Potash
All dollar values are CDN.
Patience Lake
Operations
Annual operational capability — 0.5 million tonnes KCl
Mining depth — solution mine at 1,000 meters
Products — lawn and garden, and granular-grade potash
Performance
Significant Events
- Achieved five years without a lost-time injury
- Able to keep hourly employees working 77 percent of the year despite 37 weeks of shutdowns by redeploying them to capital and maintenance projects
- Recorded no reportable environmental incidents
Community Relations
- Addressed community concerns about noise, dust and traffic related to the expansions; held discussions with affected residents
Community Donations
- Donated $32,000 to local organizations, including Sunset Estates volunteer fire department, Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR), Ducks Unlimited Canada, Reflections of Nature and Junior Lady Diamondbacks
Education Partnerships
- Initiated education partnerships with Aberdeen School, including assistance with a fundraiser
Awards
- Recognized by the United Way of Saskatoon and Area (along with PotashCorp Allan and Cory and the head office) for raising more than $2 million over the life of the program
- Won the overall Surface Provincial Mine Rescue Champion award in 2009 for the fifth consecutive year
Energy and Environment
- Undertook a green cover program to restore wildlife habitat
- Increased energy efficiency by recapturing heat from the dust collection system
- Reduced water usage by using a dry process, instead of a wet process, for dust collection
Local Procurement
- Made local purchases in 2009 of $9.9 million, or 67 percent of total expenditures (excluding major expansions, raw materials, energy and transportation)
| Patience Lake | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: PotashCorp | |||||
| 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Annual Production (000 tonnes KCl) | 251.0 | 190.1 | 257.0 | 282.4 | 100.5 |
| Employment | |||||
| # of employees | 68 | 67 | 70 | 75 | 80 |
| Gender ratio (% female/total employees) | 5.8 | 7.5 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 7.6 |
| Average tenure (years) | 21.3 | 20.1 | 17.9 | 17.5 | 16.9 |
| Absenteeism rate (% hours absent) | 5.2 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 5.5 | 3.2 |
| Employee training (hrs per employee) | 40 | 53 | 112 | 92 | 150 |
| Safety Performance | |||||
| Lost-time frequency (per 200,000 hrs) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Recordable frequency (per 200,000 hrs) | 5.0 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| Greenhouse Gas Emissions | |||||
| GHG emissions (000 tonnes) | 35.1 | 33.7 | 36.7 | 28.2 | 32.5 |
| Normalized GHGs (GHGs/tonne production) | 0.14 | 0.18 | 0.14 | 0.10 | 0.33 |
| NPRI Air Pollutants (tonnes) | |||||
| Nitrogen oxides | 36.4 | 35.1 | 38.4 | 30.2 | 33.4 |
| Carbon monoxide | 26.0 | 25.0 | 26.9 | 20.7 | 23.6 |
| Particulates (dust) | 214.1 | 181.3 | 202.6 | 176.2 | 130.7 |
| Volatile organic compounds | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.6 |
| Mining Waste (000 tonnes) | |||||
| Coarse tailings to storage | 69.9 | 18.1 | 36.7 | 47.7 | 9.5 |
| Tailing to mine | 124.7 | 159.8 | 263.0 | 257.4 | 84.7 |
| Water Use (000 m3) | |||||
| Water withdrawn | 761 | 309 | 457 | 425 | 302 |
| Recycled water | 12,574 | 12,574 | 12,574 | 12,352 | 13,258 |
| Environmental Expenditures ($ 000) |
|||||
| Operating expenditures | 535 | 290 | 542 | 598 | 1,251 |
| Capital expenditures | 1,503 | 817 | 3,476 | 3,865 | 2,943 |
| Energy | |||||
| Energy costs ($ million) | 8.5 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 7.0 |
| Energy use (TJ) | 844 | 803 | 884 | 720 | 769 |
| Energy efficiency (GJ/tonne production) | 3.4 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 7.8 |
| Procurement | |||||
| Local purchasing ($ million) | 3.1 | 3.7 | 5.9 | 14.5 | 9.9 |
