Patience Lake, originally a conventional underground operation, was converted to a solution mining operation in 1988 after two periods of closure due to flooding. It has an annual capacity of 1 million tonnes KCl and its current output is 250,000 tonnes. There are 70 active employees.

Potash is dissolved from the ore by circulating brine through the flooded conventional mine workings 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) below the surface, which extend up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the mine shafts. The brine is then pumped to a surface pond where it is cooled by the prairie winter until the potash precipitates. Nine submersible pumps are used, each pumping about 6,800 liters (1,800 gallons) per minute. The cool stripped brine is then heated and reinjected into the mine to start dissolving potash again. The remaining potash in the ponds is removed via floating dredges and pumped to the mill. Potash crystals are milled to produce granular and lawn & garden products for agricultural applications. Warehouses with a combined capacity of 155,000 tonnes are used to store the product.

Transportation:
Rail – Product from Patience Lake travels by Canadian Pacific Railway to centers throughout North America for domestic sales or to ports for delivery offshore.

Waterways – Potash destined for offshore markets is exported by Canpotex, the export company owned by all Saskatchewan potash producers, from the West Coast, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.

Road – Products are transported by truck on an occasional or as-needed basis.

Uses:
Patience Lake produces lawn & garden and granular grade potash for agriculture.

Markets:
More than half of potash sales go offshore. In China, where farmers grow two or three crops a year, rice is the largest consumer. In Brazil, most is used on soybean, sugar cane and corn. In Malaysia, oil palm is the largest consumer of potash. In the US, corn is the major consumer of potash.