Potash is a mineral that is mined for use as fertilizer in agriculture. Potash accounted for $6.4 billion in exports from Saskatchewan in 2018 and potash mining represents a large fraction of the economy of Saskatchewan. When mining potash, it is important to avoid mining into areas near water-filled porous rocks since this can cause […]

Potash, a group of potassium bearing minerals, is an essential crop nutrient. The use of potash-based fertilizers increases crop yields while making plants more resistant to extreme climate and disease. It is essential to meeting the food needs of the growing human population. Canada-based Nutrien Ltd. extracts potash from underground mines across Saskatchewan and is […]

Mining induced stress in the area around tunnel openings represents a major design consideration in today’s potash mines. The actual induced stress is currently monitored using an array of techniques derived from the hard rock mining industry, one of the key assumptions being linear-elastic deformation behaviour of the rock. When using these methods in an […]

Crop models such as the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator integrate multiple disciplines such as plant science, soil science and meteorology to understand crop growth, development, and yields under various production systems. Currently, there are no canola crop models employed in western Canada that can assist growers in simulating the impact extreme weather events may have […]

This project attempts to improve on a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) based assessment system that is used to evaluate the thickness of the salt layer in the roof of Potash mining rooms to enhance mine safety. The goal is to improve the operation of the algorithm by studying the GPR signatures of known geological structures […]

Over two years a post-doctoral fellow will investigate the electrostatic separation of potash. This will be accomplished experimentally by triboelectrically charging different materials, with and without conditioning agents, and then testing different separation techniques. Separation techniques will include electrostatic separation and a fines removal process. Electrostatic separation implementation in Saskatchewan may have multiple advantages, when […]