American Critical Minerals secures final permits for Utah Green River potash project

American Critical Minerals has received 11 federal potash prospecting permits from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, effective June 1, clearing the final hurdle to drill its Green River project in Utah’s Paradox Basin this year.

The permits cover roughly 25,480 acres. Combined with state SITLA leases of about 7,050 acres and 1,094 federal lithium brine claims spanning 21,150 acres, the company now controls the entire 32,530-acre project and is authorized to drill seven holes. The BLM recognized the company’s reclamation bond on May 18.

Drilling is designed to validate historical data and test potash horizons, along with clastic zones for lithium and bromine, in the Paradox and Leadville formations. Two historic wells on the project intersected potash zones thicker than five metres in the Cycle 5 interval that has anchored Paradox Basin mining for more than 50 years.

The acreage sits near Intrepid Potash’s Moab Solution Mine, where intercepts have run 3.4 metres at 26.4% estimated potassium chloride and 5.9 metres at 24.3%. Intrepid is the only domestic U.S. potash producer, a point American Critical Minerals cites as evidence of geological continuity across the basin.

“Drill holes are now fully permitted and bonded. This represents the culmination of over 10 years of work,” said chief executive Dean Pekeski. The company plans site mobilization by the third quarter, with each hole expected to take about 45 days.

Source: Mining Technology