Potash projects hit milestones, setbacks

Two companies attempting to break into the Saskatchewan potash fertilizer industry with major multi-billion-dollar projects—K+S and BHP Billiton—report progress but also say that they don’t expect to ramp up production as fast as they first intended. K+S staged the ceremonial commissioning of its 2 million-metric-ton-per-year Legacy mining project near Regina, Saskatchewan. However, the company expects the first metric ton of production out of the facility to come toward the middle of next year, not later this year as originally planned. Billiton’s Jansen, Saskatchewan, project is 60% complete and should have its mine shafts finished as early as 2018. However, the company says it could mothball the projects at that time if there is still industry overcapacity of the potassium crop nutrient.