- An independent study has confirmed the Italian Lazio sulphate of potash (SOP) project’s commercial potential.
- Premium SOP exposure, low-carbon processing, and a possibility to get into the European market have all been recognised.
- Altamin hopes to cash in on 200% increase in Middle East sulphur prices.
Altamin (ASX:AZI) has received key findings of an independent study, which has confirmed the commercial potential of the Lazio sulphate of potash (SOP) project in Italy.
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The sales and marketing study suggests Lazio is well placed to supply premium SOP products into the key European and global fertiliser market.
The positive findings come at a time when benchmark Middle East sulphur prices have increased by over 200% over the past year, even prior to recent geopolitical events affecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Geraint Harris, Altamin’s CEO, said the report highlighted the point of difference in Lazio’s geothermal-brine processing route, which provides environmentally benign processing, avoiding the energy intensity, need for sulphuric acid, and the waste management in market-dominant Mannheim processing.
“This study clearly highlights the Lazio Project’s environmental and structural advantages and strongly differentiates it from recent SOP brine projects that have faced commercial and development challenges due to capital intensity, logistics complexity or limited market access,” he explained today.
“Critically for Altamin, Lazio combines the expectation we will produce a premium SOP product, via a simple and environmentally clean processing pathway, which will be produced on the doorstep of an important centre for European food production. In addition to SOP, the project’s by-products of lithium and boron further enhance its commercial and strategic relevance within the EU.”
The report was commissioned in support of an ongoing scoping study for the Lazio project, a geothermal brine development in the Lazio region of central Italy.
That particular study concluded that Lazio is well-positioned to supply sustainably produced SOP into European and international markets.
SOP is a low-chloride, high-value potassium fertiliser essential for fruit, vegetable, and vineyard crops. Its low‐chloride content makes it essential for protecting soils and chloride‐sensitive, high‐value crops, where crop quality and yield outcomes are prioritised.
Western Europe is the second-largest SOP production region globally. However, around half of Europe’s SOP production is via the energy-intensive Mannheim process, which converts MOP into SOP using sulphuric acid.
AZI is up +4.55% to 2.3¢. Mkt cap $17.43M.
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