📋 Tender Overview
Location East-central SaskatchewanMine Life Up to 100 years Jansen will be developed as an underground potash mine that will produce 8Mt of marketable potash a year at full capacity.The Jansen project is a proposed underground potash development project in east-central Saskatchewan approximately 140km east of Saskatoon Canada.Owned by BHP Billiton the mine will be one of the worlds largest potash mines producing eight million tonnes per annum Mtpa of marketable potash at full capacity.The project advanced to the feasibility study in February 2011. Development of the mine to full capacity will be carried out over three phases at an estimated cost of more than 12bn. BHP has invested approximately 4.5bn in the project since 2008. The mine will operate for an estimated life of up to 100 years.The final investment decision FID on the first stage Jansen S1 of the potash project was made in August 2021. BHP will invest C7.5bn 5.7bn in Jansen S1 which is expected to have a production capacity of approximately 4.35Mtpa of potash. First production from the mine is expected in 2027. The construction phase will last six years while an additional two-year ramp-up phase will expand the production.The Jansen S1 will involve the design engineering and construction of an underground potash mine. It will also create a processing facility a storage facility and a continuous automated rail loading system. The ore produced from the Jansen S1 will be exported through Westshore Terminals in Delta British Columbia. BHP will also provide funding for the development of the required port infrastructure.The potash project is anticipated to generate approximately 3500 jobs a year during the construction phase and more than 600 direct jobs upon commissioning.Reserves of the Jansen mineThe Jansen mine is estimated to contain 5.23 billion tonnes of measured resources grading 25.6 potassium oxide K2O and 1.28 billion tonnes of inferred resources grading 25.6 of K2O as of June 2021. The probable reserves at the project are estimated at 1.07 billion tonnes grading 24.9 K2O.Mining and processing at the potash projectMining will involve the long room and pillar method. The potash-bearing members will be accessed through a production and service shaft that will be sunk 1km from the surface. BHP Billiton initiated drilling for the ground freezing process required to sink the shaft.Several rooms will be cut into the potash-bearing zones leaving several pillars to hold the mine roof. As mining proceeds a grid-type pattern of rooms and pillars will be created. The ore will be mined using large borers. Through conveyors the mined ore will be brought to the production shaft that will hoist it to the surface. Approximately 24Mt of ore will be hoisted to the surface at peak capacity.During processing the ore will be crushed to separate the potassium chloride and sodium chloride crystals. The fina
