LONDON: Danakali Limited announced that Dr McEachern Rod has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Danakali, effective from 3 December 2020.
The appointment of Dr McEachern, who has earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, strengthens and deepens the Company’s potash mining and processing knowledge and leadership capability.
As COO, Dr McEachern will be responsible for the design and set up of the operation readiness including safe and sustainable mining and processing operations for Colluli Mining Share Company (CMSC).
Dr McEachern’s significant potash experience, which is specifically related to mining, production, harvesting, process engineering, logistics, environmental compliance, and safety, are clear standout attributes.
In the two decades prior to joining Danakali, he held senior management roles as Director, Process and Product Innovation at Nutrien, Saskatoon and a number of senior roles with PotashCorp as Senior Director for Innovation and General Manager at the Allan facility.
Rod was seconded to Arab Potash as VP of Operations in Amman Jordan. In this role, he was responsible for all aspects of the potash facility including safe mill and solar pond production, transportation and logistics, innovation, automation, new product development, and environmental management.
Niels Wage, CEO of Danakali, commented: “I am very pleased to confirm the appointment of Dr McEachern as the Company’s COO. The appointment comes at opportune time as we advance the Project Development into Phase 3. There are few people in the world with the unique potash experience that Rod brings and I believe his well-established industry experience, technological competencies and long commitment to the industry sector will be very valuable for Danakali as we advance the development of Colluli.”
Rod McEachern, COO of Danakali, commented: “I am excited to be joining the team at Danakali. I am particularly drawn to Colluli due to the large, long life nature and high quality of the project. Being part of a team responsible for delivering sustainable financial, social and economic returns to our shareholders and stakeholders in Eritrea is highly attractive.”
Danakali Limited (ASX: DNK, LSE: DNK) (Danakali, or the Company) is an ASX- and LSE-listed potash company focused on the development of the Colluli Sulphate of Potash Project (Colluli or the Project). The Project is 100% owned by the Colluli Mining Share Company (CMSC), a 50:50 joint venture between Danakali and the Eritrean National Mining Corporation (ENAMCO).
The Project is located in the Danakil Depression region of Eritrea, East Africa, and is ~75km from the Red Sea coast, making it one of the most accessible potash deposits globally. Mineralisation within the Colluli resource commences at just 16m, making it the world’s shallowest known potash deposit.
The resource is amenable to open cut mining, which allows higher overall resource recovery to be achieved, is generally safer than underground mining, and is highly advantageous for modular growth.
The Company has completed a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for the production of potassium sulphate, otherwise known as Sulphate of Potash or SOP. SOP is a chloride free, specialty fertiliser which carries a substantial price premium relative to the more common potash type; potassium chloride (or MOP).
Economic resources for production of SOP are geologically scarce. The unique composition of the Colluli resource favours low energy input, high potassium yield conversion to SOP using commercially proven technology.
One of the key advantages of the resource is that the salts are present in solid form (in contrast with production of SOP from brines) which reduces infrastructure costs and substantially reduces the time required to achieve full production capacity.
The resource is favourably positioned to supply the world’s fastest growing markets. A binding take-or-pay offtake agreement has been confirmed with EuroChem Trading GmbH (EuroChem) for up to 100% (minimum 87%) of Colluli Module I SOP production.
Development Finance Institutions, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank), have obtained formal credit approval to provide CMSC with US$200M in senior debt finance. The credit documentation was executed in December 2019, allowing drawdown of CMSC senior debt on satisfaction of customary conditions precedent. This represents the majority of funding required for the development and construction of the Colluli. AFC has also executed a Subscription Agreement to make a US$50M strategic equity investment in Danakali. The receipt of the first tranche of US$21.5M (A$31.8M) allowed commencement of the development.
Project execution has commenced, and SOP production is expected during 2022. The Company’s vision is to bring Colluli into production using the principles of risk management, resource utilisation and modularity, using the starting module (Module I) as a growth platform to develop the resource to its full potential.
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