Day 6 Esterhazy Underground Potash

Day 6 Esterhazy Underground Potash

An early 5:30 am  rise at our Esterhazy, Canalta Hotel ensured we would arrive at the mine by 7 am to begin today’s tour.  Upon leaving our hotel, the importance mining to Esterhazy and the surrounding communities became apparent when the large head frames of K3, K1 and K2 emerged out of the morning fog .  The above ground infrastructure of this Mosaic mine is both widespread and impressive and many in our bus commented on the size of the employee parking lot filled with vehicles from numerous surrounding communities.  We would later find out that the K1-K2 mining operation produced 5 million tons of product annually with over 1200 employees (16% women). Today’s tour would be at the  K2 mine. 

The first order of business was to be briefed on safety and to get “geared up”.  Everyone was required to wear coveralls, steel-toed boots with metatarsal protection, hardhats with lamps, safety glasses, hearing protection and gloves.   Also, exposed jewellery was removed. We were also given water for our underground tour.

Our safety orientation included watching a safety video and instruction on the use of the w65 self rescue breathing apparatus in the event our air quality was compromised.

Emergency preparedness at K2 includes having EMT trained personal and MRT personnel on site. Later we also toured an underground  ”refuge” station where employees would gather in the event of an emergency where they would stay until the hazards were  mitigated.  These stations are equipped with water, food and communication to the surface.

Safety is taken very seriously and is an important part of every employees’ day at Mosaic as indicated by  the  mission statement  of “Relentless Pursuit of an Injury Free Workplace” posted on the wall and the “Stop” program cards used to improve the workplace safety environment.
 

After our safety orientation, we made our way to the cage where we were taken 3000 feet underground down the mine shaft.  The ride underground was surprisingly smooth and quick.  Where Mc Arthur uranium mine would be considered cool (10 Celsius) and damp, a potash mine is warm (27 Celsius) and dry.   Once underground we broke into groups and boarded Toyota personnel carriers that took us to an active mining site that was a long ride away from the shaft (this mine is 33.5 x 22.6 km in area) and although we moved along fairly fast, it took over half  an hour to reach our site and everyone thought that if we had to find our way back we would be out of luck as there are over 3000 miles of passageways in the mine!

Our underground tour was very interesting as we toured the assembly areas, shops, many miles of conveyor belt systems, hopers and four rotor miners.  It was impressive to know that from the time the ore is mined to a finished product, it would only take about an hour.

Being underground was an incredible experience for all of us as we considered the  ancient past that formed this vast ore deposit, the engineering marvel of the mine, its area and depth,  and the dedication and professionalism of the Mosaic employees.

Many thanks to Trevor, Jodi, and Paula for leading our underground tours!