EPM Mining announces agreement to produce Preliminary Feasibility Study and strengthens its team
Date:01-03-2013
TORONTO - EPM Mining Ventures Inc. ("EPM" or the "Company") announced the signing of a contract with CH2M HILL ("CH2") and Agapito Associates, Inc. ("AAI") to produce a Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") for the production of Sulfate of Potash ("SOP") from its Sevier Dry Lake Potash project located in southwestern Utah. With US $6.4 billion in revenue and 30,000 employees worldwide, CH2 is a global leader in full-service consulting, design, design-build, operations, and program management services for public and private clients. AAI has provided consulting and engineering services to mining companies producing base metals, precious metals, trona, potash, and salt. Their potash and fertilizer clients include Potash One, Intrepid Mining, Vale, Rio Tinto, Western Potash, and others.
Lance D'Ambrosio, Chief Executive Officer of EPM, said; "We are very pleased to continue our relationship with CH2 and to welcome Agapito to our project. After the encouraging results of our preliminary economic assessment, we look forward to completing this next step and moving seamlessly to the Definitive Feasibility Study."
The estimated completion date of the PFS will be mid-2013 and will serve as an important milestone leading to the Company's Definitive Feasibility Study anticipated to be completed by late 2013. It will build upon the recently completed preliminary economic assessment which indicated SOP production of 300,000 metric tonnes ("MT") with an estimated Net Present Value of $956.5 million (pre-tax, inflated, 8% discount rate) and an estimated Net Present Value of $629.7 million (after tax, inflated, 8% discount rate); and with an estimated Internal Rate of Return of 30% (pre-tax, inflated) and an estimated Internal Rate of Return of 24% (after tax, inflated).
Team Expansion
In order to effectively manage the environmental effort and permitting process, EPM is pleased to announce that LeeAnn Diamond P.G. has joined the team. Having worked on environmental, geological, and geotechnical projects for many years, LeeAnn has a wide variety of compliance and technical experience. Before joining Peak Minerals Inc., the Company's U.S. subsidiary, she worked for Kleinfelder Inc. as a project manager where she had many responsibilities including supervising NEPA, EPA Brownfields, RCRA Subtitle D landfill, Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments, and transportation projects. LeeAnn has five years' experience as the lead technical writer and project manager on several National Park NEPA projects in the western United States. As a task manager and field engineer, she spent nine years managing surface, groundwater, leachate, and methane monitoring and reporting, as well as NPDES and air permitting for a RCRA Subtitle D landfill. LeeAnn provided project management oversight, Phase I assessments, and public outreach, including public open house meetings and individual stakeholder meetings for Salt Lake County's 135-acre West Millcreek EPA Brownfields project. For Utah Department of Transportation, she provided environmental compliance oversight on the Legacy Parkway Project, including identification and disposal of hazardous materials, coordinating abatement and abandonment activities and providing quality assurance review of all environmental project documents. LeeAnn earned her Bachelor of Science in Geological Engineering from the University of Utah and is a Registered Professional Geologist.
Lance D'Ambrosio, Chief Executive Officer of EPM, said; "We are very pleased to welcome LeeAnn to the EPM team at a time when we are moving our project to the next stage. Her experience, skills, and in-depth knowledge of Utah's permitting process strengthens our in-house know-how and adds necessary expertise as we build our preeminent SOP project."
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