SRC continues to provide world-class potash services

By the Saskatchewan Research Council

Potash is an important mineral to Saskatchewan and the world. With Canada as the largest potash producer in the world, innovative technology and solutions are in high demand to meet new challenges that the potash industry faces.

The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), Canada’s second-largest research and technology organization, has nearly 75 years of experience in providing real-world solutions for the mining industry. SRC’s world-renowned experience and research allow for continual innovation and improvement to potash exploration and mining companies, helping to ensure their success. SRC provides the full suite of services such as analytical testing, mineral processing, digital solutions, tailings management, and environmental services. We support potash mines in Canada and across the world, including in Australia, Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Europe.

Our capabilities and expertise assist potash companies throughout the mining life cycle: from exploration, through design to plant operations, and finally decommissioning and mine closures.

MINERAL PROCESSING TESTING

Mineral processing has emerged as a critical service needed in potash mining for all types of sources, from evaporitics, solution mines, or underground mines. SRC has the facilities, expertise, and experience to perform metallurgical testing for all types of ores, solutions, and processes. We provide custom tests from lab scale to pilot scale to support every stage of the potash mine development. GEOANALYTICAL SERVICES

Since 1972, SRC’s Geoanalytical Laboratories have been providing quality analysis in potash, uranium, gold, base metal, and rare earth element analysis, as well as kimberlite indicator processing and macro/micro diamond processing and recovery services to the exploration and mining industries.

SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories has a dedicated potash preparation and analysis laboratory that offers ISO/IEC 17025 accredited methods. The laboratory has also developed potash analytical standards that are used by the exploration industry around the world. SRC has done test work on ores from Russia, numerous places across North America, Africa, and South America, including Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.

ADVANCED MICROANALYSIS CENTRE™

SRC’s Advanced Microanalysis Centre™, along with SRC’s Geoanalytical Laboratories, supplies all of the necessary analytical tools for mineral exploration for everything from sample preparation right through to trace-element analysis – all in one convenient location.

With an expansion completed in 2012 and a QEMSCAN® service added to the portfolio in 2013, the centre became a one-stop shop for clients both in the province and across the country.

The AMC can provide critical mineralogy information in the form of automated mineralogy studies, such as mineral identification, size, and distribution to aid in prioritizing exploration targets and providing essential information for designing mineral processing most effectively. Services that the AMC provides can be applied to potash resources for predicting mineral liberation characteristics and for identifying and quantifying the abundance of deleterious clay minerals to improve potash flotation and enhance recovery.

PIPE FLOW TECHNOLOGY CENTRE™

SRC’s Pipe Flow Technology CentreTM has historically performed work for the potash industry to better understand slurry transport of a variety of potash streams, as well as studying paste-backfill disposal of industrial tailings. In addition to extensive experience with slurry transport and tailings management, the centre also provides test work in the areas of pipeline wear, instrumentation, and pilot process trials.

DIGITAL MINING SOLUTIONS

SRC’s development engineering group has provided digital solutions for some of potash mining’s toughest challenges. From autonomous vehicles, to sensor deployments on mining bore machines, and innovative data transmission systems, this group has developed – from concept to prototype – some advanced solutions for potash mines.

TROUBLESHOOTING ON OPERATIONS

With its world-class scientists and engineers, SRC has the expertise and skills to solve problems for operations. Often operations experience equipment reliability problems that affect not only processing efficiencies, but also cause downtime and maintenance problems. SRC can go into an operation and help identify the root causes of problems and provide novel solutions to solve them.