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Not as far as I know.

Part of the ESIA requires the plans to be announced & as far as we know there were no objections.

I wish Emerson had actually been more proactive with the locals as unemployment is running very high in this region & with so many jobs being created this may have put a bit more pressure on the CRIU to approve the project.

The last presentation mentions water usage.

Original design 139m3/hr, DWI 20 million m3 over mine life.

KMP design 56m3/hr, No DWI.

Hopefully this July is finally the month when we get the approval. According to the CRUI flow chart a decision on an appeal application is 90 days. The RNS at the end of May mentioned the ESIA had been submitted early April. That takes us roughly to the middle of July.

The application needs to be signed off by the water authority (ONEE), before the CRUI. The last submission last year got stuck (this is what I have heard from another investor), not on water usage but on the deep well injection (DWI). Although this method has been used previously in other potash mines it is not something that has been used in Morocco & the ONEE, were worried about well contamination.

The new processing method KMP as we know doesn’t need DWI.

So fingers crossed this aspect can be ticked off.

I don't believe OCP are anywhere near having a mine ready despite the recent news articles. There isn't even a JORC resource for their blocks as things stand.

In the last RNS Graham mentioned that the revised EIA went in 'early' April.

I have seen a diagram of the appeal process which states a decision in 90 days, so that takes us to Mid July for a decision if they make EML wait.

That is 'if' the CRUI are treating it as an appeal.

Agree with Sloppy over GSM's involvement, these guys are serious players & Mark Zhou (GSM), in a recent article claimed he was backing the Khemisset mine in which he qualifies as being 'exceptional'

The red/blue is not always correct. I suspect most of the trades above 2.0 will be buys.

Thought more about the visit from a GSM representative last week.

My guess is he will be the person appointed to the Emmerson board & so will want to be across the project which would naturally include visiting Morocco & the site.

Lets hope for news before the end of June.

GLA

AJ27 Ice cream, hi both sorry the Olympic swimming pool mentions were mine originally, sorry my bad (google DOH!).

Mentioned earlier but the good news from today is the mention of the revised ESIA going in 'early April' so at least this gives us a good idea of how long (almost 6 weeks), they have had to consider it.

Reading the full financials it mentions the new application was submitted in early April so timeframe wise they have already had a month or more to look at it.

It will be interesting to see how the GSM visit is viewed by the Moroccan authorities. They represent a billionaire who could bring other ferttilzer processors to the region as well as jobs.

Link won’t take you to article.

Google Africa intelligence & search Morocco.

"The representative of Emmerson's main shareholders has paid a visit to Morocco to lay out what the company, backed by major international mining firms, hopes to gain from the site east of Rabat."

I could not see the rest of the article (paywall), but interesting to see GSM getting involved which must be a positive push for the project.

The grey water is coming from the Khemisset Waste Water Treatment Plant, that sits on a river.

Normally the treated water would be discharged back into the river.

This is all in a 2022 RNS & nothing over the past 2yrs has changed on where the water is coming from, with the exception that Emmerson no longer need as much of the waste water.

OCP already produce blended fertilizers (something Emmerson could think about doing which would increase the profitably).

https://www.ocpgroup.ma/standard-fertilizers

https://www.ocpgroup.ma/standard-fertilizers

Agree with 99 on this one there is no need to desalinate when the water is going to be used to wash/process salts.

There is an interview with Hayden back in 2018 (pre DFS), where he mentions using sea water piped in from the sea or freshwater.

In hindsight seawater may have been the better option but this was pre drought when water was not such a big issue.

Geoff, good post. Agree with most of what you say.

Pre KMP the mine was going to be using around 139m3/hr so an Olympic sized swimming pool of water every 2hrs. That usage is much better now at 56m3/hr.

They also came up with a better solution for the tailings in 2023 as they are now using dry stack tailings, which should be far more environmentally friendly.

If you look at the reasons for refusing to issue the permit in 2023 they are actually the same as back in 2021 when concerns were first raised. I believe this may just have been loose coms when the issues were simply c+p across for a previous RNS.

The next RNS IMO will be either

1, A revised DFS which should extend the life of the mine in years & improve the financials as the new process has lower cut off grades.

2, An off take agreement for the two new fertilizer products.

The EIA approval is hopefully late May or June.

Well Sloppy you call the raise spot on, good call.

Its disappointing having to raise at this level, but at least most shares go into sticky II hands.

GC mentions in today's interview that the new application will go in very soon, lets hope so. Its then according to a CRUI flow sheet either a 90day wait or 30day wait if they treat it as a review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viTNBglFGJ8

The KMP process will not work for all potash miners as the minerals that make up the potash differ between mines.

The potash mix in Khemisset is, carnallitic and rinneitic this process won't work for other mineral deposits.

One down side of the Khemisset mine are the impurities that meant that the processing needed an extra stage pre KMP to remove magnesium (Mg) and iron (Fe).

Now with KMP those impurities have been reprocessed to produce new fertilizers.

If you follow most AIM miners, the one word you hear most often from the BOD is 'soon'

but building mines in Africa is a slow process & often the BOD are more or less as much in the dark as investors as to what is holding the project up.

Currently we know the decision on the permit is back with the local CRIU, if we follow their flowsheet Emmerson should hear a decision within 90 days.

Hopefully the paperwork including the KMP is back in, however they may be waiting for the revised DFS, which is being redrawn, as the whole project has grown & changed completely.

While Sunday browsing (which invariably sends me to investments & Emmerson), I came across this bit of news posted on a Khemisset forum.

The post is dated March 11th (the same day as the RNS on ESIA referral back to the CRUI.

Abdullah Bouano, the head of the Justice and Development Parliamentary Group in the House of Representatives, asked the government why it was late in granting environmental approval to the “Potash” project, which was licensed by the British company Emmerson PLC” in the Khemisset region.

In a written question addressed to Leila Benali, the Minister of Energy Transition, speeding up the environmental licensing of this 19-year project.

This project is expected to invest a total amount of about 2.5 billion dollars during this period, and it is expected to create about 2,000 job opportunities in Morocco.

According to Buano, the company “waited to receive environmental approval during the second half of last year 2023 but the relevant ministerial committee has not recovered for that purpose.”

The translation isn't 100% but it looks as though at least one minister is interested in getting the mine up & running.

They are currently running soil trials with the new fertilizers, before it is Incorporated into a new DFS. That DFS should also increase the mine life & tonnage they will be pulling out of the ground, which all should raise the SP from it's current lows. That is the next bit of news I am expecting & hopefully the ESIA shortly after. Raising before either would not make sense unless as you suggest they need to. GC also mentioned cutting back work streams hopefully to conserve cash.

Sloppy, they don't need to raise, EML has enough money to last them through to 2024 according to the broker.

"Emmerson currently has US$3.5m of cash, sufficient for 'at least’ the next 12 months", added the broker. (Jan 2024).

That £26k buy @ 2.65 has just tipped the scales (only showed up just after you posted).

Hopefully next week will be the last week to buy below 3p.

Have a good weekend all.

99 Ice, agreed.

The water use on the previous ESIA was a decent amount, roughly an Olympic swimming pool every 2hrs. EML over came this by using waste water so that ticked that box but the next issue became the tailings & DWI of the brines.

Again it is understandable why local farmers may have been concerned, potash mines have been known to decimate the soil (salt), around the mines if they are not dealt with correctly & there is a small river nearby which I am sure they may have also worried over with salt contamination.

These issues, have with the new process been delt with, the only negatives I can see from the new process is road traffic as the amount produced with the new fertilizers has doubled.

I expect the next news will be an updated DFS, with the new process incorporated, landing sometime this month. With most of the ESIA application remaining the same, I would expect it to land within 90days.

GLA