For sale sign put in front of SO4’s Lake Way with rumoured $300m price tag, following management restructure

A Czech billionaire is looking to offload a Goldfields potash project, or at least a slice of it, and one of his lieutenants has rubbished claims of deep job cuts despite a leadership exodus. It can be revealed Sev.en Global Investments, the family office of mining tycoon Pavel Tykač, will imminently sound out investors to recoup a big chunk of the hundreds of millions of dollars poured into the Lake Way sulphate of potash (SOP) operation. Sev.en’s Australia country manager Mark Sykes told The West Australian he was hoping “to close out some level of transaction” for Lake Way — situated 15km south of Wiluna — within the next six months. “Or if it’s going better than what we think we may actually choose just to not bring in a partner at all, so I would like to think that no more than six months (for a decision to be made),” he said. The revelation comes a day after Sev.en announced first potash from Lake Way. Mr Tykač’s investment arm grabbed the problematic project for an undisclosed sum in October 2022 from the ashes of ASX-listed Salt Lake Potash, which imploded under the weight of debts exceeding $160 million. The rebirthed business was named SO4 — Salt Lake’s former ASX ticker code — and has been injected with “more than $200 million” to redevelop the Lake Way mine, its flagship asset. Sources close to the business said a sticker price of $300m has been slapped on SO4. Mr Sykes did not provide specific details of SO4’s valuation except to say “if it’s 300 mill we might actually look at selling it”. “We will (also) look at bringing in a strategic investor, whether it be an offtaker, whether that be someone who seeks to potentially increase the size of the footprint of the project and do something else or add value somewhere else,” he said. Rumours have also been swirling that SO4 had slashed about 60 jobs in recent months in an effort to reduce its cost base before being shopped around. Mr Sykes waved away suggestions of a major workforce restructure. He said SO4 had employed an average of 160 people since construction was completed earlier this year and the number varies based on when SO4 harvests the brine from its ponds. “The nature of the work out on site will always fluctuate . . . if we’re not harvesting, there’s equipment there, but we don’t need people,” he said. “And people may selectively highlight ‘oh, there’s no longer people on site because there’s no work’. Well, that workforce will remobilise when that activity comes back.” However, big changes among the top brass of SO4 can be confirmed. Wes Martini, the general manger of Lake Way, left the role abruptly in May after just nine months. Some of his direct reports are also believed to have departed around the same time. The resignation of SO4 chief executive Stuart Fraser was also announced in May via an internal memo to staff sighted by The West. Mr Fraser will finish up next month. Mr Sykes declined to comment on the exact reasons behind the departures. “For reasons that remain theirs (the people that left) we did bring in and promoted people internally,” he said. “One of our challenges has been the high general turnover rate of people in of the workforce in Western Australia, and that’s been that’s been seen through the ranks.” Sev.en, which is headquarted in the Czech Republic capital of Prague, on Monday said Lake Way was “tracking well” towards full commercial operation of more than 200,000 tonnes of SOP annually. Mr Sykes did not divulge when he expects Lake Way to reach nameplate capacity or a financial breakeven point.