Water is saturated with salt and the resulting brine is pumped through injection wells into the underground mine workings. The injected brine preferentially dissolves the potash from layers buried between 2,400 and 4,000 feet below the surface. As the brine preferentially dissolves the potassium, the double saturated potassium and salt brine becomes heavier than the salt saturated brine causing it to sink to low points in the mining caverns. Extraction wells are installed at the lowpoints to pump the potash rich brine to the surface, where it is placed into 400 acres of shallow evaporation ponds just southwest of the mine. Blue dye, similar to food coloring, is added to the evaporation pond brines, to aid in absorption of sunlight. There, the water, aided by approximately 300 days of sunshine and an average of just five percent relative humidity, evaporates, leaving potash and salt crystals in the pond. The evaporation process, requiring only solar energy, is highly environmentally friendly. The solar ponds are lined with HDPE and Hypalon (a synthetic rubber) to prevent the valuable brine from escaping the ponds.

The end result of the evaporation process is a bed of potash and salt crystals that is harvested using scrapers adapted from the earth-moving industry. The crystals from the ponds are then sent to a mill where the potash is separated from the salt by a flotation process. The potash and salt are then dried, sorted, and processed into various agricultural, feed, and industrial products, then placed into our substantial warehouse facility at which point the product is ready for sale.

The Moab mine has a current estimated productive capacity of approximately 110,000 tons of potash annually; evaporation rates have historically varied and, consequently, productive capacity may vary between approximately 75,000 and 120,000 tons of potash.