Securities Times reporter Yu Shengliang
On the 7th, at the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Potash Fertilizer Conference held in Golmud, Qinghai, Sukansa Sisu, director of the Department of Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Laos, mentioned that Laos’ potash reserves exceeded 10 billion tons.
“The audience next to me has their eyes straight.” A trader who has been engaged in potash imports for many years said that this is a very big investment opportunity. In addition to potash mining, there are many upstream and downstream industries worth exploring.
Ma Lichun, vice president of Salt Lake Co., Ltd., said on the 8th that Salt Lake Co., Ltd. wants to establish a stable overseas salt lake resource continuation site and go out on behalf of the national strategy to achieve sustainable development.
The reserves of potash resources in China are limited. After years of mining, the resource depletion is obvious, and protective mining is required. Some enterprises have voluntarily reduced their annual output. At the same time, Laos, which is adjacent to my country by land, continues to report good news: Potassium International and Oriental Tower have both achieved a production capacity of one million tons, and Potash International has a production capacity of one million tons this year. The future goal is to achieve 5 million tons of production capacity; the Oriental Tower will also build another 2 million tons of production capacity, achieving a cumulative production capacity of 3 million tons. In addition, Zangge Mining invested 2 million tons of production capacity in Laos.
By simple calculation, the production capacity of the above three companies in Laos will reach 10 million tons. China’s annual import volume is about 8 million tons, and the annual output of the above three companies in Laos will exceed the domestic annual import volume in the future.
The three companies can plan such a high production capacity because the three companies have a large resource reserve.
For example, Potassium International and its wholly-owned subsidiary Zhongnong International have a total reserve of 1.002 billion tons of potassium ore resources, equivalent to 152 million tons of pure potassium chloride resources. Has exceeded the domestic potash reserves.
Zangge Co., Ltd. only acquired mines from Laos this year. The potassium salt mining area covers an area of about 400 square kilometers. According to the existing exploration data, it is preliminarily estimated that the reserves of potassium chloride resources are 600 million tons. Oriental Tower has been working in Laos for many years and has a total reserve of 400 million tons of potassium ore resources.
It can be said that private enterprises have become the pioneers of going global, and have successfully developed resources in Laos and achieved mass production.
“State-owned enterprises are a bit late in this regard.” An industry insider said that private enterprises have obtained very good resources, and state-owned enterprises are too cautious.
It is understood that on May 25, Salt Lake Vice President Yu Qiuping, Vice President Ma Lichun, Chief Engineer He Yongping and senior executives visited Potash International Laos for on-site inspections and exchanges, and held talks with Guo Baichun, Chairman of Potash International, and the senior management team.
In addition, Salt Lake plans to recruit 2 professional managers at the deputy general level in the near future, one of whom is in the direction of geological exploration and mining, and is mainly responsible for the exploration and technical negotiation of overseas potassium/lithium mineral resources; the other is in the direction of overseas investment and finance, responsible for Overseas equity mergers and acquisitions, capital operations, fund management, financial cooperation, etc.
There are various indications that Salt Lake has decided to go overseas to acquire mines and increase resource reserves. The reporter asked the internal personnel of Salt Lake shares, saying that there has been no actual action yet.
On the 8th, a reporter from the Securities Times·e Company asked Sukantha Sisu that many Chinese-funded enterprises had gone to Laos to obtain potash resources, and whether they still have opportunities in Laos. He said that “there are still many opportunities.”
The potash reserves in Laos exceed 10 billion tons, which means that there are still many resources that have not been invited for external bidding.
Potash resources in Laos are mainly distributed in the Vientiane Basin and the Nakhon Ratchasima Basin in Khammung Province. Due to the presence of soluble spar in the potash mines in the Vientiane Basin and restrictions on the mining process, the potash mines in the Vientiane Basin have not yet produced products. Potash deposits in the Nakhon Ratchasima Basin of Khan-Mong Province have almost no overflow spar, shallow burial and thick ore bodies, and the mining conditions are good.
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