Western Potash announces plans to move ahead on Milestone Project – by Ashley Robinson (Regina Leader-Post – April 16, 2017)

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The Rural Municipality of Lajord isn’t holding its breath when it comes to the Western Potash project at Milestone. “(Western Potash) told us eight years ago they’re going to be (building it) so thats the bottom- line. I can’t get excited anymore, when we see things move ahead then we’ll start getting excited,” said Erwin Beitel, reeve of RM of Lajord.

The long-delayed potash mine is once again slated to move forward. On Tuesday, Western Potash held an open house in Kronau — one of many held over the years.

The project was first proposed in 2009, with an original plan to produce 2.8 million tonnes of potash per year. At the time potash prices were US$400 per tonne, but then the economy dipped and potash prices fell, causing the project to be delayed.

“Rather than shove all our plans, we went back to the drawing board and came up with an innovative solution mine which uses a different technique. The advantages are it uses half the water and a lot less energy,” said Matthew Wood, senior vice president of projects for Western Potash – Milestone Project.

Western Potash is easing into the new design by first building a pilot plant that will be about five per cent of the size of the original plant and produce 146,000 tonnes of potash per year. The new technology also doesn’t include an above ground tailings pond which Beitel is pleased with.

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