Q&A with BCI Minerals managing director David Boshoff

On 10 September, BCI Minerals (ASX: BCI) received Federal Government approval to commence operations at the Mardie salt and potash project in the Pilbara region of WA and to continue construction in the northern envelope of the project.

This critical milestone comes as Asian demand for salt is expected to outstrip supply over the coming decades, in part due to new chloralkali and caustic soda plants in China and Indonesia, reduced production in Mexico and India predicted to becoming a net importer.

Except for Mardie, no other sizeable salt projects are being commissioned.

The project is expected to produce 5.3mtpa of salt and 140ktpa of sulphate of potash (SOP) for over 60 years, making it Australia’s largest salt and potash project – and the world’s third largest.

In early July, the company secured a $598m agreement with CSL Australia for transhipment services over a 21-year period.

BCI Minerals is targeting first salt shipment in Q2 FY27, positioning it as a major supplier of high-quality industrial salt to global markets.

The transhipment announcement came as the company divested its Iron Valley assets to Polaris Metals Pty Ltd, a wholly- owned subsidiary of Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN).

The Australian Mining Review speaks with BCI Minerals managing director David Boshoff about latest developments at the Mardie salt and potash project.

AMR: Can you outline the projected timeframe? The year 2027 is the first expected shipment of salt – what will happen between now and then?

DB: Construction at BCI Minerals’ Mardie Project’s salt production phase has surpassed the halfway mark, with several essential components already complete, including the accommodation village, ponds 1-7, transfer station 2/3, and key access roads. The marine package is 73% complete, and the purpose-built jetty has reached its full 2.4km length.

A significant milestone was the start of operations in September, enabling us to turn on the seawater pumps and begin the two-year process towards first salt on ship. While this achievement is a major step forward, we still have a lot of work ahead of us before we ship our high- quality industrial salt.

We continue to focus on advancing construction on our remaining evaporation ponds (we have 9 in total), transfer stations, crystallisers and the final stages of our marine package. We also continue to progress engineering and design works to align with the brine circuit.

We remain committed to producing sulphate of potash (SOP) alongside salt, and are progressing technical designs for an SOP plant, incorporating insights from well-established projects in the United States and China.

Beyond this, securing key offtake agreements remains a top priority. We’re seeing growing demand for industrial salt in key Asian markets, and we’re eager to translate that interest into formal agreements. We’ve made good progress with prominent Indonesian and Chinese counterparties, and continue to negotiate with other interested parties across South East Asia.

With this strong demand in Asian markets and robust long-term price prospects, the Mardie Project is poised to significantly impact the global salt industry.

Once complete, the Mardie Project will be the third largest salt project in the world and the largest in Australia.

AMR: How is salt “mined”?

DB: The production of high-quality industrial salt is unique in that the sun and the wind do most of the work.

In September, we started pumping seawater through six of our state-of-the art pumps. The seawater then makes its way progressively through our nine ponds, where the sun and the wind gradually evaporate the seawater and increase the salinity of the brine.

At pond 9, we reach saturation where precipitation commences. We then put the saturated brine into the first crystalliser, where we’ll commence growing salt.

Once the salt is grown, we harvest it and wash it through our salt wash plant before stockpiling it.

We then load ocean-going vessels at our 2.4km jetty, via a transhipper, which will ship the final product off to our customers in key Asian markets.

AMR: There’s a strong focus on safety – what has been implemented on site thus far to keep the workforce safe?

DB: Health and safety are always our top priorities – we are committed to ensuring our team and contractors return home safe and well every day.

To foster a strong safety culture, we have implemented a comprehensive “Leadership in the Field” program, inspired by the Du Pont safety model. This program emphasises influencing behaviours, attitudes, and relationships and involves our leaders actively engaging with teams in the field to reinforce safe practices.

We’ve also reinforced the effectiveness of our critical controls, highlighted key safety indicators, strengthened incident preven- tion programs, and introduced measures to address psychosocial hazards.

These efforts are already yielding positive results. Since the end of FY24, our Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate has continued to decline, reaching 3.8 in the September quarter.

AMR: Is there a focus on local recruitment for staff?

DB: The Mardie Project will deliver multi- generational benefits to the Pilbara. During construction, we will create about 750 jobs and when in operation, over 140 jobs.

We actively seek opportunities to employ and source locally to deliver economic benefits to the Pilbara region. Last financial year, we spent $24m with Pilbara businesses.

Over its 60-year operating life, the Mardie Project is expected to contribute about
$4.8b to GDP, and we can’t wait to see the sort of impact this has on the Pilbara region.

We’re committed to fostering strong Indigenous employment on site. By the end of September, we reached 7.5% Indigenous employment at site, and we’re excited to see that number grow even further.

We work closely with Traditional Owners to incorporate cultural heritage knowledge into the construction and operational phases of the Project.

When it comes to our tender process, we’ve set up a system that prioritises Traditional Owners, Pilbara Indigenous businesses and Pilbara-based contractors and suppliers. This approach saw us spend over $13m with Indigenous businesses last financial year.

AMR: What other applications can salt be used for outside of the dinner table?

DB: Salt is an incredibly versatile commodity.

People often see it as just a seasoning, but its uses go beyond that. While industrial salt can’t be used on your food, it is an essential element in manufacturing thousands of products we use every day. For example, for those reading this article in a magazine, salt was a key element in creating the paper and if you’re scrolling on your laptop, salt aided in manufacturing it from the keyboard to the monitor.

Salt is a strategic mineral and often underestimated, but it has a powerful impact in our daily lives. It’s also at the forefront of the energy transition as a critical mineral in the development of emerging clean technologies, including solar panels and sodium-ion battery systems.

AMR: Are there any other milestones etc you would like to highlight?

DB: There’s been a few big-ticket items we have been able to tick off our list recently. We have received robust support from our lenders and shareholders, which has enabled us to secure the funding needed for the salt-first component of the Project.

We recently achieved financial close on our $981m project finance facility, and we aim to complete the first drawdown in Q3 FY25 to accelerate activities further.

Additionally, we completed an equity raising in the beginning of the year, which gave us an extra $315m. We will utilise these funds effectively to ensure we drive value for our shareholders.

Another highlight was executing our largest project contract to date – a $598m transhipment vessel agreement with CSL Australia. This contract will allow us to load ocean-going vessels for direct access to the Asian market.

Among all this progress, we have also strengthened our commitment towards maintaining a beautiful landscape in and around the Mardie Project. We have dedicated around $4m towards regional-scale flora studies and research on threatened fauna along the Pilbara coastline. The data gathered from this work will inform our strategic conservation efforts in the region.

We have had a lot of momentum lately, achieving some major milestones in bringing this Project to life. It’s exciting to see years of hard work pay off, and I credit our values-driven team for making it happen.

Building high-performing teams working towards a shared goal is an initiative I am deeply passionate about and we have put a big emphasis on placing the right people in the right roles. The beauty of doing that means problems are often solved before I even know of their existence.