Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Will you please give your thoughts on Allana Potash? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

Allana Potash, $0.82, symbol AAA on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 197.0 million; Market cap: $161.5 million; www.allanapotash.com), is focused on developing its Danakhil potash project in Ethiopia. This project, which is located in the Danakhil Depression area, could hold as much as 1.3 billion tonnes of potash. Allana’s property has a history of potash exploration and mining. There was small-scale potash production at Danakhil in the 1920s, and the property was extensively explored in the 1960s, when nearly 300 holes were drilled. Operating in Ethiopia entails considerable political risk. The region’s roads are poor, and power and water infrastructure is underdeveloped. Still, Allana has completed a positive preliminary economic assessment on the project. This report envisions a mine on the site, as well as processing facilities and port and road improvements. In all, this project would cost $796 million U.S. to build. The mine would produce one million tonnes of potash a year, with the potential to double that. Danakhil is about 600 kilometres by…