Great Quest to Develop Botswana's Sua Pan Brownfield Potash Project
December 18 2013 - 9:00AM
Marketwired
Great Quest to Develop Botswana's Sua Pan Brownfield Potash Project
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec 18, 2013) -
Great Quest Metals Ltd (the "Company" or "Great Quest")
(TSX-VENTURE:GQ)(FRANKFURT:GQM) is pleased to report it has entered
into an exclusive arrangement with Botswana Ash (Pty) Ltd
("BotAsh"), to develop the potash brine potential of Sua Pan salar
(salt pan) in Botswana, southern Africa. BotAsh operates a brine
recovery operation for sodium carbonate (soda ash) and sodium
chloride (table salt) on the salar, a facility that started
operation in 1991. Significant concentrations of potash (potassium
chloride (KCl) and potassium sulfate (K2SO4)) have been recorded in
the brines of Sua Pan, but have never been recovered commercially.
Great Quest will begin a program to evaluate the economic potential
of potash recovery from the native brines, the BotAsh mine effluent
and the historical mine tailings.
About the
Agreement
The memorandum of
understanding signed with Botswana Ash (Pty) Ltd grants Great Quest
one-year exclusivity with an option to extend for another year,
provided Great Quest has incurred a minimum of $100,000 in
expenditure to explore and develop the potash potential of the Sua
Pan. As Great Quest learns more about the nature of potash in the
Sua Pan salar, it intends to enter into a definitive long term
agreement with BotAsh, outlining compensation for infrastructure
and potassium bearing material with the economic benefit from
possible potash products belonging to Great Quest.
About the Sua Pan
Salar
The Sua Pan Salar is
the largest and lowest of three salt pans in the Makgadikgadi Pans
region of northeastern Botswana. It is considered one of the
largest salt flats in the world and has a surface area of
approximately 4,900 km2 at an elevation of 890 m above sea level.
Historical work published by the World Bank suggests that the Sua
Pan salar was capable of producing 163,000 tons per year ("tpy") of
potash mainly KCl (Wold Bank/SADC, 1993 Fertilizer Supply
Options Model), including potential to produce 21,000 tpy of
K2SO4 (World Bank/SADC, 1991, An Action Plan for the
Development of Fertilizer Industry).
The reader is
cautioned that historical data is not confirmed, and such
historical data has not been verified. There is no known potash
resource on the Sua Pan salar, and there can be no assurance that
any potash resource will be discovered on the property and, if
discovered, there is no assurance that any potash mineralization
may be economically extracted.
The technical
information of this news release has been reviewed and approved by
Jed Diner (P. Geol), a qualified person for the purposes of
National Instrument 43-101.
About Botswana Ash
(Pty) Ltd
Botswana Ash (Pty)
Ltd began operating in April 1991. The mine is located at Sua Pan,
which is approximately 180 kilometers from Francistown in northern
Botswana. BotAsh produces Soda Ash and Salt. The primary market for
soda ash is South Africa, where most of the product is used in the
glass industry. The nameplate production capacity of the soda ash
plant is 300,000 tonnes per annum. The facility also produces fine
and coarse salt with a production capacity of 650,000 tonnes per
annum. The mine is connected to South Africa by rail operated by
Botswana Railways. BotAsh is 50/50 joint venture between the
Botswana Government and managing partner Chlor Alkali Holdings
(CAH) Group of South Africa.
About Great
Quest
Great Quest Metals
Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the
development of African agricultural mineral projects for local
production of farm ready fertilizers. The Company's flagship asset
is the Tilemsi Phosphate Project, encompassing 1,206 km2 in
northeastern Mali, containing high quality phosphate resources
amenable to use as direct application fertilizer. Great Quest is
listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GQ, and the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol GQM.
ON BEHALF OF THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF GREAT QUEST METALS LTD.
"Jed Richardson"
President, Chief
Executive Officer and Director
Neither the TSX
Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The
statements that are not historical facts and are forward-looking
statements involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties
could cause actual results to vary materially from the targeted
results. We seek safe harbor.
Great Quest Metals Ltd.1 416-566-8134
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