eorrses sas SZ Bd ana 24 'THE OSHAWA TIMES, Tuesday, December 28, 1965 ft INVESTMENT in Saskat- chewan's infant potash industry may reach $1,000,- 000,000 by 1970 says Indus- try Minister Gordon Grant. Above isthe International Minerals.and Chemicals Cor- poration (Canda) Ltd., plant at Esterhazy. The. possibil- Potash Industry In Sask. Unprecedented Bonanza By JIM NEAVES posits in both size and quality, the shaft became unsafe be REGINA (CP) -- The infant|potash deposits extend through) cause of water seepage. 'potash industry, spurred by a tilizer, is giving economic bonanza. Capital investment of more than $200,000,000 in new potash mines and refineries announced|ing made to develop. deposits | one of three companies now pro-|-It has been estimated that for in 1965 bolstered predictions by|in Saskatchewan's neighboring! qucing potash. Another jan area 450 miles long and up growing world demand for fer-|to 60 miles wide in the southern shaft was completed in the fall | cials agricultural | half of Saskatchewan, extending of 1962 at a cost of $1,500,000, | will provide many millions more Saskatchewan an unprecedented |into Manitoba and Alberta. The|the plant was modernized and dollars in wages. Salaries in the mineral is from 3,000 to 8,000| the project resumed operation in potash feet underground. Relatively little effort is be- The task of rehabilitating the April this year. The Potash Co. of America is five economists that within a few|provinces. Only a few explora- have started mine and refinery years the mineral will rank sec- tion permits were issued in Al- developments and another 30 and only to wheat in terms of|berta in 1965. The Manitoba gov-| companies are making explora- D€ created in service industries production value in the province:|ernment recently issued an ex-|tjon and feasibility studies. Industry Minister Gordon panded permit to Prairie Potash In the three operations alone Grant says potash is "without|Mines Ltd. which more than/there now are about 1.500 em- doubt one of. the greatest re-|doubles--to 50,412 acres--its ex- ployees with an annual payroll source development programs to ploration area near St. Lazare or $8 900,000. hit the Canadian scene." Ironically, Saskatchewan, with perhaps the most extensive pot- ash deposits in the world,} in the western part of the prov- ince. While the bulk of Saskatche- wan's production is used in PLANT EXPANDS The International Minerals and Chemicals Corp. (Canada) doesn't need potash fertilizer to) manufacture of fertilizers, about| Ltd. mine and refinery at Ester- maintain its position as Can-|19 per cent goes into a variety|hazy is said to be the largest) WATER IS PROBLEM ada's greatest wheat-producing| o¢ manufactured items including|in the world. It now has a ca- matches, some explosives, tele-| pacity of 2,000,000 tons of potash |is a problem. j natural supply. Most of the pot-|vicsion tubes, detergents, glass| annually and is expected to in- ash is exported, with the United! anq chinaware, insecticides and| crease to 3,500,000 tons by 1967. province because the soil has a States taking the bulk. So far, capital investment in the' potash industry, actual and committed, exceeds $500,000,000 | and could reach $1,000,000,000 by 1970, says Mr. Grant. The value of wheat production this year was about $860,000,00 with oil next at $195,000,000, up $9,000,000 from 1964 but not ex- pected to increase much in the near future NEARLY DOUBLED Potash production in 1964 was | surface levels was of a treach- | $30,000,000, rose to $55,000,000)erous nature Named the Blair-|jin September, 1964, meat-curing agents. The vast resource resulted from evaporation of an ancient} project in 1957. It also used aj|supply system for domestic and| sea 350,000,000 years ago. Above | freezing technique to thwart the | industrial use in the potash min- the potash lie levels of water- saturated shale and limestone 0, | that have interfered with efforts) star' to free the mineral. POSES PROBLEM It was during the 1951-1954 pe riod that the Potash Co. America found one of the sub- This firm entered Saskatche- wan in 1955 and started its Blairmore but used cast iron nee line its shaft. The mine d producing in 1962 and a second shaft and refiner are un- der construction and expected to be in production by 1967. The total capital investment at Es- of|terhazy 'is expected to reach} | $120,000,000 by that year. A significant event occurred when two this year and is expected to|more, it was a 200-foot-thick| carloads of potash were shipped grow quickly. Some $45,000,000 layer Of quicksand with water) trom worth was exported. pressures as high as 475 pounds Chemicals ) 29 mile 22 miles | the Kalium }project at Belle Plain, Potash was discovered in the to the square inch. This posed | west of Regina. province by Imperial Oil Ltd. while drilling for oil in 1943 but} it wasn't until the mid-1950s a problem in sinking a mine shaft. The company used a technique It marked the success of a |solution - mining process which jmeant a larger portion of the that the extent and exploitation ijn which the ground was frozen| erable, A large amount of the possibilities were realized. to a depth of 3,000 feet and as jore, which in its natural form Estimates of. recoverable re- a shaft was sunk a reinforced|is Jarge pieces of transluscent serves vary but generally they concrete lining was installed. |crystal of a color ranging from are believed to be in the billions Success came in 1958 when the| pale pink to deep orange, lies at of tons. Annual production now first potash deposits were pene-|qgepths too far below the surface} is about 3,200,000 tons but is ex- pected to hit almost 11,000,000 tons a year by 1970. trated, But the Blairmore won the initial round and mining was to make shaft mining profitable. 7 |PUMP IN WATER Exceeding all other known de-'halted about a year later when} Kalium perfected a process in The world's largest de- posit of potash lies under southern Saskatchewan and northern Alberta. The de- posit extends into North Dakota and Manitoba. Est mates of the recoverable re- ase & weeny ~e serves vary but are believed to be in the billions of tons. Several companies are at work in southern Saskatche wan but relatively little is being done elsewhere in the area. (CP Newsmap) which water, forced down by pipe into the potash beds, dis- solves the ore and then is pumped to the surface where the potash and other salts are recovered by a secret process of jerystallization and drying. In- jvestment in this project is esti mated at about $40,000,000 and annual production now is about £90,000 tons. Last year, Alwinsal Potash of Canada Ltd. started sinking a }shaft at Lanigan, 70 miles east of Saskatoon, and construction lof a refinery is. scheduled to |start in 1967. Total. investment |will be about $50,000,000 and initial production capacity is es- timated at 1,000,000 tons annu- jally. | A $60,000,000 shaft mine and |surface plant is being con- | structed at Allan, 35 miles south- jeast of Saskatoon. Started last year by United States Borax and Chemical Corp., the mine will |have two shafts and is expected jto have annual production of /1,000,000 tons when operation istarts in 1968 | Three large companies an- |nounced plans for potash devel- jopments during the year. | In January, Consolidated Min ling and Smelting announced it j would bring into production its iproperty at Deslisle, 20 miles southwest of Saskatoon. Shaft jsinking has started and_ the | $65,000,000 project will also pro- jduce about 1,000,000 tons annu- lally on completion in 1969. | Noranda Mines Ltd. an- nounced in February it would proceed with a $73,000,000 mine and refinery in the Viscount Colonsay area 40 miles Saskatoon. It will have two shafts with annual production east of ities _ of only realized in 1950's. (CP Photo) exploitation were the mid- estimated at 1,200,000 tons in 1969. Duval Corp. of Houston, Tex., | announced a $63,000,000 twin- shaft and refinery project near Saskatoon in July. Production is expected to be 1,000,000 tons an- nually from deposits about 3,500 feet deep. In addition to the direct bene- fit of employment provided by these operations, provincial offi- Say secondary industry industry alone should reach $30,000,000 annually by 1975, they say. every new job created directly in mining potash five more wiik and secondary industry. It is anticipated that by 1970 potash mines will require 40 per cent of the total electrical power consumption and will need an estimated 15,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas each year. Each mine uses about 1,000,000 gallons of water daily. The question of water supply ] Premier Thatcher's announce-} ment that the province will in-, troduce legislation next spring to provide a $25,000,000 water) ing area caused concern in the Saskatchewan Mining Associa- tion The association the compulsory _ participation |feature of the plan but Mr. | Thatcher insisted that the gov- objected to jernment has a responsibility to |provide water to communities jlikely to spring up around mine jand refinery developments in ;addition to existing -communi- ties Also arousing the associa- tion's displeasure was the appli- cation this year of a production jtax-of about 40 cents a ton on |potash mines from _ freeho!d} |mineral lands. It was expected | |to provide revenue of about ;$225,000 during the last six jmonths of 1965 and about $500,- {000 during 1966. | The province already collects royalty of about 65 cents a ton on potash produced from} Crown lands. The association {contends the tax on freehold land is unfair in some respects and wants a royalty formula based on the grades of potash. iSEEK TAX RELIEF One aspect of taxation that jalmost resulted.in open war be tween the province and the fed- eral government was Premier Thatcher's atiempt to have the federal government provide tax concessions to the solution--po- tash mines similar to those en- joyed by the conventional shaft- | type mines Shaft mines Of all types, such as coal, copper and potash, re- ceive a three-year tax holiday when actual operation starts,! but the solution mines have no shafts. Mr. Thatcher contends solu- tion mines should receive the jSame consideration and - while} the question still has not been | resolved, provincial officials are confident Ottawa will provide the concession in the near fu- ture Potash company and _ provin- {cial officials don't seem ---con- cerned about markets, -- Eaaee Cameron, resources | minister, demand in- creases about five or six per cent annually and a rising. world population will create markets. One potash company official said there will be problems in- itially when four or five sub- stantial mines come into pro-, duction almost simultaneously. "You can't create a tremend- says without marketing But long term outlook is good." ous new supply some the) problem Save 16.00 to 134.00! 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