Global SOP prices soar as WA Premier joins BCI for kick off at Mardie, Australia’s biggest solar salt project

BCI Minerals has officially kicked off construction of its Mardie salt and potash project in WA.

Premier Mark McGowan joined members of the BCI Board, leadership team and local stakeholders on site to officially launch the construction milestone.

“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,” BCI Minerals (ASX:BCI) Chair Brian O’Donnell said.

Mardie has been designed to produce 5.35Mtpa of high-purity salt (>99.5% NaCl) and 140ktpa of Sulphate of Potash (SOP) (>52% K2O) via solar evaporation of seawater.

Using an inexhaustible seawater resource and a production process driven mainly by natural solar and wind energy, Mardie will be a sustainable supplier to the global salt and potash growth markets.

Project economic despite capital costs

The company expects the current inflationary pressures on construction inputs such as fuel, labour, transport, and equipment will lead to increased capital costs, particularly the civil component of the project.

However, Mardie’s economics have enormous upside, benefitting from epic salt and potash price rises which began climbing in 2021.

SOP values up more than 70%

Since the completion of the Mardie feasibility studies, the average contract price of Australian salt imported into Asia (based on government trade information) has increased by more than 20% to app

This article was developed in collaboration with BCI Minerals Limited, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.