Passport Potash appears to be planning on developing an underground mine with capacity of about 2 million tons of potash per year, according to an interview in the White Mountain Independent newspaper. There has been speculation that Passport might 'flip' their property to a large company for development or to use solution mining rather than underground mining.
American West Potash has publicly announced plans for a 2+ million ton underground mine that they project could be in production in 2014. [Right, thickness map of potash in the Holbrook basin. AZGS Open File Report 08-07]
Passport development director Ken Bond said they are in it for the long term and projects costs of about $1 billion to put a 2 million ton mine in production, although he indicated Passport is perhaps a year behind American West in their estimated timetable.
Here's an interesting video shot on the proposed mine site.
ReplyDeletehttp://evenkeelmedia.com/in-the-field-passport-potash-quicky-advancing-holbrook-property/
Does Passport Potash's interview with a local paper say that it commits to an underground mine? Could they still change their minds and suck the Little Colorado Basin's southern aquifer dry? If there is a commitment to use conventional mining techniques, why have we not seen a Passport press release to that effect? It is time for Passport to step up to the plate and signal their intentions. Using well water for salt separation alone might pump too much for the fragile aquifer to sustain.
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