Mining potash above ground: how the new Bethune mine works
With a new $4.1 billion solution potash mine by Bethune nearing completion, an expert is differentiating between this type of mine versus conventional mining.
“When most people think of potash mining, they think of people underground and the big mining machines,” revealed Sam Farris, VP and general manager of operations with K + S Potash Canada’s Legacy Project.
No, workers don’t emerge with dirt-covered faces while squinting at the sunlight at this massive facility. Instead, Farris explained this form of mining is controlled from the surface.
It all starts with a water-based solvent that’s injected deep underground into caverns, roughly 1.5 kilometres into the earth. The solvent then dissolves potash and the sodium chloride (salt) along with it. That produces a brine, or a salty water. That mixture is then pumped back up to surface to the processing plant.