Potash / Potasse

54°66° 60°

48°

45°

M I IMESAR T

AB SIN

Maine,U.S.A.

GaspéPeninsula

AnticostiIsland

NewBrunswick

oNva

Scotia

P.E.I.

Gulfof

St. Lawrence

Newfoundland

Qu becé

FrederictonMoncton

0 100 km

Maritimes Basin

Major faults

Potash Mine: Past, Current andPlanned Production

Confirmed Potash Deposit

Areas with gravity lows and/or favourablegeology indicating possible subsurface Windsor evaporites

Potash lease agreement areas

Fault, contact

Map location

Bathurst

Miramichi

Moncton

Fredericton

SaintJohn

Edmundston

Campbellton

Richibucto

MONCTON

SUBBASIN

KING

STON U

PLIFT CALEDONIA

UPLIF

T

MONCTON SUBBASIN

HASTINGS UPLIFT

WESTMORLAND UPLIFT

SACKVILLE SUBBASIN

NEW BRUNSWICK PLATFORM

COCAG

NESUBBASIN

Moncton

Fredericton

Sussex

Chi

gnec

to B

ay

NovaScotia

NorthumberlandStrait

0 10 kmBay of Fundy

Minto

Chipman

Gra

nd

Lake

Sackville

CUM

BERLA

ND

SUBBASIN

Cassidy Lake- west and east of former potash mine- salt springs with elevated Mg, K- areas virtually unexplored

Buctouche

Dorchester - Sackville- thick halite deposit at Dorchester- several regional gravity lows identified, untested

Havelock

Carboniferousdeep basins

Carboniferousshallow basins

Exposed crystallineuplifts

1. PotashCorp (Penobsquis/Picadilly)2. PotashCorp (Cassidy Lake Division)3. Atlantic Potash Corp (Millstream)

1

2

3

Figure 4. Photograph ofPotashCorp’s exist ingPenobsquis facility (left)and construction at theirnew Picadilly facility (right)in southern New Brunswicknear Sussex.

Figure 3. Map indicatingareas in southern NewBrunswick with potentialfor potash deposits basedon gravity and/or regionalgeological features (afterWebb 2008).

Figure 1. Map showingthe distribution of the MidDevonian - Early PermianMaritimes Basin of AtlanticCanada.

Figure 2. Map showing thedistribution of subbasins,uplifts and platforms in theMaritimes Basin of southernNew Brunswick (after St.Peter and Johnson 2009).

Figure 5. Photographof PotashCorp’s potashterminal at the port of Saint John in southernNew Brunswick.

POTASH IN NEW BRUNSWICK

REFERENCES

St. Peter, C.J. and Johnson, S.C. 2009. Stratigraphy and structural history of the late Paleozoic Maritimes Basin in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada.New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources; Minerals, Policy and Planning Division, Memoir 3, 348 p.

Webb, T.C. 2009. New Brunswick potash: A review of developments and Potential Exploration alternatives. New Brunswick Department of Natural ResourcesMinerals, Policy and Planning Division, Information Circular 2008-4 (CD-ROM), 21p.

2The Middle Devonian to Early Permian Maritimes Basin of eastern Canada represents a large (148, 000 km ) intermontaine basin that formed in the wakeof mountain building processes which created the northern Appalachian Mountains (Figure 1). New Brunswick possesses the largest onshore part of the basin covering an area of ~ 25,000 km2. In the early stages of basin development the area was undergoing extension or transtension, resulting in reactivationof the northeast-trending basement faults and compartmentization of the Maritimes Basin into a number of subbasins and adjoining basement uplifts (Figure 2). Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous basin-fill consists of locally-derived clastic debris from adjacent uplifted areas. During the latter part of the EarlyCarboniferous clastic deposition was interrupted by several marine incursions into parts of the basin. The extensive evaporite deposits that contain New Brunswick’s potash and salt formed during this period of relative tectonic quiescence. During the Late Carboniferous sedimentary fill became more distally-derived and oversteped older basin strata and basement. Figure 3 shows the distribution of known potash and salt resources, and areas with potential for these types of deposits in the southern part of the province. PotashCorp operates the only producing potash and salt mine in the province, and is currently developing another mine near the existing facility to extract orefrom a newly discovered deposits (Figure 4). The Millstream deposit (Figure 3) has recently been acquired by Atlantic Potash Corp, who have entered into athree year lease agreement to explore and develop the deposit, which is located in the southwestern part of the Cocagne Subbasin west of Sussex. Some ofthe major advantages of mining potash in New Brunswick include the close proximity of some deposits to the port of Saint John (Figure 5) and the favourableinfrastructure that the Province has to offer.

MONCTON

SBB

I

UAS

N

KIG

STON U

PLIFT

N

PL

CALEDONIA U

IFT

NCMO

TON

SUBBASIN

HASTINGS UPLIFT

WESTMORLAND UPLIFT

SACKVILLE UBBASIN

S

NEW BRUNSWICK PLATFORM

COCAG

NE

SUBBASIN

Moncton

Sussex

Chi

gne

to B

y

c

a

NovaScotia

CassidyLake

NorthumberlandStrait

Carboniferousdeep basins

Carboniferousshallow basins

Exposed crystallineuplifts0 10 km

Alma

Bay of Fundy

Minto

Chipman

Gra

dn

Lake

Map location

Moncton

NewBrunswick

HillsboroughSackville

Richibucto

UM

RL

ND

C

BE

A

SUBBA

SIN

LowerMillstream Picadilly

Penobsquis