Mosaic leads the way
GROUNDED IN SAFETY
We take it out of the ground to put it back into the ground, and we often take it for granted. It’s potash, and it helps grow both crops and the Saskatchewan economy.
For urbanites, the mineral that forms the basis of the fertilizer used around the world – and that comprises a significant portion of the Saskatchewan export market – is something that comes in a bag at the garden centre.
The province’s agriculture industry uses even more and even larger amounts leave our province for overseas markets. A mixture of potassium salts with potassium carbonate, potash is most commonly found as potassium chloride (KCL). It’s the “K” in the fertilizer blends we buy for our gardens and is essential for the overall health of plant cells. It’s marketed locally and around the world to help grow the crops that feed both animals and people. While gardeners may not think too much about what they’re putting in the ground, getting it out of the ground is the main focus of one of the world’s major potash producers. And, it does it while keeping safety in mind in its mines.
“We like to say we are obsessed with safety,” said Dustin Maksymchuk, the general manager of The Mosaic Company’s Esterhazy operations. “There is nothing more important. This feeds into every part of our culture.”
That commitment has been recognized nationally, with Mosaic’s Esterhazy K1 being named the safest mine in Canada for two years in a row (2017 and 2018), receiving the Canada Trophy for Select Mines.
Since 1941, the John T. Ryan Award has been presented to Canadian mining companies that have achieved the lowest reportable injury frequency per 200,000 hours worked in a calendar year. Mosaic’s K2 operation in Esterhazy was also awarded with the Regional Select Award for achieving the lowest accident frequency in the Prairie Provinces and Northwest Territories in 2018.
Maksymchuk credits Mosaic’s employees with contributing to the company’s safety culture. “I would like to congratulate the K1 team for being recognized as the safest mine in Canada. This is due to your dedication every day to managing risks to yourself and looking out for each other. Thank you,” he said.
Mosaic’s Esterhazy operation is one of the largest potash mines in the world, made up of two separate shafts, K1 and K2, that connect underground. In total, about 1,200 workers are employed there. Mosaic is currently transitioning to its new mine, K3, which will be the largest, most cost-competitive potash mine in North America. The new addition features a 374foot tall headframe (essentially the top of the elevator shaft) that is the tallest structure between Winnipeg and Calgary. The mine is expected to be fully operational by 2024.
Mosaic’s safety culture will continue with the K3 operation, where it expects to employ an additional 500 workers. “Environment, health and safety (EHS) has always been our top priority as we build and transition to K3. Since safety really is about people, as we transition our workforce to our new mine site, our safety culture will continue to grow,” Maksymchuk says.
With major mining operations in South and North America, mostly in Saskatchewan, Florida and Brazil, Mosaic is the world’s largest combined producer of potash and phosphate, with 16.1 million tonnes of operational capacity and among the world’s largest producers of potash with 10.5 million tonnes of operational capacity.
Yet its heart can be found here in Saskatchewan, where Mosaic has its Canadian head office and operates mines at Colonsay, Belle Plaine and Esterhazy.
Its community spirit can be seen from the Rider pride shown in the football stadium that bears the company’s name, to the office tower in downtown Regina that is Mosaic’s Canadian headquarters and the many examples of its commitment to Saskatchewan people and communities, as well as numerous First Nations.
With the world population now at seven billion and growing, all those people will continue to need what Saskatchewan has, both its food and the fertilizer to grow it. Mosaic will help. Safely.