So this item was in the Lansing State Journal on March 18 and I had not heard about it. Up in Oceola County (orange arrow) and 1.5 miles down there is a huge deposit of high quality potash. There is already a Michigan Potash company that has the rights, permits and approvals to start bringing it up.
Well there is that 1.5 mile trek to get it. But they already have a plan. That is where it gets a little controversial. It seems that they can actually build some wells and inject water, dissolve the potash, bring it up, dry and reconstitute it back into solid potash. Right now they plan to produce 650,000 tons of potash per year. And they can do this for the next 150 years just from this 2.5 acre site. It will cost an estimated $700 million to build the facility. But there is an estimated $65 Billion of potash down there. This will be the largest potash mine in the US. Currently the US imports 94% of the 10 million tons of potash used per year, nearly all from Canada. So they will still have the most but it will be interesting to have a Michigan source. It will be the only US owned source as the 300,000 tons produced domestically is owned by Canadian ventures. Now there is a controversial side to this. This area is generally not farmland, but rather lakes and woods. Remember that they are using water to bring it up? How much, you ask? Try 725 million gallons a year. And it's groundwater. But I'm sure they studied it real hard and it is all on the level. And there is the added bonus of table salt production as well. So Michigan farmland is generally low in soil potassium, and this could be a valuable soil amendment. And since potash takes a while to become plant usable, there will always be a need for Sure-K and Kalibrate from AgroLiquid (green arrow). Place your order today.
