ASX-listed Highfield has received an environmental permit for its Muga potash project, in Spain, and will now focus on securing the mining concession, as well as construction permits required for its two-phased development that will cost a total of €541-million.
The environmental permit placed some conditions on the Muga project to minimise environmental impacts, but Highfield said on Thursday that none of the requirements appeared to be new ones that had not already been incorporated into the project planning.
Highfield plans to develop Muga in phases, with the first averaging production of about 500 000 t/y muriate of potash and the second expanding output to one-million tonnes a year. An October 2018 project update put the capital cost of Phase 1 at €342-million and Phase 2 at €199-million.
Highfield, which was in a trading halt on Wednesday prior to the Muga announcement, surged by 35% on Thursday to $0.92 a share.