The intracratonic Elk Point Basin is a major sedimentary geological feature in western Canada and the northwest USA. It contains one of the world's largest stratabound potash resources. The nature of this type of deposition is largely continuous with predictable depths and thickness. It is estimated to host >5 billion tonnes of ore (Orris, 2014) and is mined at a number of locations, including Mosaic's Belle Plaine. Esterhazy and C'olonsay potash facilities. Saskatchewan potash represents almost 25% of the global potash production due to its relatively low-cost, bulk tonnage mining methods. (Orris. 2014).

The Prairie Evaporite hosts rich deposits of evaporite minerals including halite (NaCl), sylvite (KCl) and locally, carnallite. There arc a number of insoluble clay-rich zones that arc not recovered in the solution mining process. The potash deposit at Belle Plaine is uniform and laterally continuous. Solution mining methods can more easily accommodate any local variations in geological condition due to the non-selective concentrate mining process.

Three potash deposits of economic importance occur in Saskatchewan: the Esterhazy, Belle Plaine and Patience Lake Members. The Belle Plaine Potash Facility is a solution mine that recovers potash from each of the Estcrhazy, Belle Plaine and Patience Lake Members. The following is a summary of the key stratigraphic units for the Belle Plaine Potash Facility:

• Patience Lake Member: The uppermost me ........

Mosaic Belle Plaine is operated as a solution mine rather than the conventional underground mine that uses mining machines and miners to bring solid ore to the surface. In the solution mine raw ore is extracted at remote cluster sites by injecting water underground into potash deposits and recovering the saturated solution to the surface.

Similar to conventional potash mines, the by-products of Belle Plaine consist of salt (NaCl), clays (fines) and brine. Belle Plaine can, however, dispose of resaturated salts into the mine cavities as there are no underground workings.

This results in a much smaller accumulation of salts above ground in the tailings management area (TMA).

The Belle Plaine Facility utilizes an underground, solution mining process where paired wells are directionally drilled, cased, and cemented to the base of the potash beds. Solution mining techniques are used to target mining of the potash (“KCl”) bedding while minimizing mining of the halite salts (“NaCl”). Current mining practices allow for all three potash beds in the formation to be mined. During the mining process, the two wells are mined to connect with each other underground, allowing one well to become the feed well and the other well to become the return well. Water, or a weaker brine, is injected into the cavern to return a salt saturated and potash rich brine. This fluid is pumped through pipelines from the mining area and sent to the refinery complex as raw feed ........

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