Project, 100km of Karratha, West Pilbara.
The official construction commencement was marked with a ceremony on March 25th, attended by Premier of Western Australia, the Honourable Mark McGowan and members of the BCI Board, leadership team and local stakeholders.
Located on the West Pilbara coast, the Mardie Salt and Potash Project aims to produce 5.35Mtpa of high-purity salt and 140ktpa of sulphate of potash (SOP) via solar evaporation of seawater.
“After many years of project derisking, studies and approvals, construction commencement is an exciting milestone on the path of creating Australia’s largest solar salt project that will rank third in scale globally,” said BCI Chair, Brian O’Donnell in an ASX Announcement.
“Cost pressures are evident across the mining and construction sectors in Western Australia,” added BCI Managing Director Alwyn Vorster.
“We are closely monitoring and managing our tracts and are reviewing the inflationary impact on the total Mardie capital cost.
“We are also reviewing our long-term commodity price assumptions and will advise the market when this work is complete. It is our expectation that even this these increasing cost pressures, the Mardie Project financial returns over multiple decades will remain attractive.”
BCI Minerals announced $740 million in funding and approved the final investment decision (FID) for the Mardie salt and potash project on the West Pilbara coast in October 2021.
Mardie will be the first new solar salt operation in Western Australia in almost 25 years and the first to produce salt and sulphate of potash (SOP) from seawater.
