Uvs Basin Project
GMM 100%
The Uvs Basin project is situated in the far north-western region of Mongolia, in the territory of Uvs Aimag (province). GMM is targeting potash within a middle Devonian evaporite that outcrops at several places within the basin.
Key features of the project are:
- Confirmation that sylvite settling occurred in the receding waters of the middle Devonian evaporite with potash grades up to 65% KCl and intersections of 1.8m @ 39% KCl and 9.7m @ 16% KCl in limited drilling at Tuz Tag on the nearby Russian-Mongolian border;
- Five exploration licences and one application covering over 2000km2 within the basin;
- Middle Devonian evaporite occurrences on the Company’s tenements.
The majority of the Company’s licences are centred on the north-west corner of the basin where heavy faulting has exposed the middle Devonian evaporite in several locations.
Access to the area is via asphalt road from Ulaangom. The Uvs Basin Project property benefits from its proximity to an asphalt road and high voltage powerline, which runs parallel to the road and licences, both supplied by Russia. The asphalt road leads to railways in Russia which service Vladiostok port, China and Korea.
The Uvs Basin project is also prospective for a range of other evaporite minerals including soda ash, lithium brines and borax.
Development of Evaporite Deposits (Potash)
Evaporites are water-soluble, mineral sediments that result from the evaporation of bodies of surficial water. Although all water bodies on the surface and in aquifers contain dissolved salts, the water must evaporate into the atmosphere for the minerals to precipitate. For this to happen the water body must enter a restricted environment where water input into this environment remains below the net rate of evaporation. This is usually an arid environment with a small basin fed by a limited input of water. When evaporation occurs, the remaining water is enriched in salts, and they precipitate when the water becomes oversaturated (Refer to Figure 2).
A typical crystallisation sequence within an evaporite is: calcite → gypsum → halite → polyhalite → K-Mg salts.
As potash minerals are the most soluble and last mineral to crystallise in evaporites they can be expected to be found above salt beds or towards the centre of the basin as the water level drops and the lake retreats. These evaporites are usually subsequently buried beneath thick sedimentary cover with the majority of potash mines occurring at depths of between 400m and 1200m.
