Mosaic Potash Mine

Potash, or potassium chloride (KCl), used predominantly for fertilizer, has been mined near the town of Esterhazy (pop. 2500) in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan since the beginning of the 1960s. The local mine, comprising two shafts and processing plants, K1 and K2, is the largest in the world, and the current owner, Mosaic Co., is the second-largest producer of potash in the world. As late as 2006, potash was an obscure commodity, and Mosaic was in the red – since that time, the price of potash has increased fivefold, and seems likely to stay there, due to the increased worldwide demand for food and biological raw materials, and thus fertilizers of all types The potash seam mined at K1 and K2 is located one kilometre underground, where during the decades 4700 kilometres of tunnels have been bored, including one interconnecting K1 and K2, which are about 10 km apart. The mined potash is transported on a conveyor belt to a "ore skip" and hoisted to a processing plant on the surface. After processing, the potash is transported to market via rail, and the tailings (waste), composed of clay, salt and brine, are stored in ponds and piles. Canada is the world's largest producer of potash, and Saskatchewan is Canada's largest producer of potash, producing 90% of Canada's total output (8 million tonnes), and about one-quarter of the world's supply. About 95% of potash produced in the world is used for fertilizer, with 5% used in commercial and industrial products such as soap.