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Potash/Phosphate

Rio unveils big potash find near BHP mine – by Matt Chambers (The Australian – March 18, 2014)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business

RIO Tinto has declared it is sitting on a big potash deposit in Saskatchewan in the same basin where its rival BHP Billiton is spending $US3.8 billion ($4.2bn) just to be ready to mine the fertiliser ingredient when global food demand warrants it.

In its annual report, Rio described the KP405 potash discovery as the eighth “tier-one” discovery in the past decade by its exploration group. “Drilling results indicate encouraging potash grade and thickness,” Rio said.

“Higher nutritional standards, population growth and limited arable land make potash a critical factor in maintaining global food security.” Rio’s Russian partner, Acron, has been more animated, saying there is the potential for a long-life, low-cost mine at the “massive” KP405 deposit.

BHP chief Andrew Mackenzie describes potash as a potential “fifth pillar” of BHP’s commodities business, indicating the potential he thinks the company has in Saskatchewan’s Elk Point Basin.

BHP last year approved a $US2.6bn spend to gain access to the deposit, bringing total approved spending to $US3.8bn before it has made a definite decision to mine.

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Junior mining firm dreaming of Alberta potash industry – by David Howell (Edmonton Journal – March 14, 2014)

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/index.html

EDMONTON – Brian (Griz) Testo has been a dreamer and an explorer all his life. He recalls panning for gold in the McLeod River near Hinton at age eight, and discovering a fossil pit at 14.

Now nearing 62, with a colourful background prospecting for diamonds and other minerals, the former pipeline welder is pursuing a commodity nearly unheard of in Alberta: potash.

“It’s the chase, and the discovery,” Testo said in an interview. “My dream is that we hit potash and we get a new industry for Alberta, we make our shareholders a ton of money, we create jobs, create wealth for people, and feed the world.”

Testo is president and CEO of Grizzly Discoveries Inc., which takes its name from his nickname. The Edmonton-based junior mining company announced this week it is in talks with a potential partner about a possible $15-million investment in Grizzly’s Alberta potash project.

Grizzly’s unnamed partner, which Testo will only say is based outside Canada, is now reviewing the company’s data and information. If a deal results, Grizzly would be in a position this year to drill four test wells near Vermilion and Lloydminster.

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ANALYSIS-Eyeing Brazil and Africa, potash juniors defy industry slowdown – by Rod Nickel (Reuters/CNBC – March 13, 2014)

http://www.cnbc.com/

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, March 13 (Reuters) – Two junior potash producers working in unusual locations look set to shake off the most bearish industry conditions in five years and open new mines, helped by their proximity to Brazil and Africa, two of the world’s most promising but under-served fertilizer markets.

Tepid global demand for the crop nutrient and sagging prices have crimped profits for producers across the industry and hurt prospects of many of the exploration companies aiming to develop new mines for the already-oversupplied industry.

The world’s biggest fertilizer company, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan , slashed 1,000 jobs in December, while Mosaic Co, a major U.S.-based producer, last year suspended part of its expansion plans.

Yet prospects are bright for Allana Potash Corp and Verde Potash PLC, two small producers developing low-cost potash mines in Ethiopia and Brazil respectively, far from the world’s main potash regions of Western Canada and eastern Europe.

Each promises a shortcut to fertilizer-hungry markets and has attracted strategic or government backing, removing some of the risk.

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Roping in Canada for food security – by A. Didar Singh, (Deccan Herald – March 1, 2014)

http://www.deccanherald.com/ [India]

(The writer is secretary general, FICCI)

Indo-Canadian agriculture and food relationship has to move beyond a mere buyer-seller framework. Recent spurts in food prices suggest that a purely domestic strategy will not suffice for India’s food security, where food security refers to assured supply at stable prices.

There is, thus, clearly a need to find international partners in the agri-food segment, given the sheer volumes required going forward, and the diversity of this sector. Now, while an India-Canada energy relationship seems a natural tie and is much talked about, it is less apparent that the North American country can play an equally significant role in aiding India generate enough food for its populace. In fact, in some ways Canada does already play a real role in helping India increase the availability of food for its population, through its supply of pulses and fertilizer.

Despite Canada being mainly a services economy, the agri-food segment has emerged as a major driver of economic growth in Canada in recent years. Food processing and beverage industries are actually Canada’s largest manufacturing estate and also its greatest industrial employers. Given Canada’s relatively small population compared to the size of its agri-food sector one can imagine that the country has a rather lot of surplus produce that is available for export.

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Allana Potash opening Ethiopian mine in the hottest place on earth – by Stephanie Findlay (Canadian Business Magazine – March 6, 2014)

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/

Keeping costs low is key amid potash price slump

Lately, things haven’t been looking good for potash producers. Last summer, Uralkali, one of the biggest producers of the potassium fertilizer, killed its partnership with competitor Belaruskali in favour of boosting output, fuelling oversupply fears among investors and driving down prices. The situation has hardly improved since then. On Jan. 30, fourth-quarter profits at Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, another large producer, dropped 46%, a result, said the company, of the “challenging pricing environment.”

Allana Potash Corp., the Canadian developer of a $718-million potash mine in Ethiopia, believes it can buck the trend. While other mines are shelving development projects because of the lower prices, Allana is going “full speed ahead” with its Ethiopian project, says Richard Kelertas, vice-president of corporate development at Allana.

The company’s secret? Kelertas says that the mine, set to begin producing in late 2015, will have easy access to the booming Chinese and Indian markets, and much lower production costs, making it profitable despite the price slump.

Allana’s mine is located in the remote Danakhil depression, a scorching-hot salt plain where temperatures often soar above 45°C, and where potash is close to the surface. Allana will do solution mining—cheaper than the open-pit or shaft mining done by its competitors.

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First Nation businesses tap into potash opportunities – by Kim Smith (Global Regina – March 5, 2014)


http://globalnews.ca/regina/

REGINA – The plan was to create opportunities for First Nations in employment, business and community development – but according to BHP Billiton Potash, its success is less about recruitment and more about building relationships.

Last year, the company signed an agreement with three Saskatchewan First Nations – Kawacatoose, Day Star and Muskowekwan – to create employment opportunities.

“You have to be part of the community needs and work with them in addressing those needs,” said BHP Billiton Potash’s Alex Archila following a luncheon organized by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

“If you look at a business opportunity to just make money, we don’t believe that will be sustainable.”

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Potash may show the way for First Nations to tap into resource based opportunites – by JP Gladu (National Post -February 25, 2014)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

JP Gladu is president and chief executive of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

Community, local and regional initiatives can often be lost in the larger dialogue of multinational corporations and the work they do. The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business hopes to change that by providing the opportunity for that dialogue to happen between big business and the entrepreneurial spirit of the First Nations people through a series of aboriginal business luncheons.

At a luncheon in Regina on March 5 at First Nations University, the keynote speaker will be Alex Archilla, asset president for BHP Billiton Potash, who, this past summer took charge of the $2.6-billion Jansen Project in the Treaty 4 Territory of Saskatchewan.

Potash plays a vital role in feeding a growing and hungry world population. And Jansen, the world’s best undeveloped potash resource, is capable of supporting a mine with capacity of 10 million tonnes a year for more than 50 years.

There is a significant opportunity to create stronger business ties through potash development in Saskatchewan, which would strengthen long-term certainty for business, as well as create new platforms from which Aboriginal communities can thrive.

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Environmental watchdog urges rejection of Sept-Îles mining project – by Michelle Lalonde (Montreal Gazette – February 19, 2014)

http://www.montrealgazette.com/index.html

Quebec’s environmental watchdog, the BAPE, has recommended the provincial environment minister not approve a controversial phosphate rock mine in Sept-Îles “in its current form.”

The report from the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement, made public on Wednesday, says the mining company, Mine Arnaud Inc., has not provided enough convincing evidence that its proposed open pit mine won’t contaminate nearby waterways or cause landslides.

“This is only the second time in 30 years that the BAPE has rejected a mining project for environmental reasons,” said Ugo Lapointe of Québec meilleure mine, a coalition of groups critical of Quebec’s mining industry. “It’s a very harsh judgment on this project.”

The Arnaud Mine, a joint project between Investissement Québec and a Norwegian firm called Yara international ASA, would produce apatite, a type of phosphate rock used to make agricultural fertilizer. Mine proponents said it would directly create about 330 permanent jobs, and another 425 indirectly, and otherwise stimulate the economy of the Sept-Îles region during the next 23 years.

At almost a kilometre wide, 3.7 kms long, and 240 metres deep, the mine would be the largest open pit mine in an inhabited area in Quebec.

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Award-winning golf resort was once a Florida phosphate mine – by Tamara Lush (Waterloo Record – February 20, 2014)

http://www.therecord.com/waterlooregion/

BOWLING GREEN, Fla. — What do you do with 15 million cubic yards of sand? If you’re Mosaic, one of the world’s largest phosphate companies, you build two award-winning golf courses. And a spa. And an edgy, modern hotel.

In the middle of Central Florida, far from any theme park or beach. Streamsong Resort opened its golf courses and clubhouse in late 2012, and last month, it unveiled its 216-room lodge. It’s located in the tiny community of Bowling Green, which is closer in DNA to cattle ranches than Disney.

In fact, Streamsong is difficult to find; the journey from the Tampa Bay area included a turn at a ramshackle BBQ restaurant and a drive past several cows. A medium-sized metal sign with the resort’s name is the only thing signalling that one has arrived on the property.

Visitors are first greeted by the sight of large, grass covered dunes and blue lakes, and instead of the flat landscape of Central Florida, there are hills and dips and yes, some green of the golf courses. A modern-looking hotel, with its slightly curved exterior, is nestled near a lake.

The whole landscape is nothing like anything in Florida, possibly because it’s not groomed and plucked and patterned with palm trees. The property is oddly wild and rough, yet Zen-like and tranquil.

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UPDATE 2-Vale may sell Brazil potash project on tax dispute -CEO (Reuters U.S. – February 19, 2014)

http://www.reuters.com/

BRASILIA, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Vale SA may sell a $4 billion potash fertilizer project in Brazil’s northeastern state of Sergipe if it is unable to reach a tax accord with municipal authorities, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira said on Wednesday.

Shareholders “cannot be subject to fiscal uncertainties” about the project Ferreira said during a hearing before a Senate committee in Brasilia. Vale, the world’s No. 3 mining company by market value, is the world’s largest iron ore producer and a growing fertilizer producer.

Vale plans to shut down its planning work at the site on Feb. 28 if there is no resolution, Ferreira said. Sergipe Governor Jackson Barreto said at the same hearing that the state will find a solution to the tax problem. The impasse stems from a battle between rival Sergipe towns Capala and Japaratuba over the location of the mine’s planned processing facility on their territory so they can reap the expected tax benefits.

“We won’t do anything to hurt the state, but lacking a political solution we’ll hire a bank to sell the project to somebody interested in developing it,” Ferreira said.

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Brazilian government to help pay for potash mine – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – February 18, 2014)

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Brazil-focused fertiliser development firm Verde Potash on Tuesday said the Brazilian government would help fund construction of its flagship Cerrado Verde project, located within the country’s largest agriculture market.

The company announced that the project was selected to receive financing from a special financing programme of the government.

“Inova Agro’s decision is immensely important not only for Brazil, but for the world’s population, ever so reliant on Brazil’s food production. Thanks to a ground-breaking funding programme in the agriculture sector, Brazil takes a step towards reducing its economy’s debilitating dependency on imported potash,” president and CEO Cristiano Veloso said.

Inova Agro is a Brazilian government programme intended to fund innovative projects in the agriculture sector, including those focused on fertilisers. Selected projects would be considered for subsidised interest rates, equity investment and non-reimbursable project investment grants from the Brazilian Development Bank and/or the Financing Agency for Studies and Projects, both of which are arms of the Brazilian government with a mandate to support domestic projects.

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Over 50 Saskatchewan miners spend night underground waiting out fire (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – February 15, 2014)

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/index.html

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS – VANSCOY, Sask. – Dozens of workers at a potash mine in Saskatchewan are safe after a fire broke out a kilometre underground and forced them to spend the night in emergency shelters. More than 50 people were forced to seek refuge in shelters at the Agrium facility near Vanscoy after the fire started during a shift Friday night.

The site’s general manager, Mike Dirham, said the fire started on a scoop tram, which is a type of underground loader. Dirham said the tram has a fire suppression system, but he says it couldn’t extinguish the flames. At that point, Dirham said the miners headed for the shelters to escape the smoke.

“There is food and water and telephones in there where we can communicate with the people in each shelter. They vary in size from a capacity of holding 10 people to a capacity of 60 people,” Dirham said, noting that miners don’t need to wear masks while they’re inside.

“They’re a self-contained shelter. They just need to go in and close the doors and wait for emergency response personnel.”

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No oil, but a phosphate future for Saudi desert outpost – by Angus McDowall (Reuters India – February 13, 2014)

http://in.reuters.com/

TURAIF, Saudi Arabia, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Billboards on the highway outside Turaif, a remote desert town in the far north of Saudi Arabia, foretell a glittering future of glass offices and palm-shaded residential streets. A future that won’t rely on Saudi oil.

Last week an array of government ministers gathered in a tent near this barren outpost, 1,100 kilometres (700 miles) from Riyadh, to sign contracts to develop an industrial complex around a phosphate mine, with a new railway link to a Gulf port and total investments estimated at more than $9 billion.

The Waad al-Shimal project, or “Northern Promise”, is part of a wider strategy in the kingdom, the world’s largest oil exporter, of building downstream industries and boosting the private sector instead of simply exporting raw materials.

It follows in the footsteps of Jubail and Yanbu, massive industrial cities on the Gulf and Red Sea coasts that were built in the 1980s as Saudi petrochemical production grew.

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Mining firms watch case of Hells Angels at Xtreme Mining – by Dan Zakreski (CBC News Saskatoon – January 29, 2014)

http://www.cbc.ca/saskatoon/

Reviewing hiring policies in wake of dismissals and threatened lawsuit from Hells Angels at PCS Cory

They’re characterized by police across Canada as a dangerous criminal organization. Until last year, Hells Angels from the Saskatoon chapter worked at the Agrium potash mine near Vanscoy and at the Potash Corp. mine at Cory.

They lost those high-paying jobs when Leonard Banga at Xtreme Mining and Demolition decided he didn’t want Hells Angels in his company. This decision has triggered alleged death threats and a potential lawsuit.

Mining companies across the province are closely watching the story unfold.“I think it did make people reflect on their hiring policies and their harassment policies in the workforce, and making sure that contractors were accountable for the actions of their employees,” said Pamela Schwann, executive director of the Saskatchewan Mining Association.

Three Hells Angels from the motorcycle club’s Saskatoon chapter are threatening to sue Banga for defamation and wrongful dismissal. They lost their jobs at the company when they revealed on a company questionnaire that they are members of what Banga calls a criminal organization.

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Potash dims economic glow in Saskatchewan, but premier says it’s still good – by Jennifer Graham (Canadian Press/Brandon Sun – December 23, 2013)

 http://www.brandonsun.com/

REGINA – Slumping demand for the pink mineral potash dimmed Saskatchewan’s economic glow at the end of this year.
But Premier Brad Wall says the outlook is positive for the year ahead, despite pressures in the potash industry and a report that Saskatchewan’s boom could be cooling.

“We have to take a look at the whole economy,” Wall said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press.

“Our economy is diversified. We’re more than just one sector. We have a lot of … cylinders that are firing in this economic engine … so when the natural resource sector is down, we’re still creating net thousands of jobs year over year.” Saskatchewan’s economy took off in 2007, based largely on revenue from natural resources, such as oil and gas and potash, which is used in fertilizer.

But potash and the companies that produce it were hit hard this year when Russian-based Uralkali, one of the world’s largest potash producers, quit an export partnership. China and India, key markets for fertilizer, then delayed purchases in expectation of lower prices. That sent shipments plunging.

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