Borsen Article Translated
New potash mine planned in northern Thuringia
From ella, dpa08/29/2022,08:51
Getting raw materials from a depth of 700 meters, in Germany? In times of coal phase-out and digitalization, mining somehow has a touch of the past. Experts say that could change soon."There is a rethink." High raw material prices, bottlenecks not only in gas due to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and increasing global demand made domestic raw materials interesting for construction, industry, agriculture and the energy transition. One of the largest projects: A potash deposit is to be developed in Thuringia for fertilizer production.
It is about a potash mine in which the Australian exploration company South Harz Potash Ltd plans to invest 620 million US dollars (623 million euros). The company has purchased mining licenses for the Ohm Mountains and other regions in northern Thuringia.According to its regional director, Babette Winter, around five million euros have flowed into two promising exploratory wells in Worbis and Haynrode. It's about potassium chloride for mineral fertilizers.
It would be the first new mine of this size in Germany for decades if the company's concept works with the German subsidiary Südharz Kali GmbH in August.
According to the study by South Harz Potash, there is a mineable supply of potash salt of more than 134 million tons in the Ohm Mountains alone, raw materials for decades. Winter says a location decision should be made by the end of this year. In view of the complex approval procedures, the construction of the shafts to a depth of more than 700 meters and the plant could be expected in 2026/2027. When the study was available in August, Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left) tweeted: "There is a new perspective!"
Germany, which is considered relatively poor in raw materials, is already a major player on the potash market with the fertilizer producer KAG (Kassel), which is listed in the MDAX, and mines in the Hessian-Thuringian border area on the Werra and in Zielitz in Saxony-Anhalt. The Freiberg professor for raw material extraction, Helmut Mischo, explains: "Potash production in Germany is in world ranking four, almost ten percent of world production." Only a small part of the reported reserves has been mined to date.
Mischo from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, but also Joachim Ragnitz from the Ifo Institute in Dresden, point out that there were market shifts in fertilizers due to the war in Ukraine. "The prices have risen massively," said Ragnitz. Besides Canada, Russia and Belarus are the largest fertilizer producers in the world, but now they are partially cut off from the market.
Mischo said that the need for fertilizers in agriculture is increasing as the world population increases. "These are two independent but overlapping processes." Ragnitz said potential investors in the southern Harz apparently assumed that fertilizer prices would remain high in the long term.
So would Südharz Kali GmbH be a "war profiteer"?Winter says no. "We acquired the mining license back in 2017." Studies rated the deposit as "extremely profitable" after the test drilling.
Winter is currently out and about a lot in northern Thuringia. She explains the project, in which, according to her, overburden and saline waste water are to be brought back into the underground cavities. Many people have "a positive, inquisitive mood," she says.After all, the major mining project is being implemented in a region with a long potash tradition.
Several potash mines were closed in northern Thuringia after reunification. In 1993, miners at the Bischofferode potash plant made headlines around the world with a month-long labor dispute and hunger strike. Irony of history: The deposit that is to be mined is right next to the Bischofferode pit, which was closed by the Treuhand and has since been flooded with saline lye and can no longer be used.
Gerhard Jüttemann, a protagonist of the labor dispute 30 years ago and chairman of the local potash association, is hoping for a positive result from the project. "We already said back then that we have the highest quality deposit in Europe." The region could benefit from the revival of potash mining. "I have a good feeling about that."
