BCI Minerals (ASX:BCI) enters access agreement with Pastoral Management

• BCI Minerals (BCI) is one step closer to developing its WA-based Mardie salt and potash project after entering an access agreement with Pastoral Management
• Pastoral Management is the pastoral lease
• holder of the Mardie Station which overlaps with BCI’s planned project development
• Under the agreement, Pastoral Management consents to BCI being granted the required leases and licences to construct and operate the Mardie Project
• It will also allow BCI to conduct early works activities on access roads and infrastructure
• Mardie has the potential to become a significant solar evaporation project on the Pilbara coast where companies like Rio Tinto have enjoyed decades of success
• Company shares are down 5.88 per cent and trading at 24 cents

BCI Minerals (BCI) has entered an access agreement with Pastoral Management.

Pastoral Management, or PMPL, is the pastoral lease holder of the Mardie Station which overlaps in small areas with BCI’s proposed Mardie Project development.

The Mardie Project is a salt and potash project owned by BCI’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Mardie Minerals.

The project has the potential to become a large-scale, multi-generational solar evaporation operation on WA’s Pilbara coast.

The access agreement provides Pastoral’s consent to the grant of the relevant leases and licences required to construct and operate the project. It also gives consent to using the land required for the Cape Preston West Port and the dedication of its associated access road.

“This is an important step for the Mardie Project in that one of the three key access matters has now been resolved,” Managing Director Alwyn Vorster said.

“Discussions with the Pilbara Ports Authority on the port lands tenure are progressing well, and BCI continues to work collaboratively with the owners of gas pipelines in the south of the Mardie Project,” Alwyn added.

The Pilbara coast is actually one of the world’s premier regions for solar salt production. Companies such as Rio Tinto (RIO) have successfully operated in the region for up to 50 years — producing a high-quality salt product for various industries.

Once construction of the Mardie Project has been completed and it’s up and running, BCI is targeting annual production rate of 4.4 million tonnes of high purity salt and 120,000 tonnes of sulphate of potash.

Company shares are down 5.88 per cent and trading at 24 cents at 12:39 pm AEDT.