Box 509, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7K 3L6 | (306) 667-4300
James Couch, General Manager | E-mail James

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Project to Increase Capacity at Patience Lake is Well Underway

Operations

Originally a conventional underground operation, Patience Lake was converted to a solution mining operation in 1988 after two periods of closure due to flooding. Solution mining dissolves the potash from the ore by circulating brine through the flooded conventional mine workings 1,000 meters below the surface. Patience Lake produces white standard, lawn and garden, and granular-grade potash for agriculture. Its annual capacity is 1.0 million tonnes KCl.

Significant Events

In 2007, a CDN $110.0 million expansion was announced. Patience Lake will add 360,000 tonnes of capacity via 20 new injection wells and the pumping and piping systems required to serve them.

The brine in neighboring Patience Lake rose to an all-time high in 2007 because of two back-to-back years of high precipitation and high runoff. Considerable time and effort were put into preventing the lake from overfilling and flooding onto adjacent property. This included raising the berm and roadway on the east side of the lake, diverting water away from the lake in the spring and reactivating the brine disposal well to pump excess brine out and into the deadwood formation via a disposal well. A second disposal well will be installed next year.

The site reached three years with no lost-time injuries in December 2007.

Community Donations

The value of cash donations to local community organizations in 2007 totaled $10,659. The top recipients were United Way, Ducks Unlimited, Diabetes Association, Canadian Cancer Society and the Saskatchewan Parkinson Disease Foundation.

The main recipient organizations of the site's in-kind contributions were Clavet High School, Village of Bradwell, Clavet Community, Regional Municipality of Aberdeen, and Ducks Unlimited.

Awards

For the second year in a row, Patience Lake along with Cory, Allan and the Saskatoon office received the Campaign Chair's Choice Award for the best overall performance by a workplace campaign for the 2007 United Way of Saskatoon and Area campaign.

The site received the Saskatchewan Mining Association Safety Award for achieving a zero-injury rating.

Local Procurement

The value of goods, materials and services purchased locally in 2007 (excluding raw materials, transportation and energy) was $5.9 million, which represents 58 percent of total procurement.

Performance Trends – Patience Lake
	2004	2005	2006	2007
Annual Production (tonnes KCl)	239,061	251,033	190,156	257,000
Employment
# of employees	67	68	67	70
# of female employees	4	4	5	6
Gender ratio (% female/total employees)	5.9	5.8	7.5	8.6
Average tenure (years)	20.3	21.3	20.1	17.9
Absenteeism rate (% hours absent)	4.1	5.2	3.0	3.9
Employee training provided (hrs per employee)	30	40	53	112
Safety Performance
Lost-time frequency (per 200,000 hrs)	1.76	0	0	0
Recordable frequency (per 200,000 hrs)	8.8	5.0	3.7	3.2
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
GHG emissions (000 tonnes)	35.9	38.1	34.1	36.7
Normalized GHGs (GHGs/tonne production)	0.15	0.15	0.18	0.14
NPRI Air Pollutants (tonnes)
Nitrogen oxides	36.2	36.4	35.1	38.4
Carbon monoxide	26.3	26.0	25.0	26.9
Particulates (dust)	306.0	214.1	181.3	202.6
Volatile organic compounds	2.0	1.8	1.7	1.7
Waste to Land (000 tonnes)
Waste salt to storage	39.7	69.9	18.1	36.7
Waste salt and clay to mine	127.9	124.7	159.8	262
Water Use (000 m3)
Water withdrawn	1,082	761	309	457
Environmental Expenditures (CDN $ 000)
Operating expenditures	1,207	535	290	542
Capital expenditures	451	1,503	817	3,476
Energy
Energy costs (CDN $ million)	7.2	8.4	7.6	7.6
Energy use (TJ)	868	852	869	875
Energy efficiency (GJ/tonne production)	3.6	3.4	4.2	3.4
Procurement
Local purchasing (CDN $ million)	2.5	3.1	3.7	5.9
Source: PotashCorp