Asia Pacific Resources (APR) controls what it claims to be the world's biggest "greenfield"

Asia Pacific Resources (APR) controls what it claims to be the world's biggest "greenfield" potash deposit, at Somboon-Udon in northeast Thailand. APR has a debt-free balance sheet and potential funding from the World Bank-IFC. It claims its phosphates transportation costs will undercut those of Canadian suppliers, when it meets growing Asian (particularly Chinese) fertilizer demand.

But the path to potash isn't smooth. Villagers have long protested against the project, recently joined by a leading Bangkok-based environmental NGO. And the country's new Minerals Act - amended so the project could proceed [see Mining Journal April 5 2002] - is being challenged in Thailand's Constitutional Court.