Environmental Aspects of Phosphate and Potash Mining United ...

Environmental Aspects of Phosphate and Potash Mining
Solution Mining Pump and Pipeline Monitoring and Control System
The PCS Patience Lake Division, located in
Saskatchewan, Canada, extracts potash from a flooded
conventional underground mine using a solution mining
method. The extraction method uses a system of
brine injection and recovery well linked with pipelines
to cooling and precipitation ponds adjacent to the processing
plant. The wells are scattered over a wide area
requiring an extensive network of pipelines.
To avoid the potential risk of failure and release of
brine a number of design features and control and
monitoring techniques have been employed. Brines
are transported through buried, large diameter HDPE
pipes at a low pressure. The buried pipeline is lined,
with drainage manholes located at low points to detect
leaks. A monitoring system is in place to detect spillages
at the wells and a containment system using bunds
(earth walls) has been constructed around the recovery
well site.
Visual inspection of the system is conducted each shift,
while an electromagnetic survey is conducted at regular
intervals to detect hidden leaks from buried
pipelines or ponds. PCS has developed this method that
allows changes in ground conductivity, caused by the
presence of salts, between surveys at different times to
be detected.
Spillage detectors - Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan
(PCS), Patience Lake, Canada
Recovery of potash from ponds - Potash Corporation of
Saskatchewan (PCS), Patience Lake, Canada
Emergency spillage recovery pump, Potash Corporation of
Saskatchewan (PCS), Patience Lake, Canada
Heating potash brine prior to injection - Potash
Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS), Patience Lake,
Canada
Air Emissions
Effects on air quality tend to be of a localized nature
and are largely related to the generation and emission
of dust particulates by blasting, excavation and equipment
movement or exhaust gases and particulates
from engines. Control techniques are discussed in
Section 3.1.
Underground operations control exhaust particulates
by installing particulate filters on the exhausts of
mobile equipment. Retrofitting equipment with new,
more efficient and cleaner engines also reduces
exhaust particulate and gas emissions, as well as contributing
to reduced fuel consumption and
maintenance costs.