SASKATCHEWAN MINING AND MINERALS Inc (SMMI) has announced a planned construction for a CAN$220 million sulfate of potash (SOP) fertilizer production upgrade at its sodium sulfate plant in Chaplin, Saskatchewan, Canada. Construction is scheduled to begin by late 2021 and the upgraded facility, expected to be complete by the end of 2023, will produce 150 000 tpy of SOP. SMMI senior management’s decision to proceed with this facility upgrade was primarily based on the completion of a favourable Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) by the Saskatoon office of Wood Group. Once complete, the addition of SOP production will result in an estimated 50% increase in jobs at the Chaplin facility on an ongoing basis. “As we emerge and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Saskatchewan’s rural communities and industries will play a vital role in that recovery,“ Lyle Stewart, MLA for Lumsden – Morse commented. „Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals’ SOP fertilizer upgrade is leading that charge and will help us deliver on our mandates of growing our natural resource and agricultural economies, creating jobs and growing Saskatchewan exports.”
SALT LAKE POTASH (SO4) has announced the commencement of process plant commissioning at its Lake Way Project near Wiluna, Western Australia. First time potassium rich harvest salts, precipitated from lake aquifer brine, have been fed into an sulfate of potash (SOP) plant in Australia. First harvest salts have now been successfully fed into the feed hopper, conveyed to the surge bin, run through the lump breaker, and then into the attritioning feed tank at the front-end of the process plant. Over the coming weeks the utilities, conversion circuit, flotation circuits, crystallisers and dryer will all be commissioned ahead of full load commissioning and SOP production in the June quarter. Consultants from the plant designer, Wood Group, as well as vendors Veolia and Broadbent (amongst others) will be assisting in the commissioning process. Front-end plant commissioning was powered by 2 MW diesel generators. These will continue to be used to progress the commissioning activities over coming weeks. Gas supply lines and delivery station for the 10 MW power station have been fully commissioned, with power-on scheduled for late April to support final commissioning activities and production commencement.
KBR, an American engineering, procurement, and construction company, has been awarded contracts for revamping two ammonia plants by PJSC Acron Group, Novgorod, Russia. KBR will supply the process technology license, basic engineering design package, and proprietary equipment for the ammonia plants to increase production capacity by over 30% to 2300 tpd each. The original plants were commissioned in the 1970s. The key revamp measures will include KBR’s KRES™ technology, KBR’s Horizontal Ammonia Convertor, and other advanced features that enable KBR to increase output and overall energy efficiency as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of ammonia. The completion of the first revamp project including commissioning and start-up is expected in 2023. Doug Kelly, KBR President, Technology, said that “the selection of our ammonia technology shows the trust and confidence leading producers like Acron have in KBR’s energy-efficient and sustainable ammonia technology solutions.”
