Saskatoon-Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (PotashCorp) said March 23 that it will, pending regulatory approvals, bring back 360,000 mt of previously idled potash capacity at its Patience Lake, Sask., solution mine. This facility is forecast to produce 240,000 mt in 2007. Approximately US$92 million will be invested in the construction of approximately 20 additional injection wells and the pumping and piping systems to serve them. Only minor mill modifications will be necessary to handle the additional production, and the project is estimated to take 18 months to complete. The Patience Lake project is the next step in PotashCorp’s overall plan to increase production capacity from an available capability of 10.0 million mt in 2006 to 13.5 million mt by the end of 2010. Along with this reinstatement of Patience Lake capacity, debottlenecking projects at Allan and Lanigan announced in April 2005 will raise capacity by 400,000 and 1.5 million mt, respectively. The Allan project, which includes 500,000 mt of new compaction capacity, will be operational by April 1, 2007, while the Lanigan increase is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2008. Debottlenecking and expansion plans for the Cory and New Brunswick facilities are being finalized and will be reviewed by PotashCorp’s board of directors in the near future. Additional expansion projects in Saskatchewan are also being considered. Combined, these projects could raise total production capability to 15.7 million mt by 2015. Further detailed announcements will be made as plans are finalized.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain