Legacy project Legacy Project / Test cavern successfully completed
Connection at a depth of 1,500 meters achieved
The construction of the new K+S potash plant in Canada has further progressed. The first cavern for extraction of potash brine solution was connected at the Legacy site at a depth of 1,500 meters. Future production caverns will be based on this initial test cavern.
“This is a very significant milestone for our Legacy Project,” says Dr. Ulrich Lamp, President and CEO of K+S Potash Canada. “We are on schedule and on budget for the construction of our new potash mine”.
In order to develop caverns at the Legacy site, fresh water is pumped through two boreholes deep underground. It dissolves the potash bearing salt rock and creates two single circular caverns about 80 meters away and about 1,500 meters below the surface. Through horizontal expansion the two caverns get connected and form an oval shaped single cavern. This connection is the needed basis for the subsequent development of the production caverns, which can get about 250 meters wide and 60 meters high. The generated potash brine solution is then returned through one of the two boreholes and processed further.
At commissioning of the Legacy Project in the summer of 2016, there will be a total of 36 production caverns ready for operation from which potash brine solution will be extracted for further processing in the plant above ground.
About the Legacy Project
Legacy is a greenfield project for the setting up of a potash production on the basis of solution mining in the south of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. With Legacy K+S will be the only potash producer with large and own production facilities on two continents. The new potash plant will complement the German production network, reduce the average production costs and extend the average lifetime of the mines. In addition, Legacy will strengthen K+S’s competitiveness significantly which will bolster the total K+S Group as a result. With the expected commissioning in summer 2016 the company projects to reach the two-million-tonnes-mark of production capacity at the new location at the end of 2017. More information about the Legacy Project at www.ks-potashcanada.com.
Experience growth
K+S is one of the world's leading suppliers of standard and speciality fertilizers. In the salt business, K+S is the world’s leading producer with sites in Europe as well as North and South America. K+S offers a comprehensive range of goods and services for agriculture, industry, and private consumers, which provides growth opportunities in virtually every sphere of daily life. Worldwide, the K+S Group employs more than 14,000 people. The K+S share – the commodities stock on the German DAX index – is listed on all German stock exchanges (ISIN: DE000KSAG888, symbol: SDF). More information about K+S at www.k-plus-s.com.