- Wastewater technology company Parkway Minerals (PWN) has reported a number of wins in the December 2020 quarter
- The iBC technology, which removes impurities from waste brine streams and produces a purified version, was used to pre-treat a coal seam gas-derived wastewater sample and yielded positive results
- Parkway is now in discussions with coal seam gas partners to conduct brine characterisation studies using the iBC technology
- Parkway’s aMES technology treats concentrated brine solutions to recover valuable minerals, reagents and freshwater
- The technology will be used at Parkway’s pilot plant to test feedstock from its joint venture Karinga Lakes Potash Project before it trials third-party feedstock
- Additionally, Parkway completed a pre-feasibility study for the project which outline positive economics and confirmed the project’s potential as an attractive producer of high-quality sulphate of potash
- Parkway ended the quarter with $2.62 million in cash as well as $2.4 million in marketable securities
- Parkway’s shares are trading flat at 1.1 cents
Parkway Minerals (PWN) has reported on its activities for the December quarter which focused on commercialising its wastewater processing technology.
Parkway Minerals is a wastewater technology company with a number of technologies under its belt to provide long term sustainable solutions for processing complex brines in the energy, mining and wastewater industries.
Its core technologies include the iBC and aMES technologies.
iBC
The iBC technology, or integrated Brine Causticization technology, removes impurities from waste brine streams and converts sodium carbonates and bicarbonates found in coal seam gas (CSG) brines into more soluble sodium hydroxide. Essentially, the iBC technology produces a purified brine suitable for downstream processing.
Over the December quarter, Parkway discovered a new processing advantage to the technology. As a result, it’s now exploring opportunities to patent this process as it may be applied to applications for processing wastewater from the global oil and gas industry.
The company also entered discussions with parties in the CSG industry to conduct brine characterisation studies using the iBC technology.
The iBC technology was used to pre-treat a CSG-derived wastewater sample. Significantly, initial findings showed a wastewater volume reduction of more than 90 per cent was achievable when integrating Parkway’s aMES technology. This potentially provides clients with a magnitude of opportunities.
aMES
The aMES technology, or the activated Minerals Extraction System, is used to treat concentrated brine solutions to recover valuable minerals, reagents and fresh water.
Over the December quarter, Parkway Minerals ticked off a number of milestones regarding its aMES technology.
It successfully began the initial commissioning process of a new aMES pilot plant. As part of a broader campaign, additional commissioning activities have resumed.
Once fully commissioned, the pilot plant will use the aMES technology to test feedstock from Parkway’s 15 per cent-owned Karinga Lakes Potash Project before it trials third-party feedstock. This is an essential step in successfully commercialising the technology.
The project is held in a joint venture between Verdant Minerals and Parkway’s subsidiary, Consolidated Potash Corporation (CPC). While the company currently has a 15 per cent stake, it can increase this to 40 per cent.
Karinga Lakes PFS
Additionally, Parkway completed a pre-feasibility study (PFS) for the Karinga Lakes Potash Project in the Northern Territory.
The PFS confirmed the project as being a potentially attractive producer of high-quality, soluble grade sulphate of potash (SOP).
The study outlined a CAPEX of $80 million for an initial 40,000 tonnes per annum of SOP production. This includes all non-process infrastructure and indirect costs. Production cost (OPEX) was marked at $293 per tonne of SOP and the payback period would be from 5.5 years of first SOP production.
The project also has an estimated annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $18.6 million and an EBITDA margin of 54.4 per cent.
IP from Victoria University
In November, Parkway announced its plan to purchase intellectual property from multiple water and wastewater processing innovations from collaboration partner, Victoria University (VU).
The purchase involves Parkway giving VU four million shares and undertake a research plan. Under the plan, Parkway will pay no less than $500,000 for research and development services.
The parties also agreed to expand their collaboration by developing a Framework of Cooperation and jointly commissioning, enhancing and operating the aMES pilot plant.
Funding
In terms of financials, Parkway Minerals reported higher cash outflows, which it expects, due to the costs associated with the PFS and the construction of the aMES pilot plant.
A total of $470,000 was spent on operating activities for the quarter which largely went towards staff and admin costs.
The company also raised $1.6 million in October which helped to boost its cash position.
Parkway ended the quarter with a cash balance of $2.62 million as well as roughly $2.4 million in marketable securities. All in all, the company is well funded to undertake its plans over the course of 2021.
Parkway’s shares are trading flat at 1.1 cents at 1:49 pm AEDT.