K+S Group, Kassel, Germany, reported that the first large rail transport with a total of 122 railcars from the Bethune mine in Saskatchewan arrived at K+S’s potash handling and storage facility in Port Moody, one of Vancouver’s ports, on Sept. 27. The almost 2-kilometer-long unit train was loaded with about 13,000 mt of MOP standard and was pulled by four Canadian Pacific (CP) locomotives. The 1,800-kilometer-long route through the Rocky Mountains took three days. Since the end of July, several smaller rail transports have already transported the potash produced from Bethune to Vancouver.
“With this first major rail transport, we have reached another milestone,” said Dr. Burkhard Lohr, K+S chairman. “As planned, we will have capacity to produce up to two million mt at the Bethune mine annually by the end of the year.”
K+S said the arrival also marks a significant milestone for K+S’s partner, Canadian Pacific. CP had connected the Bethune plant to the existing rail network with a new, 30-kilometer-long link. For CP, this was the largest rail infrastructure project since the mid-1980s.
K+S said over the next few weeks, additional unit trains will transport potash from the Bethune mine to the handling and storage facility in Vancouver. In October, the first vessel loaded with potash will then leave the port, destined for customers in Asia.