Overview
| Stage | Production |
| Mine Type | Underground |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
- Continuous
- Room-and-pillar
|
| Production Start | ...  |
| Mine Life | 2024 |
The Mosaic Company conducts its potash operations through the leased Taquari-Vassouras shaft mine, which is the only potash mine in Brazil. The Company also owns a related refinery at the site and produce and sell potash product domestically. MOP is the primary source of potassium for the crop nutrient industry in Brazil. Red MOP has traces of iron oxide. The granular and standard grade red MOP products are well-suited for direct fertilizer application and bulk blending. |
Source:
p. 48
100% owned by Mosaic Potássio Mineração Ltda, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Mosaic.
Contractors
- Subscription is required.
Summary:
The deposit is in the Taquari-Vassouras sub-basin and is a bedded evaporite.
The Taquari-Vassouras mine is located near Aracaju (Sergipe state) in north-east part of Brazil. The stratigraphic column of the Taquari-Vassouras sub-basin consists, from the base up to the top, of sediments of age varying from the lower Cretaceous (Aptian) to the Terciary, that overlie discordantly the crystalline basement. The potash deposit is found at a depth of 450–500 m in the Ibura Evaporites which consist, from the bottom up, of limestones, anhydrites, halites, carnalites, tachydrites, with interspersed shales, halites with seams of silvinite, calcilutites (clayey fine-grain limestones) and shales. There are two main potash zones, the Upper Basal Silvinite and the Lower Basal Silvinite.
Mining Methods
- Continuous
- Room-and-pillar
Summary:
The potash deposit is in the Taquari-Vassouras sub-basin and the Taquari-Vassouras Industrial Complex is in Rosário do Catete. It can be reached by road and is also served by rail about 9km from the site and a port facility about 40 km from the mine site. The underground mining operations comprises three municipalities: Rosário do Catete, Capela and Carmópolis.
The ore is sylvinite (KCL, NaCL) containing sylvite (KCl) and halite (NaCl). It is mined at a depth of 500 to 740 meters by room and pillar methods using six continuous miners. Room and pillar is a mining system in which the mined material is extracted across a horizontal plane, creating horizontal arrays of rooms and pillars. The ore is extracted in two phases. In the first, "pillars" of untouched material are left to support the roof overburden, and open areas or "rooms" are extracted underground; the pillars are then partially extracted in the same manner.
Source:
Summary:
- subscription is required.
Production:
| Commodity | Units | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2016 | 2015 |
|
Potash
|
Mt
| ...... | ...... | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
All production numbers are expressed as MOP.
- Subscription is required.
Operational Metrics:
| Metrics | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|
Annual production capacity
| ...... | ...... | 520,000 t of potash MOP | 520,000 t of potash MOP | 520,000 t of potash MOP |
|
Ore tonnes mined
| ...... | ...... | 1.8 Mt | 1.8 Mt | |
- Subscription is required.
Reserves at December 31, 2022:
Cut-off grade of > 20% KCl, a minimum Sylvinite thickness of 1.8m, and a minimum Sylvinite percentage per block of 50% was applied for mineral resources and reserves.
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade |
|
Probable
|
26.9 Mt
|
K2O
|
14.7 %
|
|
Indicated
|
6.8 Mt
|
K2O
|
23.6 %
|
|
Inferred
|
58 Mt
|
K2O
|
22.9 %
|
Heavy Mobile Equipment as of December 31, 2020:
| HME Type | Quantity |
|
Continuous Miner
|
.......................
|
- Subscription is required.
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
- Subscription is required.
- Subscription is required.