I’ve been talking to Farhad Abasov since he was running Allana Potash, which was sold in 2015. Abasov and his team have a solid record discovering, exploring and developing large mineral assets. Abasov’s Millennial Lithium was sold in 2022. His latest company, Millennial Potash (MLP.V), is defining a very large potash deposit, Banio, on the southern coast of Gabon.
I interviewed Abasov and wrote about Millennial in February 2023. Abasov was committed to fast-tracking the Gabon project through a Mineral Resource Estimate and a Preliminary Economic Assessment over the course of that year. Millennial came close with a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate out in January 2024, and a PEA filed in June 2024. In the junior resource world, this is outstanding performance.
In a phone interview, Abasov was very positive. “We started in the north of the property and have been moving south,” said Abasov. “The deposit extends for miles. We move the drills a kilometer or two, and we’re seeing that the deposit continues to the south. And the potash horizons get thicker as we move south.”
Abasov’s earlier potash venture, Allana Potash, was in Ethiopia. “In Ethiopia, we were seeing potash seams three meters thick, in Gabon we see 70 meter thick seams,” said Abasov. “Which matters when it comes to mining the deposit. In order to maintain a similar production scale, in Ethiopia we were looking at 120 caverns that needed to be replenished every year. In Gabon, it will be more like 10 to 15, much larger, caverns producing for a decade without any need for new caverns. This will significantly reduce sustaining capex and operating costs.”
The plan for mining Banio is solution mining. “Solution mining has minimal environmental impact,” said Abasov. “With solution mining, all that goes underground is water. A potash brine is pumped to the surface, and the potash is extracted in a processing plant. It is a very low CAPEX and OPEX process.”
“Right now we have 1.7 billion tons of indicated and inferred resource,” said Abasov. “But this will change this month. We’ve really just scratched the surface of this deposit.”
This has attracted the interest and, more to the point, investment of the United States government. “The US DFC is supporting our feasibility study,” said Abasov. “U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is providing 3 million dollars in non-dilutive funding. Potash is now on the US critical minerals list. We have seen tremendous support coming from the US DFC and other parts of the US government, including the US Embassy in Gabon.”
The US government funding is designed to de-risk the project and prepare it for potential future U.S. project financing. DFC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution that partners with the private sector to mobilize capital for strategic investments around the world. It is also designed to give the US assured access to the potash at Banio. The US DFC has secured the right of first refusal to fund the Banio CAPEX.
For example, the US Development Finance Corporation approved a 465 million dollar loan to a Brazilian rare earth miner, Serra Verde, to develop a rare earths mine in Goias, Brazil. The financing is designed to help create an alternative to the Chinese stranglehold on rare earths. A strategic investment in potash produced in an African country would make a lot of sense as the US seeks to broaden the sources of its critical minerals.
The world’s potash demand is growing 3-5% a year. As nations become wealthier, their diets include more protein and that requires more potash. At the same time, as food production increases, soils become depleted, and the solution is more potash. Canada, Russia and Belarus account for the production of roughly 65% of the world’s potash.
The US has no potash of its own, and imports about 10 million tons mainly from Canada. China is a huge potash consumer, using 15 million tons a year while only producing 5 million domestically. Brazil, a short voyage across the narrowest part of the Atlantic, is using more and more potash and Africa itself is using 2 million tons a year. Gabon is perfectly located to supply the Brazilian and American markets in addition to meeting the growing African demand.
“Going forward, we’ll have a revised MRE before the end of the year,” said Abasov. “We’re planning to release a bankable feasibility study in the next six to eight months. And, early next year, we’ll continue drilling in the south.”
The end game for Abasov’s prior successful projects was the sale of the project. “M&A is certainly an option for Millennial,” said Abasov. “Right now, we have 17 million dollars in the bank, all of our warrants are in the money. We have a solid plan to advance our project. We want to unlock the value further before any potential exit.”