Webpages of Department of Geology and Mines, Ministry of Handicraft and Industy, Lao PDR

Potash in Lao PDR


	Potash has not yet been exploited in Lao PDR, but the country has a very good potential for development of a large potash mine. The potash is found in a large sedimentary basin with evaporites and detrital sediments in the Vientiane area. The same sedimentary basin continues across the border to Thailand where Asia Pacific Potash is conducting a feasibility study on a large potash deposit named the Udon Thani Potash project. This project is estimated to employ 900 people in the mine and another 5000 jobs in subsidiary industries. The Thai mine calculate earning of the 22 years mine life in the order of US $4.3 billion. The Udon Thani project is presently being negotiated with the Thai government. Potash is being explored at various sites in the Mekong valley. The Tonghap deposit near Vientiane is the largest deposit known containing an estimated 50 million tons with grades up to 15 per cent K2O at depths between 25 and 200 meters and with a thickness of up to 100 meter. The deposit is presently being explored by a Chinese company (China Wuhuan chemical engineering cooporation concession). Based on costs and impact assessments for the Udon Thani deposit under study in northern Thailand, over 1,000 new jobs could be created on the Tonghap deposit, and contributions to the government in terms of taxes on the order of US$ 300 to 500 million over the lifetime of the project (25 years). Potash deposits at Thonghap in Laos appear to have equivalent grade and size as the Canadian potash deposits, but can probably be mined at shallower depth. The Canadian potash deposits are situated in Saskatchewan and require long over land transportation before they reach the sea as do the Laos and Thai deposits. The potash deposits in Laos could over the long term be competitive to the Canadian deposits, assuming that overland transport bottlenecks could be overcome.