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Potash/Phosphate

‘Imminent’ Collapse of Wastewater Reservoir in Florida Forces Evacuations – by Bryan Pietsch and Marie Fazio (New York Times – April 3, 2021)

https://www.nytimes.com/

A reservoir in Florida that holds nearly 400 million gallons of wastewater from a former phosphate mine was leaking on Saturday, prompting hundreds of evacuations, the authorities said.

Crews were “doing their best to control the outflow” of contaminated water into a creek at Piney Point in Florida, the site of a former phosphate mine that is south of Tampa, said Vanessa Baugh, the chairwoman of the Manatee County Commission.

The spillage was an “imminent hazard” that posed “an immediate and substantial danger to human health, safety, welfare and the environment,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis, who issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency.

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Global Potash Demand May Face Test as Indian Imports Set to Ease – by Pratik Parija (Bloomberg News – February 21, 2021)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

India’s going to be buying less potash after a run-up in prices, according to the country’s largest importer of the fertilizer, a move that may undercut expectations for global demand to hit a record this year.

Purchases in the fiscal year starting April may drop from about 5.5 million tons the year before, said P.S. Gahlaut, manging director of Indian Potash Ltd., which accounts for almost 50% of the country’s imports. He declined to give a forecast, but said demand will weaken as India still has a sizable stockpile.

“In India, consumption of potash is very price sensitive,” Gahlaut said in an interview. “Whenever prices have gone up, there’s an immediate effect on consumption.”

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Nutrien, Cameco CEOs again among highest-paid in Canada – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – January 4, 2021)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

The heads of two publicly-traded corporations with significant mining operations in Saskatchewan were again among the country’s highest-paid executives in 2019.

Nutrien Ltd. CEO Chuck Magro’s $16.4-million pay package made him Canada’s 11th-highest-paid CEO, according to new data compiled by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Cameco Corp. CEO Tim Gitzel, meanwhile, was paid a total of $7 million, good for 84th place on the list, which the self-described “progressive” think tank has published annually since 2006.

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A huge rally in food prices is stoking record fertilizer demand – by Marcy Nicholson and Justina Vasquez (Bloomberg News – December 9, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Fertilizer producers are next in line to benefit from rising crop prices, with farmers poised to plant more acres in 2021.

For the world’s handful of companies that produce potash — a potassium-rich fertilizer mined underground from evaporated sea beds — it is the light at the end of the tunnel following several volatile years. Bloomberg’s Green Markets pegs global potash demand at a record in 2021, while Morningstar Inc. says it will likely set a new “high watermark.”

Farmers’ incomes in the U.S. and Canada are up from a year earlier, boosted by crop prices that surged to multi-year highs on the back of strong demand from China and by pandemic-related government stimulus.

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The 100-Day War: An oral history of BHP’s hostile takeover bid of PotashCorp – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – November 13, 2020)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Ten years after it happened, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix spoke with key players in what was at the time the biggest business story in the world.

It was ten years ago that BHP Billiton tried to buy Saskatchewan’s most iconic company. The Anglo-Australian mining giant’s hostile takeover bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. in the late summer and fall of 2010 was the biggest business story in the world at the time.

Tens of billions of dollars were at stake, not to mention a former Crown corporation at the heart of an industry that has long been considered the backbone of Saskatchewan’s identity, history and economy.

PotashCorp owned five of the nine potash mines then operating in the province, and employed thousands of people. It was also a global success, with operations around the world. And it was not for sale.

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ROB MAGAZINE: What investors still don’t understand about Nutrien – by Michael McCullough (Globe and Mail – October 27, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Farmers in Saskatchewan have been social distancing for over a century, the joke in the agricultural sector goes. Behind the cheap laugh lies an essential truth: A global pandemic isn’t felt much on a crop farm.

The work conditions don’t require a lot of human contact compared to other industries and, as another well-worn industry adage goes, “People gotta eat.”

Which is good news for Nutrien Inc., the largest producer of potash—and second largest of nitrogen fertilizer—in the world, with 20,000 employees and a market capitalization approaching $30 billion.

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Estevan looks to diverse coal usages, modular potash mines – by Evan Radford (Regina Leader-Post – November 2, 2020)

https://leaderpost.com/

As part of southeast Saskatchewan’s move away from burning coal, Estevan is looking to a new partnership struck with a nearby First Nation and a veteran geologist to help keep jobs and money in the area.

The city has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ocean Man First Nation and Buffalo Potash Corporation to study how and if it can bring modular potash mines to the area and a processing facility that wouldn’t burn coal, but would still use it to create fuel.

Ocean Man sits about 100 kilometres north of Estevan. Buffalo Potash Corp., founded in 2018, is headed by long-time geology consultant and potash expert Stephen (Steve) Halabura; some of his past work includes pinpointing underground potash reserves in the province and helping BHP Billiton set up its mining sites.

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Canadian miner develops environmentally friendly way to produce potash – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – October 11, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

A Canadian company has developed a new, environmentally friendlier mechanism to produce potash without generating salt tailings and requiring no surface brine ponds.

According to Saskatoon-based Gensource Potash (TSX-V: GSP), the absence of tailings eliminates decommissioning risks, while not having ponds removes the single largest negative environmental impact of conventional potash mining.

The extraction method that Gensource has created injects a hot salt (NaCl) brine into horizontal caverns in the ore body, which selectively dissolves potash, (KCl) leaving salt in place.

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More Than 20 Detained At Belarusian Potash Mine For Backing Worker’s Political Demands (Radio Free Europe – September 21, 2020)

https://www.rferl.org/

Belarusian police have detained more than 20 people at a potash mine for supporting a second worker who has refused to return to the surface in protest against the state company’s management and President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s government.

“Now [the miners] are being dealt with. Maybe some will be released. It will take time to find out who participated in the action and who did not. It is also possible that not all the miners have been detained,” Serhiy Chabatarov, a spokesman for the Minsk regional police, told RFE/RL.

The protesters were supporting Aleh Kudzyolka, who handed a protest note to his labor union co-workers at the Belaruskali mine at the end of his shift on September 21 saying he would remain hundreds of meters underground until his demands were met.

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‘Made in Morocco’: Mining Boom Demands Focus on Value Added Products – by Jasper Hamann (Morocco World News – September 7, 2020)

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/

Rabat – A mining boom could benefit more than just exports if Morocco can advance the production of value-added products. Shedding the legacy of colonialist resource exploitation, Morocco could expand its position in supply chains and better profit from its natural assets.

The country has 75% of the world’s estimated reserves of phosphate and is growing its share of barite, cobalt, and other important minerals. The world relies on countries like Morocco to supply the global community with such minerals.

These raw materials are necessary to produce mobile phones, make fertilizer to grow crops, and produce steel for cars and buildings. Reserves for important materials for high-tech products like computers and cell phones are not available in Europe and the United States.

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BHP CEO eyes pivot to potash, but Nutrien chief warns new mines make ‘no sense’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – August 31, 2020)

https://financialpost.com/

Potash is one of the few “future-facing” commodities that BHP Group, one of the world’s largest miners, expects to produce in the future, according to Mike Henry, the chief executive of BHP Group.

Henry said that when the company takes stock of the “megatrends” occurring in the world, such as decarbonization and the electrification of vehicles, it sees potash, a fertilizer salt that enriches crop quality and quantity, as a smart bet.

“I’ve been clear that BHP needs to increase its exposure to future facing commodities and that includes things like copper, nickel and potash,” Henry said in an exclusive interview with the Financial Post.

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Discontent in Belarus could benefit Canada’s potash miners – and send this 5% yielding dividend stock soaring – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – August 26, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Pro-democracy protests in Eastern Europe are helping to boost the outlook for Saskatchewan’s potash miners. Investors who fled the bad-news sector in recent years may want to take a fresh look at the situation.

Shares of Nutrien Ltd., Mosaic Co. and other companies with potash mines in Canada have bounced higher over the past month. The jump reflects improving fundamentals in the fertilizer industry.

It also reflects geopolitical turmoil – in particular, the decision of many Belarussians to walk off their jobs as part of mass demonstrations aimed at toppling the country’s long-time dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.

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BHP defers decision on Jansen potash mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 18, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP), the world’s largest miner, will decide whether to go ahead with its long-delayed $17 billion Jansen potash project in Canada by mid-2021, about a decade after completing the feasibility study for the operation.

The company had planned to make an investment decision in February 2021, but delays relating to the completion of shafts have pushed out the date by a few months.

BHP said initial challenges with placement of shaft lining, rectified since, as well as the group’s covid-19 response plan impacted Jansen’s progress during the quarter ended June 30.

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How COVID-19 is affecting the bottom line in Sask.’s biggest industries – by Chelsea Laskowski (CBC News Saskatchewan – March 17, 2020)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/

Saskatchewan’s biggest industries are forging ahead with limited impact in the face of COVID-19, but are paying keen attention to its long-term effects. Potash and uranium mines are taking precautions with staff, but spokespeople with Nutrien and Cameco, the biggest players in both industries in the province, say there have been no disruptions to production.

Spring seeding hasn’t started in agriculture yet, but there are long-term repercussions that could hit next month. In the short term, oil has been the hardest hit.

Oil

Oil prices plummeted early last week. There were other factors causing the dip that were unrelated to coronavirus, but as the disease has spread there are new major pressures on the industry.

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A $4 Billion Mine Was Meant to Lift Northern England. Instead Locals Lost Big – by Ronan Martin and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – January 21, 2020)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc’s plan to buy a giant potash project overlooking England’s North Sea is a bittersweet twist for local residents.

The deal will ensure billions of dollars of investment in the downtrodden region of North Yorkshire. But people like Neil Trillo, one of the thousands who bought shares in project owner Sirius Minerals Plc before it ran out of money, have been left counting their losses.

“It was a bit of a local dream,” Trillo said from behind the counter of his coffee stand in the seaside town Whitby. “Get involved with something local, something on the doorstep with a hundred-year plus tenure. That’s what was sold to investors.”

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