This morning we announced that our Esterhazy transition timeline is shifting due to brine inflow conditions underground at K1 and K2. 

Recently, inflow volumes have risen faster than our models predicted. Given the current conditions, we are immediately suspending underground mining at K1 and K2, altering our timeline by nine months and impacting approximately 1 million tonnes of production from Esterhazy in 2021. We now expect to eliminate brine management expenses after July 2021.

To offset some of the production and take advantage of strong 2022 potash markets, we are actively pursuing production options at our Colonsay facility.

Mosaic has been managing inflows at Esterhazy since 1985 and accelerated the development of the K3 shafts to offset the impact of the final closure of the K1 and K2 shafts. For the last decade, we’ve run scenarios that relate to the early closure of these shafts. As a result of that planning, we expect to end up in a stronger position than ever in 2022.

More information is available here.

Image: Tony Sparvier, Sr. Engineer, saves electrical drawings and wiring diagrams for the automated hardware installer to his iPad for easy reference when working underground at Esterhazy’s K3.  

Mobile technology is being used across our North America Business – in big and small ways – to operate safely, responsibly and create the greatest possible value for Mosaic and our team. Getting technology into the hands of our employees provides them with easy access to the real-time information they need to do their jobs. It also helps us connect across sites and geographies to plan work, collaborate and align efforts. 

When an operator noticed an odd noise coming from a gearbox, he used his iPhone to record and send a short video to the maintenance supervisor. The supervisor had a technician listening to it within 15 minutes to diagnose severity. Without an iPhone, this could have taken half a shift or longer – potentially delaying action needed to ensure the repair was done as safely, quickly and cost-effectively as possible.  

This is just one example of how mobile technology is being used across our North America Business – in big and small ways – to operate safely, responsibly and create the greatest possible value for Mosaic and our team. “Getting technology into the hands of our employees allows them to quickly connect with others and provides easy access to real-time information they need to do their jobs,” explains Colin Alberts, Mobile Deployment Lead. “We’re able to work together across sites and geographies to plan work, collaborate and align efforts – which are more important than ever as we move forward as an integrated North America Business.”  

Our Esterhazy facility in Saskatchewan is leading the way with deployment of mobile technology – which will be crucial to enabling employees as we continue to focus on improving employee and customer experiences through digitization.  Learnings from work underway at Esterhazy and other Mosaic sites will help guide our efforts to expand use of mobile technology throughout our North America Business.  

Esterhazy: Pilot Launched in 2018  

Piloting and testing the deployment of mobile devices across the site began in 2018. The original driver was to enable electricians, mechanics and other craftspeople to receive, update and complete workorders from anywhere at the facility, but the team quickly began to see other areas where use of mobile devices could help drive value for Mosaic and the team. They also identified opportunities for improvement – one of which was making sure the appropriate support structure was in place to help users with technology set-up, maintenance and troubleshooting.  

They have also continued with deployment plans. Mobile devices are currently being used by nearly all maintenance personnel on the surface and are being deployed for use by production staff underground as well.  

“We’re always trying to make mobile technology better, more efficient and as helpful as possible for our employees – which will be an ongoing process,” says Colin.  

As of December 8, Esterhazy K3’s newly completed south shaft headframe is operating at full hoisting capacity. Production officially began November 8 following successful commissioning of the headframe and ore handling system in October.  

“Thanks to the dedication of our team and contract partners – the south shaft headframe was safely completed approximately three months ahead of schedule,” explains Bernie Boutin, Director of Capital Projects – K3. “It was always a goal to accelerate completion of the south shaft headframe, mine ore storage bins and related conveyor systems, however the early closure of K1 and K2 made it that much more important.”ΓÇ»  

Ramping Up K3’s Hoisting Capacity & Production
As planned, hoisting capacity of the south shaft headframe started at 10,000 tons per day and is increasing to 40,000 tons per day in December. Combined with the north shaft headframe, which has been in operation since 2018, this will bring K3’s hoisting capacity to more than 80,000 tons per day.  

Having the new south headframe and underground ore handling system in production removes current ore hoisting constraints and ensures capacity for additional ore supply as future mining machines are assembled and put into production.

Production at K3 is also ramping up with the addition of ore from the south shaft – reaching a new daily record of more than 43,000 tons by mid-November. Total tons will continue to increase with the recent addition of a ninth four-rotor mining machine and two more mining machines by June 2022. ΓÇ» 

“With both shafts now operational, our focus remains on increasing tons to fully leverage K3’s hoisting capacity,” explains Bradley Danylko, Sr. Mine Manager. “We’ll do that by continuing to grow our fleet of mining machines and use technology to find new ways to safely, efficiently make the quality products our customers depend on.” ΓÇ» 

Growing K3’s Fleet of Automated Mining Machines 

A ninth four-rotor mining machine left the shop in November and is now in production at K3.  

Production at K3 is also ramping up with ore from the south shaft and the recent addition of a ninth four-rotor mining machine. Two more mining machines are expected to be in production by June 2022.  

“Safely and efficiently commissioning these automated mining machines requires teamwork—especially between our assembly, maintenance, production and automation teams,” says David Steiger, Sr. Mine Manager. “Each one is assembled in the shop then trammed to mining areas to begin production.”  

The machines make three passes to mine an area. On the first pass, they set the direction and forge a new path through rock while another automated machine follows behind them installing hardware to build a conveyer belt. During the second and third passes, the machines follow the path of the conveyer belt to mine ore—first on one side of the belt, then the other.  

Four of the nine mining machines currently in K3’s fleet are capable of operating autonomously in all three passes, and all nine are expected to be operating autonomously for all three passes in fully developed production areas in early 2022. Running these machines with minimal human intervention reduces risk for our employees and eliminates downtime, as they can safely operate 24/7. ΓÇ»  

Integrated Operations: Gaining Momentum through Collaboration  

Esterhazy K3’s Integrated Operations Center (IOC) is now complete – and we’re continuing to gain momentum on integrating operations across our Esterhazy site by collaborating with the Florida mining and concentrates teams, who are also integrating operations. 

“The current physical build in place is the IOC for K3—which manages the underground, hoists and ore flow to the mills,” explains Kyle Douglas, Engineer Lead. “The next step is incorporating operation of the K1 and K2 mills.”  

Ultrasonic sensors are now in place for the new advanced underground conveyor control system being developed to reduce conveyor downtime and optimize miner productivity. The system coordinates the automated mining machines with the underground storage bins to maintain steady-state ore flow across the conveyor network. It allows panel miners to maximize their production rate without loading belts past their design limits. The bins that they ultimately bump into will be kept full, but without overfilling—which should lead to more continuous operation.  

Another big step forward—new consoles have been installed that give us the ability to change operating screens at the touch of a single button on the smart keyboard. They provide rapid access to emergency and other priority screens, which can be integrated to allow access by the Emergency Operations Center during an emergency event.  

K3 Transition Workforce Plan: A Look Back  
When the K3 Transition workforce plan was first developed five years ago, it predicted we could reduce our headcount by more than 200 employees if we managed our natural attrition carefully. To do this, we partnered with our local Union and developed the “K3 Transition – Hourly Workforce Plan” Letter of Understanding (LOU), which acted as our key document on how employees would move into new or changed roles as we closed our K1, K2 and Inflow operations and moved over to K3. 

When K1, K2 and Inflow operations ended nine months earlier than projected, more 200 hourly employees temporarily transferred to new roles in under 10 days. A record-number of hourly roles—158 in total—were posted at one time to provide many options for employees to bid.ΓÇ» 

Our workforce plan was successful because Mosaic and the Union worked continuously throughout the transition to find the best solutions and opportunities for our employees.  

“Creating a workforce plan that allowed us to flex during our K3 Transition was very complex,” said Braden Domres, HR Manager - Esterhazy. “The success of this plan came from the strong partnership between our local Union Executive and our Management team and I would like to thank this group for creating a strategy that supported our employees as they shifted into new roles within our operations."