Ms Paterson, who founded Trigg in 2014, has battled negative investor sentiment towards the
nascent sector in the wake of the collapse of one of its leaders, Salt Lake Potash, last year and
ongoing ramp-up and commissioning issues faced by another trailblazer, Kalium Lakes.

Trigg is focused on the development of its Lake Throssell project about 180km east of
Laverton, which is expected to produce 245,000 tonnes per annum of SOP over a 21-year
minelife.
The company is one of a handful of small WA-based players looking to tap the State’s vast,
remote salt lakes to extract hypersaline brine to produce the high-value fertiliser, used for
crops such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, coffee and tea.

But producing SOP from the solar evaporation and purification of brine is subject to the
complex interplay of weather, hydrogeology and chemical processing.

The challenging production process, which has proven a stumbling block for Salt Lake and
Kalium, has also put a cloud over other aspiring players including Trigg, Australian Potash,
Agrimin and Reward Minerals.

The industry has attractive green credentials because of its low-carbon intensity, minimal
environmental impact and narrative of helping to feed the world’s growing population,
About two thirds of the world’s SOP production comes from converting the more commonly
used muriate of potash using the energy intensive and dirty Mannheim method, making the
more natural methods applied by aspiring WA producers more appealing in terms of ESG.

The path to development, financing, construction and production for traditional mining
projects in WA is well worn, but sulphate of potash is still poorly understood as a commodity
and there are no commercial operations in Australia and only a few worldwide.

And while operating costs are low and project lifespans are long compared to traditional
hardrock mining, significant upfront capital is required and long lead times to production can
test the patience and risk appetite of many investors.

Ms Paterson admits attracting investor interest in the business had been challenging but says
she had been pleasantly surprised while on a recent international roadshow that overseas
interest in the local sector was still strong.
“The world is looking for safe and reliable sources of fertiliser, with much of the world’s
supply coming from Russia, Belarus and China,” she said.

“They’re not so concerned with the challenges because they have a lot more exposure to
other SOP companies, they understand that solar evaporation takes time to ramp-up and they
have a longer-term investment outlook.”

Ms Paterson recently visited North America in a bid to drum-up interest, investment and
offtake deals for Trigg and is also planning visits to the UK and Europe.
She conceded Trigg would need a balance sheet that the average entrepreneurial WA mining
company didn’t have, so the gap would need to be bridged.

Ms Paterson said she believed fertiliser companies would ultimately be forced to invest
directly upstream to guarantee supply of product in the same way battery makers and auto
manufacturers have begun investing in the lithium mining sector.

“There are very few of these projects globally because they are quite rare deposits, but it’s
incredibly important to bring them into production for our food security,” she said.
“Australia prides itself on its agricultural output but let’s also embrace our ability to develop
projects that are part of the agricultural inputs.”