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| |  | |  Summary The Bounty potash project is a surface potash brine deposit located in the Great Salt Lake Desert of Utah, 120 miles west of Salt Lake City. The project is 15 miles north of the Wendover surface potash brine mine. The Wendover operation has been producing potash for 75 years and has an additional 125 years of reserves. Potash is produced at Wendover using brine collection ditches and solar evaporation ponds to concentrate naturally occuring brine, with final processing in a simple flotation mill. The Wendover mine has annual production of 100,000 tons of potash and 200,000 tons of magnesium chloride, with annual gross revenue of $65 million per year. Indications from drilling data suggests that the Bounty project is similar in size and grade to the Wendover mine. Overview The project consists of 104 square miles of potash leases and exploration permits and is located on a salt playa in the Great Salt Lake Desert of western Utah. Bounty is located close to the Nevada border, 15 miles north of Intrepid Potash's Wendover operation, a potash mine which is very similar in geology, size and potash grade to the deposit at the Bounty project. The Wendover mine has been in continuous production for 75 years and has 125 years of potash brine reserves. The deposit is exploited by a system of brine collection ditches and solar evaporation ponds, with potash and salt being processed in a simple flotation mill. The Intrepid Wendover mine has annual production of 100,000 tons of potash and 200,000 tons of magnesium chloride, annual gross revenue of about $65 million. Potash sells for $500 per ton and magnesium chloride for $100 per ton. Key Attributes of Surface Potash Brine Operations: Low capital expenditure Low operating costs Inexpensive to explore Simple milling process Easier to secure mining permits Surface Potash Brine Operations Have: No hard rock to blast or move, the host sand and clay formation is very easy to dig No mining staff or engineers, requires minimal production, maintenance and mill crews No fleet of haul trucks, loaders, maintenance or blasting equipment No shafts, open pits, underground workings, waste dumps or tailings No crushing circuits, cyanide, explosives, compressors or ventilation systems Previous Work The Bounty potash project has not been fully explored. In 1966 Quintana Petroleum drilled 35 auger holes at the project and adjacent areas defining 5.1 million tons of potash (MOP) grading 6.8 grams/liter. Quintana limited the estimation of the resource to the top 10 feet of the brine aquifer, the depth limits of the auger drilling equipment. Mesa controls 80% of the resource area, including potential sites for a mill and evaporation ponds. The Quintana resource is historical in nature and was calculated using a polygonal contour estimation method, the industry standard prior to NI 43-101 standards, thus it is not NI 43-101 compliant and should not be considered as a current resource. 2012 Work Plan Mesa is working with the BLM and State of Utah to permit the auger sampling program. The exploration work will take approximately 2 months to complete, which will include some sampling to twin and confirm the samples taken by Quintana. Results will be used to generate an updated ore reserve calculation and subsequent Preliminary Economic Evaluation (PEA) to guide future exploitation of the deposit. To see a working example of a surface brine operation south of Bounty, click here: Intrepid Potash's Wendover Potash Mine
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