Corporate Update August 2020
Released
Released
Announcement PDF
Parkway Minerals NL
ASX
ACN 147 346 334
Announcement
25 August 2020
ASX:
FSE:
Level 1, 675 Murray Street
West Perth WA 6005
PO Box 1088
West Perth WA 6872
Australia
T +61 8 9479 5386
parkwayminerals.com.au
PWN
4IP
CORPORATE UPDATE – AUGUST 2020
Parkway Minerals NL (ASX: PWN) (“Parkway Minerals” or the “Company”) is pleased to
provide the following update.
Further to recent announcements, Parkway Minerals remains focused on commercialising a
world-class technology portfolio to provide long-term sustainable solutions for processing
complex brines, in the energy, mining and wastewater industries. The Company is
collaborating with strategic partners and prospective clients, to deliver BPaaS – Brine
Processing as a Solution™.
Technology
iBC™ Update
The recently acquired iBC™ technology, provides the opportunity to pre-treat complex brines,
particularly from the coal-seam gas (CSG) industry, in order to enable further downstream
processing, to reduce wastewater volumes and recover valuable chemical products. Whilst
previous testwork, performed prior to acquisition of the technology, confirmed the iBC™
technology was effective in pre-treating CSG brines, most of this testwork was performed at
relatively high temperatures on reasonably concentrated brines. Comprehensive testwork
performed in recent weeks, has now confirmed the iBC™ technology is also capable of
achieving high rates of causticization efficiency at both low (ambient) temperatures, as well as
low brine concentrations, significantly increasing the range of potentially economic application
opportunities.
These highly encouraging findings will enable the development of innovative brine processing
flowsheets and support ongoing exploratory discussions with several CSG market
participants, facing significant brine waste related challenges.
In order to build further capability in wastewater treatment, Parkway Minerals has recently
recruited a senior engineer who was previously design manager for several significant water
treatment plants, including one of the largest wastewater treatment plants installed at an
Australian CSG project. The Parkway Minerals engineering team continues to grow beyond
core process engineering expertise and now incorporates direct experience in the design,
construction and commissioning of wastewater treatment plants operating in the CSG sector.
These practical capabilities provide Parkway Minerals with a strong foundation from which to
develop effective Brine Processing as a Solution™ offerings for the CSG sector.
aMES™ Update
New Testwork
Parkway Minerals recently commenced an aMES™ based testing program on a waste stream
from a major base metal mine. The complex waste stream is of high impact to the global
mining company which operates the mine and represents a significant opportunity for
substantial value creation through the reduction of wastewater volumes (and associated costs)
and the recovery of substantial mineral products (potentially exceeding >$50 million/yr1).
Technoeconomic Review
Parkway Minerals has recently completed a preliminary internal evaluation of a mining waste
stream from an established European mining project which has previously undergone
extensive aMES™ based testwork. Preliminary results suggest the potentially recoverable
value from the waste stream, through the production of a saleable product, is of a similar
magnitude to the above project.
In addition to the significant potentially recoverable value, both the project undergoing New
Testwork and the project that has recently undergone a Technoeconomic Review (as outlined
above), currently have significant annual cost burdens (>$10 million/yr) associated with storing
the waste streams, providing strong impetus for adopting viable long-term solutions. Parkway
Minerals remains confident the technology portfolio the Company is currently commercialising,
will form the basis of a solution for these types of large high-value waste streams, through the
adoption of Brine Processing as a Solution™.
aMES™ Pilot Plant
The procurement process for the new state-of-the-art aMES™ pilot plant is nearing
completion. Onsite preparations commenced last week, with plant assembly currently
expected to commence around mid-Sep 2020, with commissioning anticipated approximately
2 - 4 weeks thereafter. Whilst the project has a well-defined schedule and execution plan, in
light of third-party dependencies and potential COVID-19 related impacts (see below), there
is a risk that pilot plant commissioning may not be completed by the time the KLPP-PFS is
due for completion. Further details are provided below.
Victoria COVID-19 Lockdown
Earlier this year, Parkway Minerals established an Engineering & Technical Office co-located
at Victoria University’s Werribee Campus, the site where the majority of the laboratories and
piloting facilities associated with the Company’s various technology programs are located.
On Sunday 2 August 2020, Melbourne (where the Werribee Campus is located) moved to
Stage 4 Restrictions associated with the COVID-19 outbreak. Victoria is currently in a State
of Emergency, which is scheduled to end on 13 September 2020. During the Stage 4
Restrictions and the State of Emergency, access to the Werribee Campus has been reduced
significantly, and has been limited to essential activities. Key personnel supporting the
Company’s activities have been granted certain exemptions, allowing key activities to proceed
with the adoption of relevant safety protocols, albeit on reduced schedules to minimise risks.
Strategic Alignment
Parkway Minerals continues to attract interest from a number of major companies operating
in the energy, mining and wastewater industries, including unsolicited interest in potentially
establishing strategic partnerships to target substantial global opportunities, in a range of
target markets/industries. Several discussions about potential collaboration remain ongoing.
1 This number represents the estimated insitu value of potentially recoverable mineral products based on 100% recovery and paya bility. This is not a production or revenue
forecast, but provided for general information purposes only, in order to illustrate the potential scale of the opportunity.
Corporate Update – August 2020
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Projects
Karinga Lakes Potash Project – Pre-Feasibility Study (KLPP-PFS)
The KLPP-PFS being jointly delivered by Parkway Minerals and Worley is progressing well.
The project team continues to make significant progress and has identified several process
optimisation opportunities which are likely to be applicable to more advanced (brownfield)
project opportunities, such as those outlined above in the aMES™ Update section. The
aMES™ based process plant design is substantially complete, with the current focus on nonprocess infrastructure. The KLPP-PFS is currently scheduled for completion in mid-Oct 2020.
Parkway Minerals has received interest from a potash company to potentially utilise the
aMES™ process plant design being developed for the KLPP, to develop a significant potash
resource in North America.
New Mexico Lithium Project (NMLP)
The NMLP represents an attractive exploration opportunity for the discovery of mineral rich
brines. Due to the anticipated temperature and composition of the interpreted in-situ brines,
the project was considered to be potentially suitable for development with the aMES™
technology, upon discovery of a suitable brine hosted mineral resource.
Despite the prospectivity of the project, in light of i) recently identified project access related
challenges, ii) COVID-19 related operational difficulties in the United States, iii) the continued
collapse in lithium prices throughout 2020, and iv) the relatively high holding costs (significant
claim renewal costs were payable at the end of August 2020), the Company has made the
strategic decision to relinquish its interest in the NMLP.
Given Parkway Minerals has the opportunity to share in project development related benefits
through the strategic adoption of the aMES™ technology, without necessarily needing to
contribute to project development related costs, participation in the earlier resource
exploration phase is a substantial risk that cannot be justified at this time. Given the challenges
outlined above, ongoing exploration at the NMLP would have required considerable additional
investment and focus, which can now be applied to the advancing the technology portfolio
related priorities outlined above.
Commentary
Parkway Minerals – Managing Director, Bahay Ozcakmak commented:
“The progress we are making across our technology portfolio continues to provide us with
encouragement that we are developing solutions that industry desperately requires. We have
deliberately made the decision to tackle large complex brine-based problems, which have
proven to be difficult to process with conventional wastewater treatment products and/or
technologies. In this light, our go-to-market strategy is necessarily more complex than that of
more conventional approaches, however, also provides the opportunity to generate
correspondingly lucrative returns, in the event of success. The scale of the opportunities we
are seeking to address, including those outlined in this announcement, highlight the
opportunity for Parkway Minerals to build a significant business, through the successful
commercialisation of our technology portfolio.
The decision to relinquish our interest in the NMLP was strategic, as this will ensure we
continue to focus our limited resources on more strategic opportunities, such as the
commercialisation of our BPaaS™ technology platform.”
Corporate Update – August 2020
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On behalf of Parkway Minerals NL.
Bahay Ozcakmak
Managing Director
Additional Information
For further information contact:
Bahay Ozcakmak
Managing Director
T: +61 414 596 007
E: bahay@parkwayminerals.com.au
Corporate Update – August 2020
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aMES™ Technology
The activated Mineral Extraction System, or aMES™
is an innovative process technology that enables the
treatment of concentrated brine solutions to recover a
range of valuable compounds, reagents and fresh
water. The technology utilises a proprietary multistaged process incorporating novel membrane
technology and is based on proprietary IP,
incorporating patents, expertise and know-how
acquired over more than a decade of intense process
development.
Advantages of the aMES™ technology include:
•
improvements in mineral recovery and
product quality,
•
opportunity for substantial project capex &
opex savings,
•
efficient use of energy and produces pure
water as a by-product, and
aMES™
Brine Processing Technology
Key Industries (Applications)
•
Mining natural brine (salt lakes)
•
Solution mining brine (potash)
•
Refinery & industrial waste brine
•
Wastewater treatment brine
Target Products (Produced)
•
Potash (MOP/SOP/KMS)
improved project footprint and environmental
sustainability.
•
Lithium (brine derived)
Ongoing collaboration with a number of brine project
developers and operators has confirmed there are
many applications where the aMES™ technology has
the potential to deliver substantial value by enhancing
existing flowsheets, in order to improve overall project
performance.
•
Range of byproducts (B, Br, Ca,
Co, Cu, I, Mg, Na, Ni, Si, Sr, REE,
Si)
•
Reagents
•
Water
•
Additional Information
www.parkwayminerals.com.au/ames-technology
iBC™ Technology
The integrated Brine Causticization, or iBC™ is a
patented process technology that simultaneously
removes common impurities from waste brine streams
and converts sodium carbonates and bicarbonates
commonly found in coal seam gas (CSG) brines, into
more soluble sodium hydroxide.
As a result of the causticization step, the iBC™
technology produces a purified brine suitable for
downstream processing, including with the aMES™
technology, for the production of various salt products
and industrial-grade sodium hydroxide.
iBC™
Brine Pre-Treatment Technology
Key Industries (Applications)
•
Industrial waste brine (CSG)
•
Wastewater treatment brine
Target Products (Produced)
•
Sodium hydroxide concentrate
Additional Information
•
Sodium chloride
https://www.parkwayminerals.com.au/ibc-technology
•
Byproducts (Ca, Mg, Si)
Corporate Update – August 2020
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About Parkway Minerals
In October 2019, Parkway Minerals (ASX: PWN) completed a transformational transaction by acquiring
an Australian unlisted public company, Consolidated Potash Corporation (CPC). Through CPC,
Parkway Minerals acquired a minority interest in the Karinga Lakes Potash Project (KLPP) in NT
Australia. The CPC transaction, also resulted in Parkway Minerals acquiring the innovative aMES™
technology, which has been developed to process a range of challenging brine streams from the mining
industry, in order to recover valuable minerals, reagents as well as produce fresh water.
Given the significant market opportunities, Parkway Minerals is focused on commercialising a worldclass technology portfolio to provide long-term sustainable solutions for processing complex brines, in
the energy, mining and wastewater industries. In order to achieve this objective, Parkway Minerals is
partnering with leading industry participants to provide, BPaaS – Brine Processing as a Solution™.
Strategic Investment
Parkway Minerals holds a strategic investment in Davenport Resources (ASX: DAV), which has
successfully delineated a globally significant in-situ potash resource (in excess of 550 million tonnes of
contained potash), at its South Harz project in Central Germany. Recently completed scoping studies
have delivered excellent technical and economic results and provide Davenport Resources with an
attractive opportunity to create and unlock substantial value.
Parkway Minerals is commercialising a world-class technology portfolio to provide long-term
sustainable solutions for processing complex brines, in the energy, mining and wastewater
industries.
Our mission is to collaborate with leading strategic partners and prospective clients to deliver
BPaaS – Brine Processing as a Solution™.
Forward-Looking Statements
This ASX Release may contain certain “forward-looking statements” which may be based on forward-looking information that are
subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those presented here. Where the Company expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such
expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. Forward-looking information includes
exchange rates; proposed or projected project or transaction timelines; uncertainties and risks associated with the advantages
and/or performance of the Company’s projects and/or technologies; uncertainties and risks regarding the estimated capital and
operating costs; uncertainties and risks regarding any envisaged timelines in relations to any results, milestones, partnerships,
including but not limited to any milestones which may require obtaining approvals from third parties.
For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors, see the Company’s other ASX Releases. Readers should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any
revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this ASX Release, or to reflect the
occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
Corporate Update – August 2020
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