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 fri ........