New US potash mine about to clear final licensing hurdle

A planned $1 billion potash mine in south-eastern New Mexico may begin construction as soon as summer this year, AP reported.

IC Potash Corp.’s Ochoa potash and polyhalite project is expected to reach 48% of its annual production capacity in 2017, with full capacity to be achieved in 2018.

The site has an estimated 414 million tons of polyhalite reserves beneath the 40 sections of land the company has leased from the US Bureau of Land Management. And, according to an independent study, it could produce about 714,400 tons of sulphate of potash per year for a minimum of 50 years.

Ochoa is located in an industrial region, which has a long history of potash production from mines currently owned by two large producers, Mosaic Company and Intrepid Potash.

The area has the largest known concentration of potash reserves in the US and accounts for more than 77% of the product produced in the country.

Image by IC Potash