FEATURE STORY ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME TRIP 1KM BELOW THE SURFACE By Cierra Allen, Program Manager, and Bryan Nickerson, Membership Director
The group examines the finished product of potash in a warehouse.
In mid-August, the Western Growers Leadership Program (WGLP) and several WGLP alumni had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit a Nutrien potash mine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. To start our trip, the WGLP group, along with a few Nutrien employees, arrived early Monday morning to the Nutrien Cory Potash Mine, located about 20 minutes outside of Saskatoon. Before heading underground, we first went through several safety training courses and reviewed the necessary precautions for our visit. We then suited up in hard hats equipped with lamps, protective jumpsuits, goggles and oxygen self-rescuers. Once we were fully prepped, we climbed into a large elevator for the four- minute descent to 1 kilometer (over 3,000 feet) into the mine. Once we made it down, we were greeted by surprisingly warm 81 degree temperatures. Our tour guides liked to mention that while 81 degrees may seem a bit warm, the temperature stays consistent year-round, regardless of the weather on the surface. That means that when the temperatures plunge during the winter, the mine isn’t that bad of a place to work. Once underground, we loaded into electric ATVs and off we went to the “face,” or area where the potash was actively being mined that day. The mining face was about 15 kilometers, or about a 45-minute drive, from the elevator. Yes, you read that correctly. We traveled 45 minutes through the underground tunnels, getting farther and farther away from
the elevator—the same elevator that served as our only way in or out. Needless to say, it was a little nerve-racking. The group consensus was that the best way to describe that trek through the mine was the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. You know the one: you are in a jeep, traveling fast through dark tunnels, with ropes hanging from the ceiling and gates that suddenly stop your vehicle? It was remarkably similar to our trip as we drove through dark tunnels only illuminated by the ATVs’ headlights, passing through large underground “garages” operated by ropes hanging from the ceiling, zooming along in twisting tunnels. Eventually, we arrived at the mining face, where we got to see a massive machine called a continuous miner actively cutting into the potash. The continuous miner uses a large rotating cutting drum to break apart the potash from the rock. The mined material is then collected and transported by several miles of conveyor belts toward the surface. After exploring more of the mine, we made our way back to the elevator and returned to the surface. Once our mine tour was over, it was time to head to the mill portion of the facility to see what happens after the potash is brought out of the ground. This is where the raw ore is processed and transformed into a finished product ready for transport. We were able to see the process from start to finish: from the arrival of the raw ore, to crushing and sizing, separating the
44 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com October – December 2026
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