POTASH EXPANSION: PCS adding 2.7 million tonnes per year

SASKATCHEWAN Saskatoon-headquartered POTASH CORP. OF SASKATCHEWAN has plans to add another 2.7 million tonnes of potash capacity at three of its mines in the province. Work will begin immediately on the US$1.6 billion projects.

The Allan mine and mill will receive a debottlenecking to add 1.0 million tonnes of capacity by the end of 2012, bringing total annual capacity up to 3.0 million tonnes. Approximately US$350 million has been budgeted for the Allan debottlenecking.

At Cory, PCS will add another 1.0 million tonnes to annual capacity, bringing the total to 3.0 million tonnes in 2012. Cost of the program is US$220 million. This new work is in addition to a 1.2-million-t/y debottlenecking project begun in 2007; it is scheduled for completion in 2010.

At Rocanville, an additional 700,000 tonnes of capacity will be incorporated into the 2.0-million-tonne mine and mill project announced in 2007. With an additional investment of US$1.0 billion, the project now is expected to add a total of 2.7 million tonnes at a cost of US$2.8 billion and raise the facility's annual capacity to 5.7 million tonnes.

PCS says these projects represent the continuation of a long-term potash capacity expansion program that includes completed work at Rocanville (2005), Allan and Esterhazy (2007) and Lanigan (2008), as well as in-progress construction projects scheduled for completion at Patience Lake (2008), Cory (2010), New Brunswick (2011) and Rocanville, Allan and Cory (2012). The financing for all projects is expected to be from free cash flow.

Details of the expansions is available at www.PotashCorp.com.