Digging deep
Serendipity — (noun) the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for. In Saskatchewan, we could also spell it: p-o-t-a-s-h. Discovered almost entirely by accident, this now valuable mineral is one of the major fuels driving our economy.
The history of potash in our province dates back millions of years. Saskatchewan’s underground potash deposits were laid down when the ancient inland sea that used to cover this part of North America evaporated millennia ago. First discovered completely by accident in 1942, additional discoveries confirmed enormous deposits of the mineral, with recoverable reserves estimated to be over 100 billion tons.
The truly interesting aspect of the history of potash exploration in Saskatchewan is that, in the first few years, it simply wasn’t done. Early discoveries of the resource in our province came entirely as the serendipitous byproduct of the search for oil.
Former Regina East Member of Parliament John Burton’s career has paced that of the history of potash in Saskatchewan. His first job out of university in 1951, the same year as the first efforts were made to mine potash, was to assist in promoting development of the resource. He authored the entry on the potash industry in the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan and, next spring, will release a book on the subject.
Looking back on the history of potash in Saskatchewan, Burton said that, while it is now part of the “Saskatchewan fabric” it took a long time to attain that status. After the hardships of Depression and the war, our province needed something to help propel it forward, and potash was seen as the economic saviour. “It was seen as a real bonus for the province,” he said. But, geology and economics weren’t always on the side of success.
Up until the Second World War, farmers largely got their potash for fertilizer from mines in New Mexico. The war cut off production from European and Russian mines, putting increasing pressure on U. S. mines.
Burton said finding potash here in Saskatchewan was a complete accident. “The first discovery came while drilling for oil near Radville. The potash there was quite deep and it wasn’t known about at the time,” he said. Additional discoveries were made in following years, again as part of the search for oil, but there was still no one actively searching for potash itself.
After continued accidental finds, it finally became obvious that there was potash here in Saskatchewan. It wasn’t until 1946, when the provincial Department of Natural Resources suggested that potash be recognized as a potential resource for the province, that there was serious attention paid to its possibilities. “There had been enough found by then that attention could be paid to development,” Burton said.
The government of the day didn’t have the capacity to pursue development on its own, Burton said. “The thought was that the government wanted to partner with private industry. From 1950 on, the government focused on encouraging private companies to conduct the exploration and mining of potash,” he said. But the depth of the resource, and the fact that much of it lay below the Blairmore Sands with water pressure up to 1,100 lbs/in2, caused great concern for those early companies. Water, it seems, has been an ongoing issue when attempting to mine this water-soluble resource.
Numerous water formations, the Blairmore Sands being the major one, have to be dealt with when sinking a mine shaft to the depths required for potash. ”Water continued to be a problem,” Burton said, affecting efforts to develop the resource well into the 1950s.
The first deliberate effort to mine potash in Saskatchewan was at Unity, but the shaft was flooded when it reached the Blairmore Sands. The next company to try was the Potash Company of America (PCA) at its facility at Patience Lake, east of Saskatoon, in 1951.
But water interfered, and it wasn’t until 1958 that the company finally succeeded in going into production. But, the success was short-lived, as water forced a halt to production. The PCA mine didn’t go back into production again until 1965.
It was the International Minerals and Chemical (now Mosaic) facility near Esterhazy that finally got the Saskatchewan potash industry really going, though Burton said the company twice considered abandoning the project due to water problems. IMC called in a German expert and, using his technique to manage the water, was able to officially open IMC Esterhazy on Sept. 20, 1962. “People were excited about it,” Burton said. “It was a big day when IMC officially opened.”
IMC’s success was the “breakthrough” said Burton, and the rush was on. By 1967, with the encouragement of the provincial government, there were 10 mines in production or under construction in Saskatchewan. The surge of development resulted in 12 companies opening 10 mines by 1970.
But, it was too much, too fast. “The government pushed [development] too hard,” said Burton. By the end of the 1960s, industry expansion had exceeded market growth and the government had to bring in a plan to save the industry. The 1970s saw the addition of politics to the previous problems of soft sand and water, and the potash industry in regained momentum only after the formation of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, a Crown Corporation, in 1975.
From deep below the Saskatchewan prairie, potash continues to not only provide nutrients for the crops grown in the soil far above it, but also to help grow our economy as well. And, that’s no accident.