Potash/Phosphate – Page 22 – Republic of Mining

UBS suing Western Potash over Chinese investment (Regina Leader-Post – June 3, 2015)

June 5, 2015

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

Western Potash Corp. has confirmed that UBS Securities Canada Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the company before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Vancouver-based junior mining company said in a press release Wednesday.

UBS is “claiming fees, disbursements and damages in connection with a strategic investment in the company by China BlueChemical Ltd., and GUOXIN International Investment Corp. Ltd., through a wholly owned subsidiary, CBC (Canada) Holding Corp., which closed in June 2013,” the release said.

The company believes that the “UBS lawsuit is unfounded and entirely without merit, and intends to vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit,’’ said Patricio Varas, president and CEO of Western Potash.

Two years ago, Western Potash Corp. announced the closing of a $32-million investment by China Blue Chemical Ltd., and Benewood Holdings Corp. through a joint venture company, CBC (Canada) Holding Corp. (CBCHC), for a 20 per cent ownership stake in Western, which is traded on the TSX under the symbol WPX.

Vale may sell potash assets in Saskatchewan – by Rachelle Younglai and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 28, 2015)

May 28, 2015

The Globe and Mail is Canada’s national newspaper with the second largest broadsheet circulation in the country. It has enormous influence on Canada’s political and business elite.

As Brazil’s Vale SA figures out what to do with its fertilizer business, the mining giant is thought to be testing the waters on a potential sale, according to people familiar with the matter.

In addition to potash mines in South America, the Brazilian mining company owns a big potash development project and slew of fertilizer concessions in Saskatchewan, the world’s biggest producer of potash – a crop nutrient.

“There has been a lot of chatter that Vale is possibly considering selling their fertilizer business. If you are preparing your assets for sale, you want to increase the value of your portfolio,” said Joel Jackson, an analyst with Bank of Montreal.

Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore supplier and a major producer of other metals, is under pressure to sell assets amid a nearly $20-billion (U.S.) expansion of its iron ore complex in Brazil. People familiar with the matter said it has been trying to gauge how much its fertilizer business could fetch.

[Saskatchewan] Expansion project will make K3 world’s largest potash mine – by Bruce Johnstone (Regina Leader-Post – May 27, 2015)

May 27, 2015

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

REGINA — Mosaic Potash’s recently announced $1.7-billion expansion project at its K3 potash mine at Esterhazy will increase production capacity from three million tons to 21 million tons by 2024, according to Lawrence Berthelet, director of capital expansion for Mosaic Potash.

“(This project) will make K3 the largest, most competitive potash mine in the world,” Berthelet said Tuesday at a Saskatchewan Mining Week presentation in Regina.

Following his presentation, Berthelet said “the expanded project will allow us to … expand capacity to give us more miners at the (mine) face and more infrastructure to deliver more tons. It allows us … to maximize the capacity of that K3 facility.’’

Begun in 2009 at a cost $1.5 billion, K3 was designed to be expanded through several stages. In March, Mosaic announced that the expansion project would go ahead, bringing total investment at the K3 site to $3.2 billion.

The expansion project will create more than 300 construction jobs a year — 600 at peak construction — during the eight-year development period.

Saskatchewan Mining Association celebrates 50 years of mining – by Bruce Johnston (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 26, 2015)

May 26, 2015

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

Sask. offers ‘fertile ground’

Saskatchewan is considered one of the world’s most attractive places for a mining company to invest, with $7.3 billion worth of mineral production in 2014, world-class resources and a political climate that supports and encourages investment.

In fact, Saskatchewan ranked No. 1 in Canada and No. 2 in the world among jurisdictions that are attractive to mining investment, according to the Fraser Institute’s 2014 survey of executives of 4,200 global mining companies.

But that wasn’t always the case, as the sometimesrocky 50-year history of the Saskatchewan Mining Association shows. Even today industry and government don’t see eye-to-eye on everything, as evidenced by the SMA’s chilly response to the provincial budget’s deferral of capital cost deductions, which will cost potash producers $150 million this year.

As Neil McMillan, president of the SMA, noted there’s a fine balance between ensuring that shareholders get a reasonable return on their investment and the citizens get a reasonable return on their resource.

[Potash Mineral] Products ‘feed and fuel the world’ (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 22, 2015)

May 25, 2015

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

Pamela Schwann, executive director of the Saskatchewan Mining Association, answered a few questions from Paul Sinkewicz during the seventh annual Mining Supply Chain Forum held April 14 and 15 in Saskatoon

Q How important is mining to Saskatchewan’s economy?

A Mining is one of Saskatchewan’s key economic engines of growth, directly contributing approximately seven per cent of our GDP. When you also include the related service sector industry that supplies to the mining sector, that number adds up into the double digits.

Q What role does mining play in the lives of Saskatchewan residents?

A On the surface, this is what you see: There are over 25 different mining operations in Saskatchewan spread out across the province from the coal mines along the U.S. border to the potash deposits that stretch across the south central part of the province to the uranium and gold mines in the northern part of Saskatchewan.

UPDATE 1-Potash Corp evaluating SQM, ICL stakes; other holdings ‘strategic’ – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – May 21, 2015)

May 25, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

May 21 (Reuters) – Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc Chief Executive Jochen Tilk said on Thursday that he views the company’s stakes in fertilizer companies Sinofert Holdings and Arab Potash Company as “strategic,” but continues to review whether to keep its shares in ICL and SQM.

Tilk, speaking at a BMO investor conference in New York, said if Potash Corp could not build on its SQM and ICL minority stakes, it will consider whether it should keep them.

Potash Corp has control over how Jordan’s Arab Potash Company markets its potash, and Tilk said the Sinofert stake gives Potash a window into the Chinese market. But the company does not have as much influence as it wants over SQM and ICL.

Tilk said in an interview that he has not spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about whether he would permit a foreign company to take control of ICL, in which the government holds a golden share.

Potash Corp tried under former Chief Executive Bill Doyle to gain a majority stake in ICL, but ran into strong opposition and backed off in 2013.

[Saskatchewan mining sector] Reaching out to aboriginals – by Joel Schlesinger (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 22, 2015)

May 22, 2015

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

Lyle Acoose grew up on Ochapowace Cree Nation never realizing PotashCorp operated a major mine only 45 minutes away from his community in southeast Saskatchewan.

That is until he actually began work with the firm a few years back.

“I knew there was a mine in Rocanville, and I played hockey against kids from the community when I was younger, but until I got a summer job I didn’t really know anything about PotashCorp or its impact on the communities in which it operates,” says the human resources specialist with the Saskatoon-based multinational mining firm, the largest producer of potash in the world.

“At the time I didn’t know anybody from my community who worked for the mine, but that certainly has changed.”

Today the company of more than 5,000 employees – mostly in Saskatchewan – pays much more attention to ensuring it has a high profile in the province’s aboriginal communities. And that includes a formalized ambassador program among its First Nation and Métis employees to get out the message that there’s a bright future in the province’s mining industry.

What you need to know: Some facts about mineral production in Saskatchewan, provided by the Saskatchewan Mining Association (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 21, 2015)

May 22, 2015

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

1 High-quality, economically mineable deposits of both potash and uranium are currently produced in relatively few jurisdictions in the world. Canada, Russia and Belarus together account for just over two-thirds of global potash production, and Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia produce twothirds of the world’s uranium.

2 Saskatchewan has the largest high-grade reserves in the world for potash and uranium.

3 The province boasts almost half of world potash reserves and eight per cent of known recoverable uranium reserves.

4 Canada’s mineral production was valued at $44 billion in 2013. Potash, coal and iron ore were the leading commodities by value of production.

5 Saskatchewan was Canada’s third-leading mining jurisdiction in 2013, with mineral production valued at $7.2 billion.

6 Potash was Canada’s leading mineral by value of mineral production in 2013 at $6.1 billion.

Population growth bodes well for potash – by Paul Sinkewicz (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 20, 2015)

May 21, 2015

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

Saskatchewan potash producers have two billion reasons to feel secure.

They don’t have to worry too much about the spot price of the fertilizer ingredient in 2015, or the outcome of the recently announced provincial royalty review, or even the machinations of competitors flooding the market with product to grab market share.

Those two billion reasons represent the expected increase in world population in the next 35 years, so the major expansions underway at Saskatchewan potash mines appear to be safe bets, according to industry representatives.

“Food security is a defining issue of our time; and for the next century, demand for food will only accelerate,” says Walt Precourt, senior vice-president of potash for The Mosaic Company.

Precourt noted those two billion new mouths to feed are equivalent to the entire world population in 1940. Today there are seven billion people on Earth, with some forecasts putting the population at more than 10 billion in 2050.

“The investments we have made in expanding our potash operations in Saskatchewan will ensure we have the capacity to meet the demand for potash and help the world grow the food it needs,” says Precourt.

Controversial UK potash project nears decision day – by Rod Nickel (Reuters U.S. – May 20, 2015)

May 21, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – Sirius Minerals PLC, the British company behind a controversial proposed potash mine, said it hopes to win a key regulatory approval this summer that could lead to production within four years.

Sirius aims to be the biggest producer of granulated polyhalite, which contains multiple crop nutrients such as potash, sulfur and calcium.

The company is also awaiting results of a feasibility study this summer before proceeding with the mine in England’s North York Moors National Park.

Polyhalite, unlike conventional muriate of potash (MOP), contains little chloride that is harmful to fruit crops. The company expects to sell it at a huge premium over MOP, of which there is excess global mining capacity.

“We’ve got a product that is better for the environment and better for food productivity,” said Chief Executive Chris Fraser on Wednesday on the sidelines of a BMO investor conference in New York.

There is no reason to delay the project just because there is a surplus of the conventional potash form, he said.

K+S making progress on Bethune potash mine – by Bruce Johnstone (Regina Leader-Post – May 19, 2015)

May 20, 2015

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

Province’s first in 40 years

The $4.1-billion Legacy solution potash mine being built by K+S Potash Canada on the edge of the Qu’Appelle Valley near Bethune, about 75 km northwest of Regina, is still on track and on budget to meet its goal of producing potash by the end of next year.

“Everything’s according to plan,’ said Sam Farris, vice-president and general manager of operations for K+S’s Legacy project – the first new potash mine in Saskatchewan in 40 years. “It’s an aggressive plan, but we’re managing to hold to the plan.’

K+S Group, the parent company of K+S Potash Canada, which issued its firstquarter results last Tuesday, announced that “K+S is well on the way to commissioning the plant as scheduled from summer 2016 onward and producing the first tonnes of potash fertilizers towards the end of the year, thus meeting the investment budget of $4.1 billion.”

K+S Group, which is Europe’s biggest potash producer, said its total capital budget for 2015 was 1.3 billion euros, or just under $1.8 billion Cdn. “Expenditure connected with the Legacy project accounts for most of this figure,’ the Kassel, Germany-based company said.

Saskatchewan is to mining what Crosby is to hockey – by Bruce Johnstone (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – May 19, 2015)

May 19, 2015

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

To call Saskatchewan a major player in the global mining industry is a bit like saying Sidney Crosby is a good hockey player. Saskatchewan is a mining superstar.

It’s the world’s leading producer and exporter of potash, accounting for 30 per cent of the global supply of the agricultural nutrient potassium (one of three essential components of fertilizer, along with phosphorous and nitrogen.)

Potash was the top-ranked commodity produced in Canada in 2013, with a reported value of $6.1 billion, ahead of gold ($5.9 billion) and iron ore ($5.3 billion), according to Natural Resources Canada.

In fact, potash is the only mineral in which Canada is a world leader. And virtually all of that Canadian potash (96 per cent) was produced in Saskatchewan. (The remaining four per cent was produced at the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan mine at Sussex, N.B.)

Saskatchewan is also a world leader in uranium production, with nearly 16 per cent of the world’s supply of the nuclear fuel source, placing Canada second among uranium-producing nations after Kazakhstan.

NEWS RELEASE: OVER 1200 STAKEHOLDERS FROM THE WORLDWIDE PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY ARE EXPECTED IN MOROCCO FOR THE THIRD SYMPHOS EVENT.

May 19, 2015

Casablanca, 18th May 2015: OCP Group is planning its third International Symposium on Innovation and Technology in the Phosphate Industry (Symphos) from the 18th to 20th of May 2015 in Marrakesh, with the theme “Innovation to serve sustainable agriculture”.

This year’s event will bring together over 1200 participants from the phosphate industry from all corners of the world, representing over 45 countries. Symphos 2015, a forum for meetings and discussions between the major international players in the phosphate and phosphate derivatives industry, will build on the previous events, with greater focus on innovation to serve sustainable agriculture. In particular, this year’s event will cover themes regarding industrial processes, elements of value, fertilizers of the future and slow & controlled releases.

The event has become an international benchmark in the sector, offering a forum that promotes diversification, modernisation and development of the phosphate industry and support for the development needs of worldwide agriculture. Aware that innovation is the primary tool for rational and sustainable exploitation of phosphate reserves, OCP Group uses Symphos to highlight its commitment to sustainable and prosperous agriculture throughout the world.

By bringing together the global phosphate community to share expertise, skills and experiences, Symphos aims at contributing to the emergence of the ideas of tomorrow, and taking up the major challenge of soil and resource conservation for sustainable agriculture.

Joc O’Rourke to succeed Prokopanko as Mosaic CEO – by Dee DePass (Minneapolis Star Tribune – May 14, 2015)

May 15, 2015

http://www.startribune.com/

Current CEO James Prokopanko is retiring this summer.

The Mosaic Co. has tapped James “Joc” O’Rourke to become the fertilizer giant’s new president and chief executive.

O’Rourke, 54, joined Mosaic in 2009 and since 2012 has served as executive vice president of operations and chief operating officer. He will succeed the retiring James Prokopanko as president and CEO on Aug. 5, the company announced late Wednesday.

“The board has full confidence in Joc and the rest of Mosaic’s talented management team,” said Robert Lumpkins, chairman of the company’s board. “Together, they will help Mosaic build on Jim’s legacy of success for our employees, customers, investors, communities and other stakeholders.”

Before joining Mosaic, O’Rourke was president of the Australia-Pacific region for Barrick Gold Corp. and responsible for Barrick’s 10 gold and copper mines in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

First Nations businesses growing with Saskatchewan resource boom (Business Vancouver – by Joe Ralko (April 28, 2015)

April 30, 2015

http://www.biv.com/

Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs embark on joint venture that provides services to the energy industry and trains workers for oilpatch jobs

A three-year agreement involving the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs (BATC) and Site Energy Services Ltd. (SES) is the latest example of how the boom in Saskatchewan’s resource sector is helping the growth of First Nations businesses.

First Alliance Energy Services is the name of the new entity expected to generate revenue in the millions of dollars from work in the oilpatch, say BATC and SES officials.

“We felt it was a really good fit for us,” said Ed Standinghorn, director of industry relations with BATC. “In addition to providing a range of services in the oilfield, we also have a training module getting our clients work ready. For example, we help them get their driver’s licences, complete their GED and so on.”

He said the new joint venture is a natural progression of the projects BATC has under its belt. “Work we do is nationally recognized,” Standinghorn said.