Focus in FY2020 was on safely installing new work platforms, called Galloways, into the two 7.3-metre diameter service and production shafts to enable the installation of the final watertight composite concrete and steel liners from a depth of approximately 900 metres. At the end of FY2020, the current scope of work was 86 per cent complete.

The service shaft and production shaft are 1,005 metres and 975 metres deep, respectively. Jansen is intended to mine the Lower Patience Lake potash formation, which lies between 935 metres and 940 metres.

Future work will include continuing to install the watertight composite concrete and steel final liners. In June 2020, final shaft lining work for the Jansen Potash Project, which was reduced to focus on one shaft as part of our COVID-19 response plan to reduce our on-site interprovincial workforce, was resumed in both shafts. BHP continues to assess the impacts of COVID-19 and the temporary reduction in construction activity. Timing for completion of the shafts continues to be under review.

We will continue the selection of a port option on the North American west coast from which Jansen’s potash would be exported. As with all decisions relating to the deployment of capital, the next steps of the Project will be assessed in line with our Capital Allocation Framework.