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Our
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Potash/Fertilizer Mineral Projects
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Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Apatit Fertilizers
Mining Complex Technical Audit, Florida USA
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Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Roca Fosforica
Mexicaná San Juan de la Costa Basic Mine Engineering, Florida USA
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Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Spur Ventures, Inc.,
Yichang Phosphate Project, Yichang, China
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Karnalyte Resources, Inc., Conceptual Solution Mining
Plan, Saskatchewan Canada
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Intrepid Mining Company, Cane Creek Mine, Moab, Utah,
USA
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Intrepid Mining, L.L.C., New Mexico Operations,
Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA
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Intrepid Mining, L.L.C., Wendover Potash Reserve,
Wendover, Utah, USA
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Intrepid Potash LLC, Reserve Estimates for Five Potash
Operations—Carlsbad New Mexico, Wendover Utah, and Moab Utah, USA
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Mag Industries Corporation, Kouilou Potash Project,
Republic of Congo
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Mississippi Chemical, Inc./Intrepid New Mexico,
Mississippi Potash Inc. Reserve Evaluation, Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA
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Potash North, Subsurface Mineral Resource Estimate,
Yorkton Area, Saskatchewan Canada
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Potash One, Inc., Subsurface Mineral Permit,
Saskatchewan, Canada
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Raytec Metals Corporation, Subsurface Mineral Resource
Estimate, Langham Area, Saskatchewan Canada
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Rio Tinto, Rio Tur, Kazan Solution Mining Project,
Ankara, Turkey
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Rio Tinto, Rio Colorado Solution Mining Project,
Argentina
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Rio Tinto, Potash Order of Magnitude, Saskatchewan,
Canada
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Taiji Resources, Potash Technical Support,
Saskatchewan Canada
Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Apatit
Fertilizers Mining Complex Technical Audit, Florida USA
AAI conducted the mining section of a technical audit of the Apatit
phosphorite mining operations located at Kirovsk and Apatity, Kola
Peninsula, Russia. The objective of the study was the assessment of the
technical status and capabilities of the underground and open pit mining
operations providing feed to concentrating and chemical processing
facilities. The mines included two underground and two open pit operations
situated north of the Arctic Circle.
Two of the four mines were comprised of
consolidations of smaller underground and open pit mines. The underground
mining operations were recovering reserves beneath and adjacent to open pit
operations that are exhausting the strippable reserves.
Underground mining methods practiced at
both underground mines include mass blast stopes and sublevel caving, both
of which ultimately draw cave fill from surface.
Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Roca
Fosforica Mexicaná San Juan de la Costa Basic Mine Engineering, Florida USA
AAI conducted basic mine engineering studies for the San Juan de la
Costa Mine to assess the viability of expanding production from an
underground phosphorite mine. The study was preceded by reviews of previous
work, site investigations, mine inspections, and data gathering. Basic
engineering included consideration of alternate mining methods,
recommendation of a selected method, description of the recommended scheme,
and detailed definition and specification of the components for the mining
system.
The process included simulation of a
mechanized room-and-pillar mining system supported with belt conveyor
haulage for mine development and production.
Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Spur
Ventures, Inc., Yichang Phosphate Project, Yichang, China
AAI has recently completed the mining portion of a project feasibility study
for the Spur Ventures, Inc., Yichang Phosphate Project, located in the
People’s Republic of China. The mining tasks were conducted under a
sub-contract to Jacobs Engineering Group, the principal feasibility study
contractor.
The
project commenced with a site visit, followed by assessment of rock property
data, design of the mine room-and-pillar dimensions, and identification of
ground support requirements. A regular room-and-pillar mining system
employing drill-and-blast methods and diesel and electrically powered
mucking and haulage fleets was selected for application to the relatively
flat-lying tabular deposit. The benefit of the system, in this case, is the
ability to access the ore body from the outcrop, develop a full-production
capability early on, and continue to satisfy the beneficiation plant feed
requirements for the life of the mine. The system also allows for a smooth
transition to the development and recovery of the nearby Shukongping
resource, which extends the life of the combined operation to more than 20
years.
Mine geotechnical design was followed by layout of a room-and-pillar
resource recovery plan for the Dianziping property. In addition to the mine
layout, development of a production schedule, mine ventilation, mine haulage
and mine utility plans, and a mine maintenance system were completed.
Manpower and equipment schedules were generated to provide bases for
estimates of capital and operating costs.
Intrepid Mining Company, Cane Creek
Mine, Moab, Utah, USA
AAI has supported Intrepid Potash, Cane Creek operations since
Intrepid purchased the Moab potash solution mining operation from TG Potash
in 2000. Solution mining by flooding existing room-and-pillar workings in
Bed 5 was initiated in 1970. AAI participated in the technical evaluation of
resource recovery utilizing long, horizontal solution caverns developed by
horizontal drilling in Bed 9, some 800 ft below Bed 5. Engineering
contributions include estimation of cavern heat loss, evaluation of
hydraulic fracture gradients surrounding deep caverns, assessment of cavern
stability, permitting support, and generation of resource maps.
Subsequently, geologically constrained, horizontal directional drilling of
deep wells in Bed 9 was supervised on-site by AAI geological personnel.
In 2004 and again in 2007, AAI has reviewed the resource data and mining
history in developing an independent assessment of the resource and reserves
at Cane Creek for long-term financing of the operations.
Intrepid Mining, L.L.C., New Mexico Operations, Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA
AAI is assisting Intrepid in developing a mine plan and
permits for solution mining of depleted, conventionally mined potash
deposits in New Mexico. Tasks included conceptual planning, mine plan
development, permit applications to the BLM and State agencies, costing, and
project management.
Intrepid Mining, L.L.C., Wendover Potash Reserve, Wendover, Utah, USA
Resource evaluation and confirmation of future production
projections.
 Intrepid
Potash LLC, Reserve Estimates for Five Potash Operations—Carlsbad New
Mexico, Wendover Utah, and Moab Utah, USA
In 2008, Agapito Associates, Inc. prepared a United States
Security Exchange Commission compliant reserve estimate for all five potash
operations for Intrepid Potash. This included two underground dry mines
located near Carlsbad, New Mexico, an evaporative pond operation near
Wendover, Utah, a flooded mine operation near Moab, Utah, and the
feasibility study for flooding old workings at the HB Mine in New Mexico.
For the New Mexico operations, AAI reviewed all resource data including over
650 drill-hole records and channel samples from underground workings,
reviewed the 20+ year mine plans, and assessed operational economics to
establish break-even grades and thicknesses. The evaporative pond and
flooded mine operations in Utah required review of past production data,
drill-hole data, and projections of mine life based on available accessible
resource and planned well drilling. These studies built upon reserve
estimates completed by AAI for Mississippi Potash for the New Mexico
deposits and earlier reserve estimates developed by AAI for the Moab
facility. AAI has provided engineering analysis and ground control
consulting to Intrepid's New Mexico mines and permit and solution mine
design support for the Moab facility since 2003.
Mississippi
Chemical, Inc./Intrepid New Mexico, Mississippi Potash Inc. Reserve
Evaluation, Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA
An independent confirmation of sylvinite and langbeinite reserves
held by Mississippi Potash, Inc., in Eddy and Lea Counties, New Mexico, was
conducted by AAI for parent company Mississippi Chemical, Inc. As part of
the reserve confirmation, AAI visited the Mississippi West Mine to assess
underground operations and gathered drill hole, geologic, lease, and assay
data. Proven and probable mineable reserves were determined for four
separate beds. Reserve criteria included ore grade, thickness, proximity to
sample location, accessibility, sterilization by existing mining, and
dilution resulting from mixed ores. Local mining methods and historical
extraction ratios were considered in the final evaluation of recoverable
tons within the reserve. Production methods included continuous miner mining
and solution mining of existing workings. Forecasts of plant operating life
followed from the reserve evaluation.
The process of reviewing the New Mexico resource and reserve estimates for
these potash deposits has continued for Intrepid New Mexico who purchased
the operations from Mississippi Chemical in 2004.
Potash One,
Inc., Subsurface Mineral Permit, Saskatchewan, Canada
AAI completed a NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report concerning the
potash resources contained in the Subsurface Mineral Permit KP 289 in the
Findlater area in southern Saskatchewan Canada. The permit area is
immediately north of the Mosaic Belle Plaine potash solution mining
operation and contains similar quality potash beds as that successfully
solution mined by Mosaic and its predecessors for over 30 years. Potash One
proposes a confirmation drilling and testing program to confirm the potash
resource to support a 2-million-tons-per-year potash operation. AAI was
selected to complete the study with Mike Hardy, President, as a designated
Qualified Person because of his experience in potash solution mining,
solution mining of similar minerals, and independence from the project.
The permit area covers approximately 97,000
acres and is intersected by six core holes. Historically two pilot tests
were conducted on the property in the 1960s at the same time that Mosaic was
developing the technology for solution mining the deep potash beds in
southern Saskatchewan. The property has been surveyed using 2D seismic and
is estimated to contain recoverable K2O of over 10,000 tonnes per
acre using demonstrated solution mining methods.
Currently, AAI is completing a prefeasibility
evaluation for solution mining the Legacy project located within the permit
area. AAI is directing the structural logging and core testing, designing
cavern and pillar sizes, estimating potential subsidence, and refreshing the
43-101 report to include identification of mineral reserves.
Rio Tinto, Rio Tur, Kazan Solution Mining Project, Ankara, Turkey
AAI was called in to advise on data collection immediately after discovery
of the Kazan Trona deposit near Ankara, Turkey. Subsequent involvement has
included pre-feasibility assessments of conventional room-and-pillar mining,
longwall mining, and solution mining. Further studies of solution mining
were justified and detailed studies of solution mining were undertaken. This
included characterization of thermo-mechanical properties of trona and
interburden, analysis of cavern development, design of deep horizontal
caverns, resource definition, recoverable reserve estimates, and capital and
operating costs for a solution mine to feed a large-scale commercial trona/soda
ash plant. The concept developed required caving for cavern development to
access overlying beds. Thermo-mechanical modeling using FLAC was an integral
part of the design process. A pilot test is in the planning stage.
1/4 Year
1 Year
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Rio Tinto, Rio
Colorado Solution Mining Project, Argentina
AAI has completed studies leading to pre-feasibility level mine
plans for solution mining the Potasio Rio Colorado potash deposits in
Mendoza Provence, Argentina. These deposits have long been known and were
drilled in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and again in 2005. A pilot test was
conducted in the early 1990s and again after Rio Tinto acquired the property
in 2004. AAI has supported Rio Tinto’s evaluation of the property assisting
in development and evaluation of the pilot test, completing
thermo-mechanical tests on core, evaluating cavern and pillar dimensions,
and designing the well-field layout. In addition, AAI has completed
assessments of potential subsidence to support permitting efforts and
participated in management evaluations of the property serving as the
in-house expert on solution mining. Recently, AAI was asked to certify the
resource and reserve estimates as a Competent Person per the requirements of
the JORQ code.
Rio
Tinto, Potash Order of Magnitude, Saskatchewan, Canada
Rio Tinto Industrial Minerals commissioned AAI to complete
an Order of Magnitude study for solution mining potash within the Rio Tinto
Permit Area near Regina, Saskatchewan. The AAI scope included establishing
cavern and pillar dimensions based on historical, recent drilling
information and numerical models; evaluation of subsidence potential,
designing data collection and testing programs for feasibility level
evaluations, developing the wellfield layout, and estimating cavern recovery
and production rates.
Karnalyte Resources, Inc., Conceptual Solution Mining Plan, Saskatchewan
Canada
Preliminary assessment for solution mining in Saskatchewan,
Canada.
Mag Industries Corporation, Kouilou Potash Project, Republic of Congo
Review of 43-101 for the Kouilou potash project in the Republic
of Congo.
Potash North, Subsurface Mineral Resource Estimate, Yorkton Area,
Saskatchewan Canada
NI 43-101 resource report for potash prospect in
Saskatchewan, Canada.
Raytec Metals Corporation, Subsurface Mineral Resource Estimate, Langham
Area, Saskatchewan Canada
NI 43-101 resource report for potash prospect in
Saskatchewan, Canada.
Taiji Resources, Potash Technical Support, Saskatchewan Canada
Support Taiji Resources on resource definition, pilot test
location, and exploration drilling planning for a potential solution mine in
Saskatchewan, Canada.
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AGAPITO
ASSOCIATES, INC.