A carved out shaft deep in a potash mine.TROY FLEECE/The Canadian Press
Germany's K+S AG, Europe's largest potash producer, said Tuesday it will move forward with construction of the $3.2-billion Legacy project in Saskatchewan.
K+S, which obtained the project a year ago in the $434-million purchase of Canada's Potash One, said production is expected to begin in 2015.
The project is expected to reach a capacity of 2.86 million tonnes of potash per year when it reaches full production in 2023, with a plan to expand capacity to 4 million tonnes in the future
K+S is calling Legacy "one of the world's economically most attractive potash greenfield projects" and the expansion comes amid a global race to secure fertilizer assets, particularly in the resource-rich province of Saskatchewan.
"The Legacy Project is a significant step towards the expansion of our potash capacities and enables us to participate in the growth of the global potash market," K+S chairman Norbert Steiner said Tuesday.
"Together with our existing potash mines in Germany, this will considerably strengthen the international competitiveness of K+S and consequently benefit the entire K+S Group in Europe and overseas," Mr. Steiner said. "Furthermore, the new site will have a positive impact on our average production costs and increase our flexibility."
K+S said Legacy, located 50 kilometres north of Moose Jaw, is "an important North American site" that will supplement its existing German production network.
"In future, the new site will be the starting point primarily for sales to the emerging growth markets of Asia and South America as well as in North America," the company stated.