What is Potash anyway?

TORONTO – It’s a question that’s been circulating among Canadians for weeks, ever since Anglo-Australian company BHP Billiton launched a hostile takeover bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan: What exactly is potash, anyway?

Potash is a general term used to describe various compounds containing potassium, one of the key nutrients needed for plant growth – the most common of which is sodium chloride.

The Canadian Encyclopedia says pioneers traditionally produced potassium fertilizer by leaching wood ashes and evaporating the solution in large iron pots.

Today, about 95 per cent of the world’s potash is still used in fertilizers, with the rest being put towards the manufacturing of products ranging from glass to explosives.

Thanks to huge reserves in Saskatchewan, Canada is the world’s leading exporter of potash.

Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Industry and Resources says the province is currently home to about half the world’s potash reserves and accounts for about 30 per cent of global production. New Brunswick also produces potash, but nowhere near the scale of Saskatchewan.

Sales of potash produced in Saskatchewan totalled $3.1 billion in 2009.

The flat landscape and geological conditions found throughout the province, coupled with sophisticated mining practices, make potash extraction relatively simple and inexpensive, the province says.

Saskatchewan has been producing potash since 1962.