The ground surface within the KP 377 and KP 392 permit areas is mainly a ridged moraine formation that generally is drained to the west and south with water collecting in the Last Mountain Lake area and the Qu’Appelle Valley. The topography within the KP 377 and KP 392 permit areas is hummocky with ground surface elevations varying between approximately 550 and 590 metres above sea level (masl) as the general trend.

The Project is located within a trough trending northwest-southeast corresponding to the Hatfield Valley erosions buried features. The bedrock surface is lowest beneath the Hatfield Valley reaching elevation as low as 300 masl.

The shallowest potash member at the Yancoal deposit is at an average depth of 1,280 metres.

The solution mining techniques for the Project will be similar to the mining techniques used at the Mosaic Belle Plaine potash mine.

The Project is designed to produce 2.8 Mtpa. At this production rate the current mine life is 65 years. Expansion of the assumed resource is anticipated to result in a significantly longer mine life. For assessment purposes in this EIS, a 100-year mine life is assumed.

The MEE (Multiple Effect Evaporation) technology was selected for the Project primarily because it has a higher tolerance to magnesium chloride (MgCl2) in the brine.

The process plant is composed of the following main components:
- evaporation;
- crystallization;
- centrifuging and drying;
- product screening;
- compaction;
- pond crystallization;
- loadout and storage;
- salt handling; and
- reagent storage and preparation.

The process plant will be designed for a primary production mining target of 2.0 Mtpa of potash product.

Production during secondary mining will increase overall production to 2.8 Mtpa of potash product. The processing plant is designed to produce 40% granular and 60% standard product with a K2O grade of 62%.

Brine from the wellfield is pumped to the process plant for processing. Brine from primary mining is directed to the evaporation circuit. In the evaporation circuit, water is evaporated using a five-effect evaporation train and the hot condensate from effects two through five will be sent to the injection tank for use in primary mining. Recycling the hot condensate back to the primary caverns improves water and heat efficiencies. During evaporation, a portion of the NaCl is precipitated out of the cavern fluid. Evaporation leaves a high-temperature brine enriched in KCl that is sent to the KCl crystallizer circuit by way of the clarifier. The precipitated NaCl is separated from the brine (i.e., the brine is sent to the clarifier) and then it is re-slurried with reclaim brine and pumped to the TMA.

Crystallization of KCl is performed in a four-stage draft tube baffle crystallizer circuit. Brine from the clarifier is fed to the first stage of crystallization. Product slurry is carried through the crystallization circuit by mother liquor.

The final product from the fourth stage crystallizer is transferred to the centrifuge and drying circuit. Brine from the fourth effect crystallizer is sent to the brine tank for recirculation through the evaporation/crystallization circuit. In each stage, the brine is cooled by flashing the brine to a lower pressure and KCl starts to precipitate as the brine cools.

A portion of the mother liquor is bled from the fourth effect crystallizer and is sent to the brine injection tank for deep well disposal. The MgCl2 purge stream controls the MgCl2 level in the mother liquor.

During secondary mining, brine from the secondary caverns is pumped into the cooling pond. The brine cools in the cooling pond because the ambient temperature is less than the brine temperature. The brine is directed through a series of channels resulting in KCl crystallizing and settling to the bottom of the pond.

The KCl is harvested from the pond as slurry using dredges. Pumps on the dredges pump the slurry to a pair of thickening tanks located at the northwest corner of the cooling pond. These tanks provide surge capacity and thicken the slurry to approximately 40% solids. Then the slurry is pumped to the cooling pond product centrifuges for debrining.

Depleted secondary brine from the cooling pond overflow is pumped to the fourth stage barometric condensers on both crystallizer trains and preheated before being returned to the secondary caverns.

Product debrining is accomplished in two stages. Four product centrifuges and two cooling pond product centrifuges are used to debrine the slurry to approximately 95% solids. Concentrate from the product and cooling pond product centrifuges re-circulates to the process, while solid cake proceeds to drying. Two fluid bed dryers create a product stream with approximately 0.2% moisture. Dryer off-gas dust is recovered and returned to the crystallization circuit.

Dried product from the product dryers is fed to a series of multi-deck product screens. The product is separated into three size fractions: standard product, oversize, and undersize.