Niagara, Ont.—Whiting Equipment Canada Inc. announced an agreement with Vale S.A. for the turnkey supply of salt evaporators and potash crystallizers for their Potasio Rio Colorado (PRC) potash solution mining plant in Argentina’s Mendoza Province. Whiting says it will be the world’s first new greenfield solution mining project of its size in over 40 years. The US$150-$300-million potash crystallization plant is the heart of the $4.2 billion Vale investment in PRC. Construction of the crystallization plant is expected to begin in December 2012 and be operational in January 2014. The plant will increase world potash production by 5 percent, producing 2.4 million mt/y, with potential phased-in increases to 4.2 million mt/y before 2020. Whiting’s most recent potash crystallization plant equipment will begin start-up this spring at Qinghai Salt Lake, located in Western China. Whiting has delivered the first order for long-delivery alloy materials required to fabricate similar capacity evaporation/crystallization equipment for Potash One’s (K+S) Legacy Project potash solution mine in southern Saskatchewan.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain