Australia-based Elemental Minerals has signed an investment agreement with Oman’s State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), a sovereign wealth fund, to finance the development of a major potash project in the Republic of Congo, said a report.

Elemental Minerals revealed in a statement that the SGRF is one of three globally significant strategic investors that have made a cumulative $50 million equity injection against the allocation of shares in the company, added the Oman Daily Observer report.

SGRF has agreed to subscribe for shares with a total subscription value of $20 million at an issue price of $0.20, or approximately 133 million shares, representing approximately 17.4 per cent of the total issued share capital of Elemental Minerals, it said

The other strategic investors are: Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (SQM), a prominent Chilean producer of fertilisers and industrial chemicals, with a $20 million contribution; and Summit, a private equity fund group operating in Africa, with an investment of $10 million.

Elemental said the funding would enable the appointment of a world class engineering and construction consortium to complete a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for its flagship potash project, the Kola Sylvinite Project in the Republic of Congo.

Billed as one of the most attractive potash opportunities globally, Kola is estimated to hold proven and probable reserves of 152 million tonnes of Sylvinite ore (potash ore). With an operating cost of less than $100 per tonne of muriate of potash (MOP), it would be one of the lowest cost potash mines in the world, according to Elemental.

Additionally, the strategic investment allows Elemental to carry out additional drilling at the Dougou Extension Sylvinite Prospect, deemed as a candidate for the world’s highest grading potash seam. Located 15km southwest of Kola, the Dougou Extension lies immediately west of the Dougou Deposit, a very large deposit with an indicated potash mineral resource of 1.1 billion tonnes, added the report.