Sage Potash Corp (TSXV: SAGE) has substantially enlarged the resource base at its Sage Plain potash project in Utah, releasing an updated mineral resource estimate that adds measured and indicated categories for the first time.
The estimate, prepared by RESPEC following the company’s summer 2026 drilling of the Peterson 1 well, outlines 226.1 million tonnes of sylvinite in the measured and indicated categories, with a further 545.4 million tonnes classified as inferred.
- Measured resources of 54.3 million tonnes grading 41.31% potassium chloride (KCl)
- Indicated resources of 171.8 million tonnes grading 41.37% KCl
- Inferred resources of 545.4 million tonnes grading 41.53% KCl
The total resource now stands at 771.5 million tonnes, roughly 2.6 times the 298.1 million tonnes of inferred material that underpinned the project’s September 2025 preliminary economic assessment.
The deposit sits in the Paradox Basin 2.1 kilometres below surface and is hosted in the Upper and Lower Cycle 18 potash beds, which average 7.1 metres and 4.3 metres thick, respectively. The lower bed carries slightly higher grades of around 42% KCl, and both contain minimal carnallite and insoluble material. Sage intends to recover the potash through solution mining.
Peterson 1 was drilled 1 kilometre from the company’s original Johnson 1 well, and the two holes lined up closely. Speaking with The Deep Dive earlier this month, CEO Pat Varas said the well “showed not only that the grade was continuous, but also that the thicknesses were very, very similar, and that gives us a lot of confidence in this basin and its economics.”
That continuity is why the resource rests on so few holes. “Potash beds are remarkably continuous over hundreds of kilometres,” Varas said, noting that drilling to that depth requires oil rigs and that Peterson 1 alone cost upwards of US$4 million.
The figures are reported as gross in-place tonnages assuming full extraction. A 25% area deduction was applied to account for potential seismic anomalies since no 3D seismic survey has been run, while mining recovery deductions and economic cut-offs will be set in later studies.
“The results validate the project’s extensive potash resources and confirm the Paradox Basin’s potential to support a scalable, high-quality potash operation,” Varas said in the company’s release, adding that Sage will now focus on optimizing its mining and processing plans, including the potential to scale the project up substantially from the 2025 study.
Rather than revisit the PEA, the company is moving directly to a prefeasibility study. “I’m not 100% sure that we would do another PEA right away. In fact, I don’t think we need it,” Varas said, adding that Sage does not expect to need any infill drilling. Further wells will instead test extraction methods, and he suggested the grades now in hand could favour a selective approach. “It may be more economical to mine the high grades with selective mining methods,” he said.
A supporting technical report is due within 45 days. From there, Sage plans to advance solution mining engineering and plant throughput design, continue permitting work, and run trade-off studies on power, water and transportation ahead of a prefeasibility study that Varas hopes to have completed in the first half of 2027.
Water supply is already taking shape. Earlier this month, hydrogeological testing at Peterson 1 confirmed two saline, non-potable water-bearing zones at depths consistent with the company’s existing water right, which allows up to 185,000 cubic metres of brackish groundwater to be drawn annually for processing and solution mining.
Sage Potash last traded at $0.11 on the TSX Venture.
