NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment - Verde Potash

Verde Potash Plc 3-1
Cerrado Verde Project
NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment
3
Accessibility, Climate, Local Resources,
Infrastructure and Physiography (Item 5)
3.1 Topography, Elevation and Vegetation
The peneplane developed by the Verdete unit, i.e., the ground over which the Areado Group was
deposited, undulates between the altitudes of 1,000m and 850m. Higher values are found in the
southern part of the Serra da Saudade range. In the middle portion of the ridge, the peneplane is
placed between 880m and 920m. Therefore, all the surface exposures of the Verdete unit were
the result of the Tertiary erosion cycles that stripped off the Mesozoic rocks (Mata da Corda and
Areado groups).
The local vegetation consists of relicts of the primitive savanna ("cerrado") still preserved
between soya and coffee plantations and industrially planted forests of eucalyptus and pine trees.
The farms are mainly confined to the fertile soil of the Mata da Corda Group that forms plateaux
around 1,000m.
3.2 Climate and Length of Operating Season
The climate of the region is classified, according to IBGE (2002) as half-humid warm tropical,
with annual average temperatures of 22°C Annual rainfall in the area averages between 1,300mm
and 1,800mm, 84% of which falls during the rainy season between October and March, with the
highest rainfall between December and January. Operations can be year round.
3.3 Physiography
The region is inserted in the hydrographic basin of Indaiá River, a tributary river in the left
margin of São Francisco River. According to SECTES – Secretaria do Estado de Ciência e
Tecnologia de Minas Gerais – (1938), Indaiá River basin is part of the geomorphological unit
São Francisco Plateau where the planning surfaces, the edges of the hills and the crests point dip
to NE, with high structural control (COSTA-FILHO et al, 2007).
The main drainages are the rivers Indaiá, Abaeté, Borrachudo and their tributary. The
morphology of those rivers is the meandering channels and the drainage style is dendritic, mainly
when installed over the pelites. In the north of the area is the Três Marias dam, main mouth of
the region rivers. The water depth of the dam oscillates between the altitudes of 560 and 575m
(LIMA, 2005).
The main topographic feature is the Serra da Saudade ridge. The landscape can be separated into
three domains that may be correlated to the South American Surfaces (King, 1956):
Upper Surface: Older stage of the planning that expose the Areado Group Sandstones and
Mata da Corda Group;
Intermediate Surface: Refer to the second stage of the planning after de dissection of the
Upper Surface, triggered by the resumption of the erosive process. The average altitude
is of 750 to 850m. They are irregular surfaces stretched in N-S strike, developed over the
Serra da Saudade Formation represented by psamitic lithotypes. Matches to the South
American Surface I, mio-pliocene; and
SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. September 16, 2011
Cerrado Verde_NI 43-101 PEA_343500.020_007_KG