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Western Potash – Intersects Over Twenty Metres of Potash Mineralization
It is always refreshing to see mining companies continuing their exploration work, regardless of the market direction. Those who own better projects naturally greet markets with encouraging results. This has been the case with Canadian Venture and Frankfurt listed Western Potash Corp (TSX.V: WPX, Frankfurt: AHE). The company has intersected further significant potash mineralization in its drill programme on its wholly-owned Milestone property in southern Saskatchewan. The property, comprising 500 square km in area, is located approximately 30 km southeast of Regina, and is close to Mosaic's (NYSE: MOS) Belle Plaine Mine, one of the largest producing potash solution mines in the world with a rated capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per annum.
WPX has already undertaken considerable development work on the property and this is the third well drilled on the Milestone property. This redirected well (Milestone - 002A) intersected the potash beds 800 m to the north of the original vertical well using directional drilling. The Company decided to drill this directional hole to test the theory that the clay disturbed Patience Lake member, with lower grade potash mineralization, is only a local anomaly. The mineralisation indicates that the theory of a locally-disturbed potash bed is correct.
The new well has hit good potash mineralization in all three potash members. Coring of the Milestone - 002A well has intersected the Prairie Evaporite Formation at a true vertical depth of 1,662 m. Visual geological evaluation of the core in conjunction with down-hole gamma ray logs indicate strong potash grades (below a well-developed salt back), very low carnallite content, and very promising minimum formation temperatures of 62° C within the two upper members, with some carnallite present in the Esterhazy member. The following potash member thicknesses are indicated by the down-hole gamma ray logs:
Going by the presence and indicated grade of the potash beds in the third well taken in conjunction with that of the earlier Milestone - 001 well, WPX views results as most encouraging. In that well, drilled on the northern part of the property, all three potash members: the Patience Lake, Belle Plaine and the Esterhazy were intersected with thicknesses and grades consistent with those mined at the Belle Plaine solution mine. The Company is confident that it has confirmed the anomaly encountered in the original vertical well and the regional continuity of all three potash members between the first and second wells. A comparison of the gamma ray responses have also suggested that the mineralized sections observed for each of the three potash members are very consistent and will have very similar tenor in grade and thickness.
It is also very important to note that information from the drilling to date confirms the presence of the heat anomaly that helped attract the Company to the project area. Temperature measurements from all the wells show minimum formation temperatures ranging from 62° C to 65.5° C. Temperature will be an important component of the economics of future mining on the property. The solubility of potash increases with temperature such that the higher the formation temperature, the higher the yield of potassium chloride in the brine solution to be processed for potash recovery. A solution mine, accessing a higher formation temperature resource, will produce more potassium chloride in solution than an operation tapping an equivalent resource at lower formation temperatures. The Company views formation temperature as a key parameter in solution mining economics, offering advantages in solution mass-balance and savings in capital, energy and processing costs.
Testing of potash mineralization on the Milestone property will now continue with an additional well located approximately 7.25 km south-southeast of the second well site. The Company has budgeted approximately $5.4 million CAD for this three-well drill program but expects to expand the programs based on continuing positive results, enabling the Company to select an initial area for more detailed potash mineralization definition. The Company expects to be well positioned to prepare an NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation on the Milestone property during 2009.
About Western Potash Corp.
Western Potash Corp. is a mineral exploration company engaged in the evaluation, exploration and development of potash mineral properties in Western Canada. The Company intends to define and develop a world-class potash deposit in an ecologically sustainable, economically efficient and socially responsible manner.
