VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Canada’s newest potash producer K+S Potash Canada (KSPC) has opened its new state-of-the-art potash handling and storage facility at partner Pacific Coast Terminals’ Port Moody terminal, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The port facility is the western port destination for potash from KSPC’s new $4.6-billion Bethune mine, in southern Saskatchewan – the first new potash mine in Canada’s best potash belt in nearly 50 years.
KSPC is a subsidiary of Germany-based international resources company the K+S Group, and the opening of the transshipment facility follows on the heels of the grand opening of the mine in May, and the start of production in June.
“This port facility is essential to the success of our Canadian potash operations. In Saskatchewan, we now have access to high-quality resources for generations to come, and from here, in Port Moody, we will deliver our products to customers around the world,” stated K+S chairperson Dr Burkhard Lohr during an opening ceremony in Port Coquitlam on Monday.
In 2014, KSPC and PCT signed a long-term agreement to ensure that products from KSPC’s Bethune mine would be delivered to international clients in a secure and competitive manner. The agreement included modifications to PCT’s existing facility, as well as the construction of a new potash storage building on site. Now that these modifications have been completed, PCT’s site is the most innovative of its kind in the world, the company stated.
Modifications to the site included a railcar unloading facility; underground and above-ground conveyor belts; new transfer towers; and a 263-m-long storage warehouse with capacity for 160 000 t of potash. The facility can unload an 18 000-t train in just four-and-a-half hours. Ships with a capacity of 70 000 t can be loaded at the quay.
Potash from Bethune will be transported to the new facility in unit trains pulled by up to five Canadian Pacific locomotives, at a total length of about 3 km. Potash delivered to PCT’s site will be destined for China, South East Asia, India, Brazil and other international locations.
All sales and distribution of the potash produced at the Bethune mine will be managed by the K+S Group.
Rival Canadian potash majors Potash Corp of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc have reported higher sales volumes for the crop nutrient for the second quarter ended June 30, pushing potash prices higher, despite a persisting market glut.
PotashCorp forecast global demand of 62-million to 65-million tonnes this year, up from an earlier forecast of 61-million to 64-million tonnes.
Its “merger of equals” with Agrium will see the creation of a new $36-billion entity, to be named Nutrien.