Potash

Notholt, A.J.G.

Potash

Notholt, A.J.G.. 1976 Potash. London, UK, HMSO, 39pp. (Mineral Dossier No. 16)

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Abstract/Summary

Potash is used in the commercial sense to denote any naturally occurring raw material, either in the solid form or as brine, which contains sufficient quantities of potassium-bearing minerals to be of economic or potential economic importance. The soluble mineral sylvine (KC 1) is by far the most important commercially because of its high potassium content. Potassium salts are used chiefly as a component in the manufacture of compound fertilisers or for direct application to the soil. To a much lesser extent, they are utilised for a variety of industrial purposes, notably the manufacture of glass and such chemicals as caustic potash and potassium permanganate. The equivalent potassium oxide, K20, content is used as the basis of comparison for all potassium compounds. Soluble potash salts are of restricted distribution in the United Kingdom, occurring only in the Upper Permian formations of Cleveland and North Yorkshire at depths ranging from 1,100 to 2,000 m. In Cleveland, the Boulby Potash bed is up to 11 m thick and averages more than 25 per cent equivalent K2O. Resources are very large and reserves alone amount to at least 500 million tonnes of potash containing up to 27 per cent equivalent K2O. There are also substantial resources of potash feldspar, ; an important potassium-aluminium silicate in the granitic pegmatites and the Fucoid Beds of the North-West Highlands of Scotland, and of the iron-potassium silicate, glauconite, an essential constituent of the greensand formations which are extensively developed in the Lower Cretaceous and Eocene rocks of southern England. Neither of these is commercially attractive as a source of potassium compounds, nor is sea water by virtue of its low concentration of potassium. The United Kingdom is a major importer of potassium salts, mainly for fertiliser use. The chief sources of supply are the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany. About 910,000 tonnes of potassium minerals, manufactured fertilisers and industrial compounds were imported in 1974, valued at over £32 million, of which potassium chloride (muriate of potash) accounted for some 805,500 tonnes valued at nearly £27 million. Exports are relatively insignificant, amounting to some £2.3 million in 1974, chiefly in the form of potassium iodide and potassium cyanide. The Boulby mine, which started production in 1974, is nominally capable of satisfying the entire United Kingdom demand for potash in the near future and of contributing a substantial quantity for export. Production amounted to some 18,359 tonnes equivalent K20 in 1974. The main product is a flotation concentrate containing 60 per cent equivalent K2O. The Boulby mine has been developed by Cleveland Potash Limited, a company owned jointly by Imperial Chemical Industries Limited and Charter Consolidated Limited. ICI Limited and Fisons Limited are the principal users of potassium salts. From Boulby, potash is carried by rail to a main terminal on Teesside for subsequent distribution to ICI's plant at Billingham and to other United Kingdom and overseas customers. Two other companies, Whitby Potash Limited and Yorkshire Potash Limited, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Armour and Company and the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation Limited respectively, were formed with a view to developing potash production in the same area, but their activities are currently in abeyance following initial investigation. Together with Cleveland Potash, these companies could conceivably have raised production of marketable potash to around 3 million tonnes KCl a year.

Item Type:

Publication - Report

Programmes:

BGS Programmes > Economic Minerals

Funders/Sponsors:

Institute of Geological Sciences

Additional Keywords:

Mineral, Potash

NORA Subject Terms:

Earth Sciences

Date made live:

05 Aug 2025 10:00 +0 (UTC)