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POTASH
A Brief Regional Science & History Lesson

      The word "Potash" denotes a chemical combination of the element potassium with one or more elements; when used in connection with fertilizers, potash refers to potassium chloride or potassium sulphate. Most soils in which basic crops grow must be fed potash; it is thus a vital element in American food production. Potash is also important in the manufacture of glass, soap, matches, drugs, high-octane gasoline and black powder...and hence has military importance.

      Some 220 million years ago, during the Permian Age, the sea covered a vast portion of the Southwestern U.S., including portions of eastern New Mexico, western Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Various salts crystallized on the bottom of this sea as its waters evaporated, building up thick layers during millions of years. Eventually the water receded and the layers of salts were buried to depths of hundreds or thousands of feet by silt, sand and rocks. During colonial days, potash was produced from wood ashes, and much of it was exported to England; as the eastern forests were cut down, this source of potash was reduced. The discovery and development of the potash industry in Germany in 1865 (producing from Permian Age deposits similar to those later discovered in the Carlsbad area) put an end to the wood ash industry as a major enterprise in the United States.

      The German potash industry was the sole source of potash for American agriculture and industry up to the outbreak of World War I. Our complete dependence upon Germany as a source of potash was brought home in 1910 when, as a result of the reorganization of the German potash industry, favorable contracts held by american importing companies were suddenly cancelled. The ensuing price increases caused Congress, in 1911, to fund exploration of possible potash sources in the U.S. We continued to import most of our potash from Germany until 1914, when the outbreak of war completely cut off supplies.

      During WWI, the U.S. was forced to get what potash it could from expensive sources, such as brine lakes, distillery wastes, flue dust and seaweeds. The price soared from $35/ton to almost $500/ton. The price for the same grade of product in 1955 was $18/ton, FOB Carlsbad. Following WWI, most of the 128 wartime producing units ceased operation; they could not compete with the lower-priced imported product. But the wartime potash shortage had been a near tragedy; fortunately, a few folks refused to forget that lesson, insisting that security for America could lie only in discovering low-cost American supplies.

      Exploratory core drilling was carried on by the U.S. Geological Survey, but the first commercial deposit was located by private interests. In 1925, the Snowden & McSweeney Co., exploring for oil east of Carlsbad, discovered potash salts. This proved to be a find of world-wide importance! Subsequent core-drilling showed sufficient promise to warrant sinking a mine shaft to a depth of 1000 feet. The principal potash-bearing material found was sylvite ore (a mixture of potassium chloride and sodium chloride, containing about 21-25% K₂O), the raw ore from which Carlsbad potash is produced. As a result of this discovery, the United States Potash Company was formed to develop the deposit, with the company producing its first refined commercial potash in September of 1932.

      In 1931, Potash Company of America (PCA) began exploratory drilling, completing its first shaft in early 1933. In order to meet European competition, the crude ore had to be refined to produce an almost pure potassium chloride and to eliminate the common salt. The first unit of the PCA refinery was completed in the fall of 1935. The third firm to enter the field was Internation Minerals & Chemical Corp. (IMCC), who (with its predecessors) sank its first shaft in the fall of 1936, and produced refined potash from its own refinery in October 1940.

      In 1938, the mines produced 535,000 tons of potash salts (equivalent to 317,000 tons of K₂O), of which 15,000 tons were consumed by non-agricultural industries (such as defense). Germany stopped all potash exports to the U.S. in 1939; wartime non-agricultural demand rose to 100,000 tons of K₂O per year. Contrasting sharply with WWI, potash prices during WWII rose only 0.2%, thanks to increased production from the mines at Carlsbad.

      Post-war non-agricultural demand dropped back to 88,000 K₂O tons in 1948, but then steadily increased to 172,000 tons by 1962; that same year, the total potash production totalled 5.5 million tons of salts (equivalent to 3.2 million tons of K₂O). Early in 1952 the Duval Sulphur and Potash Company came into production with a new mine and refinery. Later in '52 Southwest Potash Corp., a subsidiary of the American Metal Company, Ltd., developed its mine and refinery to the production stage. By the mid-1950s, these companies were producing over 8 million tons of crude ore per year!

      Development of the New Mexico potash industry drove the price of world potash down, making this important fertilizer material available to farmers at lower prices...and significantly influencing the outcome of World War II.

• green for EMD
• red for GE
• blue for ALCO
• orange for for Baldwin, F-M & MK
• basic black for "blends" and others

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Updated 2-25-08