SO4.L Share News (SO4)

(Sharecast News) - Salt Lake Potash announced on Wednesday that all permits had been received from the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) in Western Australia, for the Lake Way Ponds at Lake Way, with construction having now commenced.The AIM-traded firm said that following receipt of the final approval from DWER, construction and operation of the first phase of the Lake Way Evaporation Ponds had begun, with site support infrastructure for construction now in place.It said the Lake Way Ponds would be the first commercial scale on-lake sulphate of potash (SOP) evaporation ponds in Australia.The first phase would enable dewatering of the Lake Way Williamson Pit, which contains the highest grade brine resource in the country.Salt Lake Potash said the initial ponds would have the capacity to hold the measured resource of 1.2GL of Williamson Pit brine at an average SOP grade of 25 kilograms per cubic metre, which contained an equivalent of 32,000 tonnes of "premium" SOP.The utilisation of the Williamson Pit brine would accelerate Salt Lake Potash's pathway to first production of SOP at Lake Way, the board explained."It is a very exciting time for Salt Lake Potash as we begin construction on Australia's first commercial scale on-lake evaporation pond system," said chief executive officer Tony Swiericzuk."This is a key milestone for not only Salt Lake Potash but also for the creation of the new SOP industry within Australia."We will continue to progress works at Lake Way on both the construction of the first phase of evaporation ponds and also on the exploration of the 'whole-of-lake' development options, which we believe will underpin a globally significant SOP operation."