While Nutrien’s six Saskatchewan potash mines often get the recognition for producing the potash that local crops require to survive, there is another player working tirelessly in the background to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Located at Innovation Place in Saskatoon, Nutrien’s Pilot Plant has been testing and examining potash ore samples to help the company’s mines optimize performance since 1981.
Mark Buchinksi is the Pilot Plant Director. He says the 16,000 square foot plant tests and analyzes thousands of ore samples annually, while also addressing the challenges that are being seen out in the field.
“We work in close collaboration with our operating sites, and that process goes both ways. We have ideas, we take them to the sites and see if it’s something that they feel would be beneficial to them, and they also come in with problems and bring them to us.”
He adds that that relationship is what makes the facility successful.
There are six full-time staff at the Nutrien Pilot Plant, each of which has previously worked at one of Nutrien’s potash mines located at Rocanville, Lanigan, Vanscoy, Allan, as well as Cory and Patience Lake in the Saskatoon region. There are also four students working at the Pilot Plant, and process engineers and process control engineers are working at Nutrien’s head office in downtown Saskatoon.
Working with each Potash Mine, the Pilot Plant ensures a consistent, dependable fertilizer supply, which, in turn, contributes to global food security.
(potash ore)
(crushed ore)
(Pilot plant floatation column. Separates potash from sodium. Potash floats on the top, salt on the bottom)
(Bench float testing)
