Allana Potash Corp. announced that it had awarded an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Study (ESIA) on its Ethiopia potash project to Environmental Resources Management (ERM).

The ESIA is scheduled to be completed around August 2012 and will form an integral part of the feasibility study the company is planning to initiate shortly.

ERM has offices in 40 countries around the world and Allana's project will be coordinated out of South Africa.

In addition to ERM staff, Ethiopian environmental consulting firms, such as Beles Engineering, will be involved in the Environmental and Social Impact Study Assessment study.

The environmental assessment will begin immediately with a camp expansion to accommodate staff.

In mid June Allana Potash Corp said that it had found a new high-grade potash zone in its property in Ethiopia, driving its shares up by 12 percent.

The company said that results from drilling in Hole 19 at the company's Dallol property in Ethiopia's north eastern Danakil Depression yielded over 61 percent of potash over 0.90 metres. That was by far the highest grade potassium chloride (KCl) Allana had come across, Dundee Securities said in a note to clients, and rated the company as their "top pick" among small potash explorers.

Source: Marketwire