BHP on Tuesday admitted to institutional investors it \u201coverinvested\u201d in its Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan where the Anglo-Australian giant has already spent $2.7B over nearly six years.<\/p>\n
At a BofA Merrill Lynch mining and metals conference held in Barcelona,\u00a0CEO Andrew Mackenzie said<\/a> the company\u2019s \u201cthinking around the project\u2019s initial scope has evolved\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, Jansen remains an attractive option for BHP given its strategic fit, risk-return metrics and the longer-term optionality the initial investment would create.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Two shafts have been sunk at Jansen, but BHP will have to invest another $5.3\u2013$5.7B to finish phase one construction of the mine which the company said would take fewer than 5 years to complete. BHP has in the past said it would consider selling a stake in Jansen to share capital and risk.<\/p>\n BHP says it can produce potash for around $100 a tonne at the mine. Prices for the crop nutrient at the Vancouver port have improved to $265 a tonne from $215 a year ago. That compares to around $400 a tonne when Jansen was first conceived and record highs more than a decade ago of $870 per tonne.<\/p>\n The deposit can accommodate another three phases \u2013 at $4B per phase \u2013 that would lift annual capacity to more than 16m tonnes per year, vastly improving the economics of the project.<\/p>\n BHP has long been eager to enter the potash market in Saskatchewan, diversifying its asset base now concentrated around iron ore and copper since disposing of its US oil assets a year ago.<\/p>\n In 2010, Canada blocked BHP’s $40 billion hostile takeover bid for Potash Corp (now Nutrien after merger with Agrium) arguing the company’s mines are strategic national assets.<\/p>\n The post BHP says Jansen potash mine ‘remains attractive option’<\/a> appeared first on MINING.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Top global miner tells investors it can mine potash for only $100 a tonne at $7 billion Saskatchewan fertilizer project. <\/p>\n The post BHP says Jansen potash mine ‘remains attractive option’<\/a> appeared first on 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