Intrepid mine expansion will be delayed

Denver-Intrepid Potash Inc. said Jan. 7 that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has determined that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be required to evaluate the environmental impacts of Intrepid’s proposed HB Solar Solution Mine project in Carlsbad, N.M. As a consequence, final permitting and approval of the HB Solar Solution Mine will be delayed, and related capital expenditures deferred, for an as-yet-undetermined period. Intrepid said the delay will not have any impact on 2009 potash production volumes. The mine has been in the planning stages for years. Finally, last September, BLM hosted two public meetings in Carlsbad concerning the project. At these meetings, Intrepid presented the technical aspects of the project and answered citizen questions. The BLM then provided a 30-day public comment period, but received no comments. An oil and gas company thereafter submitted objections to the project based on alleged environmental impacts. “We are clearly disappointed with the BLM’s decision to allow an oil and gas company to delay such an environmentally friendly project in our nation’s potash reserve,” said Bob Jornayvaz, Intrepid CEO. “The project has been extensively publicized and supported by the community, and remains so, because it takes advantage of an unused, non-potable water source to recover potash from the existing Eddy potash mine and produce it in solar evaporation ponds rather than having to burn natural gas or coal. Potash solution mining is a widely used and accepted technology. The oil and gas company’s actions are further disappointing because the solar solution mining project, which is funded for immediate construction, creates numerous long-term jobs in the face of the nation’s current economic crisis and actually opens more areas for oil and gas drilling.” Jornayvaz noted that it is in litigation with the oil and gas company over their planned drilling in the nation’s Potash Enclave and the resulting destruction and waste of potash. He said Intrepid worked diligently with BLM to address the environmental impacts alleged by the oil and gas company and showed them to be without merit. He said while the determination, if followed by the BLM, will lengthen the timeframe for approval of the project, it does not change the criteria for the final BLM decision.