Botash partners Canadian firm in potash project
Friday, January 10, 2014
Botash operates a brine recovery operation for Sodium Carbonate (soda ash) and Sodium Chloride (table salt) on the pan, a facility that started operation in 1991. Significant concentrations of potash (Potassium Chloride (KCl) and Potassium Sulphate (K2SO4)) have been recorded in the brines of Sua Pan, but have never been recovered commercially.
Great Quest will begin a programme to evaluate the economic potential of potash recovery from the native brines, the Botash mine effluent and the historical mine tailings. According to the Canadian firm, the memorandum of understanding signed with Botswana Ash in December 2013 grants Great Quest one-year exclusivity with an option to extend for another year, provided the company has incurred a minimum of US$100,000 (P860,000) in expenditure to explore and develop the potash potential of the Sua Pan.
According to a report elsewhere in this publication, various district councils announced that a one-bedroom home now costs over P130,000 more, a near-unthinkable 32% increase. This isn't just a minor adjustment, but a devastating blow to the dream of affordable home ownership for ordinary citizens.What is most alarming is not just the scale of the increase, but the profound confusion it has exposed. Minister Ramogapi has publicly...