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Haynrode

Test drilling for new potash mine in the Ohmgebirge

By MDR THÜRINGEN

Booth: 12. January 2022, 12:41 pm

A new potash mine is to be built in the Eichsfeld. Exploration drilling is currently taking place at Haynrode in the Ohmgebirge. The new mine is to do without overburden heap.

In the Ohmgebirge, one of the last exploration drilling for a planned potash mine in the southern Harz begins on Wednesday. Südharz Kali GmbH wants to get drill cores from a depth of up to 692 metres.

Mining area between Kaltohmfeld and Haynrode

A drill rig is used, which is integrated into a special truck. It weighs 43 tons and has a height of just under 18 metres. According to the company, the potential mining area between Kaltohmfeld and Haynrode in Eichsfeld has already been checked with more than 40 boreholes

New mine until 2026

A mine is planned in which no further tailings are to be created. The Australian company Südharz Kali GmbH describes on its website the Ohmgebirge as a potentially cost-effective start-up project for a new potash mining in the region, as the stocks can be reached relatively close to the ground. It is planned to start dismantling in 2026. Südharz Kali GmbH states that it wants to create 500 jobs with the mine.

Mining without tailings

According to the company, residents and the environment should not be polluted. Thus, the overburden and salt liquor are to be routed underground. Salty waste water from potash production represents a massive environmental impact when discharged into rivers.

While some experts doubt whether there can be potash mining without heaps, Südharz Kali sees a process developed by the special houses company K-UTEC as a good solution to the acceptance problems in potash mining.

In the process, solid and liquid, non-useable substances are to be refilled into the mountain. According to a spokeswoman for the company, this is only possible if the procedure is already taken into account in the planning of the mine. In existing mines, such as on the Werra, such a process cannot be subsequently installed.