Karnalyte Resources to evaluate increasing magnesium chloride production at Canada project

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Canadian fertilizer developer Karnalyte Resources announced it will begin a review of its development strategy to evaluate the economic potential of increasing magnesium chloride production at their Wynyard project in Saskatchewan.

This effort will be undertaken by developing the magnesium assets at the same time as the development of the potash project.

The company said the carnallite, also known as hydrated potassium magnesium chloride, is abundant within their mineral deposit so they need to determine the economic balance of developing carnallite for the co-production of magnesium chloride and potassium chloride.

The aim is to significantly increase magnesium chloride production through the application of advanced solution mining technologies.

The Government of Canada lists magnesium as one of the nation’s 34 critical minerals and it also appears on the lists in other countries including the US, the EU and Australia.

Magnesium is a key mineral in the clean technologies and advanced manufacturing value chain while magnesium chloride serves as a key raw material in the production of various chemicals used in high-tech applications such as semiconductor manufacturing and in industries including agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

“In light of the increasing importance of magnesium as one of the building blocks for the green and digital economy, we are reevaluating our strategy and we believe we should review the inclusion of concurrent and optimized magnesium and potash deposit development in our plans for the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Danielle Favreau, Karnalyte Resources CEO.

The company said it plans to make progress on its technical report through the remainder of the year, which is a key precursor to any mine construction.

It expects to complete the study on the review of its development strategy by the first quarter of 2025.

Wynyard is one of two projects Karnalyte Resources is advancing with planned phase 1 production calculated at 625,000 tonnes/year of high-grade granular potash with two subsequent phases of 750,000 tonnes/year from each phase.

The company noted that all environmental permits remain valid with preliminary detailed engineering complete and that the existing offtake agreement with Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited remains in effect.