Sirius Minerals falls 11% on fears about Chinese Adavale partnership

I missed the significance of the Sirius Minerals  (SXX announcement) this morning in relation to the potential partnership with Sino-agri Mining on the Australian Adavale potash project. The implications are covered by the story on the iii.co.uk site below.

http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/14288/partnership-doubts-knock-shares-sirius

Partnership doubts knock shares in Sirius

Mon, 14/02/2011 - 11:06 | Esther Armstrong

Shares in AIM-listed potash developer Sirius Minerals (SXX) slumped on Monday after the firm cast doubt on the potential Chinese partnership for the Adavale project in Queensland Australia.

Back in August Sirius announced it had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Sino-Agri Mining Industry to explore ways of working together to exploit Sirius’s wholly-owned Adavale project.

The 180 initial exclusivity period on the MOU is due to end tomorrow, but Sirius said it is continuing discussions with Sino-Agri about potential commercial agreements and that it is committed to building a long-term mutually beneficial partnership with the Chinese firm and more broadly with China.

In other areas, the group said the integration of the York Potash project was proceeding well, following the acquisition announced in January.

Sirius added that the project was moving forward on many fronts including the continued acquisition on mineral rights within the project area, analysis of extensive amounts of historical seismic data and selection of locations for the initial drilling campaign.

Sirius also updated on its operations in North Dakota and the Canning Basin project in Australia. It has acquired more land at its Williston Basin in North Dakota and continued its studies on the Canning Bain, but has yet to make any material progress in the region.