With all the talk on the election trail about potash, here is a brief look at the pink mineral.
Potash is the common name for mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.
The word potash comes from the Dutch word “potaschen.”
Potash is often called “the pink mineral.” More recently, it has been called “pink gold” due to recent demand.
Most reserves were deposited as sea water in ancient inland oceans and potassium salts crystallized into beds of potash ore when the seas evaporated.
Potash is important in agriculture as it improves water retention, yield, nutrient value, taste, colour, texture and disease resistance in food crops.
The world’s largest consumers of potash are China, the United States, Brazil and India.
Canada is the largest producer of potash at 9.5 million tonnes in 2010. Overall, 33 million tonnes were mined worldwide in 2010.
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As well, Canada has the largest reserve of potash in the world, estimated to be 4400 million tonnes in 2010 out of an estimate world reserve of 9500 million tonnes.
Most of Canada’s potash is found in Saskatchewan.
Potash was first discovered in Saskatchewan in 1943 while drilling for oil.
The first potash producer in Saskatchewan was the Potash Corporation of America.
The first mine in Saskatchewan was an underground mine at Patience Lake in 1958. It stopped production in 1959 due to water seepage in the shaft and resumed production in 1965 until the mine flooded in 1987.
There are currently 10 potash mines in Saskatchewan. Five are owned by the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PotsashCorp), four are owned by the Mosaic Company and one is owned by Agrium. BHP Billiton is currently building a mine near Jansen which is expected to be operation by 2015.
The largest producer of potash in the world is PotashCorp, which is headquartered in Saskatoon.
PotashCorp was created by the Saskatchewan government in 1975 and became a publicly traded company in 1989 as the government sold off shares.
PotashCorp controls roughly 20 per cent of the world’s production capacity.
The largest potash mine in the world is in Esterhazy. It is owned by the Mosaic Company.
In its 2011-12 budget, the Saskatchewan government estimated it will collect $381-million in revenue from potash.
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