22 April 2016

Topping-out ceremony for new processing plant

K+S is systematically realizing large-scale water protection projects: Following the halving of saline wastewater volume to 7 million cubic meters per year at the Werra potash plant by the end of 2015 as planned, there will now be a further processing plant that employs kainite crystallization followed by flotation, in short, a KCF plant, at the Hattorf site. From 2018 onward, it will reduce the volume of saline wastewater by a further 1.5 million cubic meters per year and also enable additional feedstock for the production of fertilizers to be recovered.

'Today is a good day for the Werra potash district. Following the successful implementation of the water protection package of measures, the KCF plant marks the beginning of the second stage of the road leading to the even greater harmonizing of ecological, economic and social interests in this region. In this way, we are creating a further important basis for the successful future of the domestic potash mining industry - and not just for today or tomorrow, but for decades to come,' said Norbert Steiner, chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, on the occasion of the topping-out ceremony for the new facility.

Further Milestones

The construction of the KCF plant marks a further milestone in the efforts undertaken by K+S to reduce the burden on the Werra/Weser river system in a sustainable manner while, at the same time, ensuring the future viability of the jobs and sites in the Hessen-Thuringia potash district.

K+S has already invested € 400 million in this since 2011 and, as part of the water protection package of measures, has now reduced the volume of saline wastewater to 7 million cubic meters per year. With the construction of the KCF plant, which is also an integral part of the long-term disposal concept agreed with the Hessen state government as well as of the management plan recently approved by the Weser River Basin Association, K+S is continuing these efforts and will reduce saline wastewater by a good 20 per cent.

Even Better Use of Resources - Less Wastewater

Reaching the point at which the technical process employed at the plant could be put into practice was the result of many years of development work at the K+S Group's Analysis and Research Center and at the Werra plant. Unlike the usual processing method, this process has the advantage that, for example, valuable material can be obtained from saline solutions that were previously unusable and had to be disposed of. The result is compelling the wastewater volume at the Werra Verbund plant will be reduced by 1.5 million cubic meters to a total of 5.5 million cubic meters, reducing the salt burden on the environment by a total of 500,000 tonnes, of which about 260,000 tonnes consist of potassium chloride and magnesium sulfate that can be sold.

The new processing plant, which will cost a total of EUR 165 million, is fully on schedule. It should start operating at the beginning of 2018. More than one half of the firms that are working on its construction are based in north and eastern Hessen as well as in Thuringia.

Further Measures to Follow

K+S is working intensively on further reducing wastewater and the burden on the environment. Alongside ongoing research and development work, the covering of tailing piles is currently being tested. The many years of experience at the Sigmundshall site in Lower Saxony can be drawn on in this regard. If the results of the tests for site-customized covering and revegetation are positive, the procedure could be used for the Werra plant tailings piles from about 2025 so that much less saline wastewater would be incurred over the long term.

In addition, a project group is looking into the question of whether saline wastewater can be disposed of underground so that the volumes discharged can be further reduced if need be. Details of the outcome of the project, for which - given its scale - there is no experience anywhere in the world so far, should be available in 2018.

Moreover, the planning and approval process is being continued for a long-distance pipeline on the Upper Weser that is to become operational in 2022. It is a key cornerstone of the long-term disposal concept and a pre-requisite for improving the quality of the Werra and Weser. It will also make injection into the dolomite layer redundant at the same time.

Note to editors

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About K+S

K+S is an international resources company. We have been mining and processing mineral raw materials for more than 125 years. The products we produce from them are used worldwide in agriculture, food and road safety and are important elements in numerous industrial processes. Potash and salt are integral nutrients for the megatrend of a constantly growing and increasingly prosperous global population striving for a higher standard of living. This will result in increasing consumption of mineral resources. We serve the resulting growth in demand from production sites in Europe, North America and South America as well as through a global distribution network. K+S is the world's largest salt producer and one of the top potash providers worldwide. With more than 14,000 employees, K+S achieved revenues in financial year 2015 of about € 4.2 billion and an EBIT of € 782 million. Learn more about K+S at www.k-plus-s.com.


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K+S AG issued this content on 22 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 April 2016 12:07:03 UTC

Original Document: http://www.k-plus-s.com/en/news/presseinformationen/2016/presse-160422.html