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Canada

Patience Lake Mine

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Categories

Summary

Mine TypeIn-Situ
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Potash
Mining Method
  • Solution mining
Production Start... Lock
SnapshotThe Patience Lake Mine is a solution mining operation.

Originally developed as a conventional underground mine in the 1960s, it was flooded in the 1980s and subsequently converted to a solution mine.

As the first mine to undergo this conversion, there is no current estimate of its remaining mining life.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (operator) 100 % Direct
Nutrien Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Nutrien Ltd. owns and operates the Patience Lake mine indirectly through PotashCorp.

Deposit type

  • Evaporite

Summary:

The Patience Lake mine is located within the Patience Lake Member of the Prairie Evaporite Formation.

The 100 m to 200 m thick Prairie Evaporite Formation is overlain by approximately 500 m of Devonian carbonates, followed by 100 m of Cretaceous sandstone, and 400 m of Cretaceous shales and Pleistocene glacial tills to surface; it is underlain by Devonian carbonates (Fuzesy, 1982). The Phanerozoic stratigraphy of Saskatchewan is remarkable in that units are flat-lying and relatively undisturbed over very large areas.

Potash mineralization in this region of Saskatchewan is predominantly sylvinite, which is comprised mainly of the minerals sylvite (KCl) and halite or rock salt (NaCl), with trace carnallite (KMgCl3 ยท 6H2O) and minor water insolubles.

Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Commodity Production

CommodityUnits2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Potash Mt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe0.20.20.30.20.3
All production numbers are expressed as salt.

Operational metrics

Metrics2024202320222021202020192018201720162015
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe0.3 Mt of potash salt0.3 Mt of potash salt0.3 Mt of potash salt0.3 Mt of potash salt0.3 Mt of potash salt

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 5, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 5, 2025
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 5, 2025

Workforce

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2017
...... Subscription required 2016
...... Subscription required 2015

Aerial view:

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