On the West Coast of Africa, from Angola to Gabon, there is a deep, rich belt of potash. Potash, which is critical for agriculture in the US, Brazil and Africa itself. Millennial Potash (MLP.V) has just announced that it has extended its exploration permits in Gabon by 20%.
I spoke with Farhad Abasov, Chairman of Millennial Potash, late last week. “This was a strategic acquisition,” said Abasov. “We wanted to get control of the coast.”
In the release, Abasov is very clear,
“We are excited to have acquired an additional exploration permit for our Banio Potash Project with strong potential to expand our current resource base having increased our exploration permit area to almost 1,500 square kilometers. The new permit area has a strategic importance to the Company’s development plans as the Company now has all of the western coastline areas. The issuance of an additional permit demonstrates continuing solid support from the Gabonese government for Millennial Potash and an acknowledgement of the tremendous progress made on the project to date.”
Millennial already has a huge Mineral Resource Estimate, which I discussed with Abasov back in November 2025. Acquiring the new exploration permits is not directly tied to current exploration activity, but is one more step on the road to a large-scale potash solution mining operation.
“We are drilling one more hole two kilometres south of our previous holes,” said Abasov. “As we move south, the potash beds thicken. We started at 70 meters, now the potash is 100 meters thick. Will it get thicker?”
“We are really drilling for continuity and consistency,” said Abasov. “We have a pretty good idea of the overall geological structure based on the four holes we have drilled and two sets of historical data along a strike length of 20 kilometres.”
The fact is that MLP is pretty certain it has enough potash currently to run the low environmental impact solution mining operation for years, likely decades. And that is with less than 5% of the exploration permitted land explored. What’s next?
“We’re working on a full feasibility study with September 2026 as the target date,” said Abasov. “We have a 3 million dollar grant from the US Development Finance Corporation which we can draw down as we make progress. We’ve taken 10% so far. We’ll be looking for full financing for the project construction on completion of a positive feasibility study. Right now, we are tightening the cost estimates and weighing our options for the solution mining.”
One thing which the extension of the exploration permits to the coast brings up is the possibility of constructing a deep-water port closer to the proposed production facility. Potash is a bulk commodity and keeping transportation costs as low as possible can improve the economics of a project substantially. Millennial is looking at a port location which would be much closer to the well field as opposed to the current 60 km. As MLP puts it on its website:
The PEA envisions a solution-mining operation feeding a processing plant at Mayumba through a 60 km pipeline. Production would reach 800,000 tonnes per year of high-quality K60 granular MOP, using mechanical evaporation and crystallization technology. The nearby deep-water port will provide an efficient export route to international markets, minimizing transport costs and capitalizing on Gabon’s advantageous coastal position.
Millennial was going to build the deep water port in any event, why not build it a relatively short distance away? Lower CAPEX and lower operating costs will all make a difference to the profitability of the Banio Potash Project.
I asked Abasov about the political climate in Gabon. “The government has been very helpful,” said Abasov. “The exploration permit extension is a vote of confidence, and the Minister of Mines is very supportive of the project.”
The feasibility study will be the final pre-mining piece in the Banio potash exploration story. From there Millennial will have to make the decision whether to put the project up for sale or proceed with developing the mine itself. Impossible to say which way Millennial will jump.
The early February announcement of the appointment of Jack Scott as Senior VP Project Development might suggest that Millennial was following the development pathway, except for the fact that Scott occupied similar roles in Allana Potash and Millennial Lithium, both of which were subsequently sold.
The fact is that Millennial Potash has several excellent options. Based on Abasov and his team’s past performance, MLP shareholders will win whichever path Millennial takes.