20 Potash Corp. workers back on surface after 18-hour ordeal
The last worker returned to the surface on Sept. 25, some 18 hours after the fire started at the Rocanville, Sask., mine early that morning.
There were no injuries, the world's biggest producer of the crop nutrient potash said in a statement.
The plant, which has annual operating capacity of 2.7 million tonnes, normally runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It had been operating at normal speed prior to the fire, Potash Corp. spokesman Bill Johnson said on Sept. 26.
The Rocanville fire started with a wooden spool of cable in the mine. Twenty-nine workers were underground at the time. Nine were rescued in the morning on Sept. 25, but the remaining 20 were trapped in underground rescue stations until the last worker was recovered in the evening.
North American potash inventories were one-third larger than the five-year average in August at the producer level, highlighting reduced demand from key buyer India.
Potash Corp. is whittling down its stockpile by shutting down its biggest mine, at Lanigan, Sask. for nearly a month until mid-October.
