Millennial Potash is targeting a 2029 production start at its Banio potash project in southwest Gabon as the emerging Canadian developer advances a definitive feasibility study and positions the asset as a potential new source of supply for Africa, the United States and other major agricultural markets.
The company expects to complete a definitive feasibility study (DFS) by the end of this year, chief executive Farhad Abasov told MINING.COM in an interview, putting Millennial on a path toward a potential final investment decision in early 2027.
The study is examining solution mining and could consider a larger operation than the 800,000 tonnes per year contemplated in the project’s preliminary economic assessment.
“We may actually look at some larger scales, different options, primarily because we’ve seen tremendous interest coming from potential offtakers and also from some large funders,” Abasov said.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has already provided $3 million toward the project’s feasibility work and has expressed interest in financing construction, Abasov said.
“The most important thing is not the $3 million that they gave us for the feasibility study,” he said. “It’s that they actually got involved with us because they want to fund construction of this project.”
Millennial is simultaneously carrying out environmental and social impact studies, which are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027. The company would then seek to convert its exploration licence into a mining permit.
Diversifying potash supply
The project’s development comes as potash supply security has returned to the geopolitical spotlight.
Global production and exports are heavily concentrated among Canada, Russia and Belarus, while major agricultural economies including Brazil and the US remain dependent on imports.
For Millennial, that concentration creates an opening for a producer on Africa’s Atlantic coast capable of shipping into several major markets.
“A lot of potash users are kind of tired of being dependent on basically three countries — Russia, Belarus, even Canada,” Abasov said, while stressing that Canada remains a reliable supplier.
Gabon, he said, could offer buyers another option without some of the geographic and geopolitical constraints affecting established suppliers.
“There is no geographical constraint. There’s no political constraint. There’s no war going on,” Abasov said. “A lot of countries would love to get potash from a country like Gabon.”
He said the company’s aim is not to displace Canadian production in the US market.
“I don’t want to replace Canadian potash,” Abasov said. “Actually, I want to replace Russian potash.”
The diversification argument has become particularly relevant as Washington takes a more active role in financing overseas mineral projects.
Abasov said US government involvement in the mining sector has accelerated across administrations, with Washington increasingly treating access to strategic minerals as an economic and national-security priority.
The trend has created financing opportunities for projects that might otherwise struggle to attract enough conventional private capital.
Millennial’s strategy has been to tap development finance institutions alongside private investors. The company has also attracted investment from Blackstone and Toronto-based Polar, as well as several family offices, Abasov said.
Expanding toward the coast
Millennial has also launched its third phase of drilling at Banio, with three holes planned.
The program is testing an area nearly four kilometres west of previous drilling, potentially extending the deposit closer to the Atlantic coast and the infrastructure needed to export its product.
Recent drilling has encountered potash layers beyond those identified in previous holes, potentially indicating greater mineralized thickness than previously estimated, Abasov said.
“We’ve intersected cycles of potash layers that we haven’t seen in previous holes,” he said. “That means that probably there’s a lot more potash than 80 metres of thickness that we have reported previously.”
Millennial may deepen the hole as a result. The drilling is expected to feed into an updated mineral resource estimate for the DFS.
Infrastructure remains one of the biggest pieces of the development puzzle.
Millennial is working with the Gabonese government and infrastructure developers on plans for a deepwater port and power supply. The company is also considering extending a natural gas pipeline from an offshore platform to the project, where gas could supply a dedicated power plant.
“If we can get to financial close by the middle of 2027, then we can break ground by the end of the year,” Abasov said, putting first production in 2029.
Africa first
Banio could also provide Africa with a locally produced source of a fertilizer ingredient whose global supply is heavily concentrated outside the continent.
Abasov said Africa would be Millennial’s primary market, while the company is also holding discussions with potential buyers in Brazil, the US and Asia.
“We want to basically dominate the African market for obvious reasons,” he said.
Africa consumes roughly 2 million tonnes of potash annually, according to Abasov, potentially giving Banio enough demand nearby to absorb a significant portion of its output.
Millennial has not yet signed any offtake agreements. Instead, it is looking for agreements with counterparties willing to provide financial support for development rather than simply purchasing future production.
“We don’t want to sign just regular offtake,” Abasov said. “We want to sign offtakes with parties that can actually contribute to the project financially.”
The company is in discussions with a large Brazilian potash consumer, a US agricultural company, African groups and buyers in Asia, he said. Potential offtake announcements are likely after completion of the DFS, when Millennial has greater certainty around production volumes.
Development finance advantage
For Abasov, access to development finance is one reason the company has been willing to develop a project in Africa.
Millennial’s management team previously developed potash projects in Saskatchewan and Ethiopia. Its Potash One venture was acquired by Germany’s K+S, which subsequently developed the Saskatchewan operation, while its Ethiopian project attracted the International Finance Corporation before eventually being sold to Israel Chemicals.
The experience shaped the company’s approach to Banio.
“In Africa, if I find the right project — meaning that the deposit has tremendous upside potential, it has access to water, it has access to ports, it has access to power, and [is] in a good jurisdiction — then I can get what they call development financing institutions to come in and actually fund us,” Abasov said.
DFC’s involvement followed roughly 14 months of due diligence spanning the Biden and Trump administrations, he added.
Investor interest in African mining has also changed, according to Abasov, with large family offices increasingly willing to back projects on the continent.
Millennial’s largest shareholder is a Singapore-based family office with roots in Canada’s agricultural sector, while family offices from Hong Kong, the US and Gulf region have also invested.
With the DFS, environmental studies, drilling and infrastructure planning all moving ahead simultaneously, Millennial is aiming to reach financial close by mid-2027.
If it succeeds, Banio could enter production two years later — giving global fertilizer buyers another Atlantic Basin source at a time when governments and agricultural companies are paying increasingly close attention to the origins of their potash.
