Udon North mine

Udon North Mine
Location
	Udon Thani Province
Country	Thailand
Production
Products	Potash

Last updated April 01, 2019

The Udon North Mine is a large potash mine in northern Thailand in Udon Thani Province. The project is approximately 15-20 kilometres southeast of the city of Udon Thani. The project area, including Udon South Mine, covers five sub-districts including Non Sung, Nong Phai, and Nong Khon Kwang of Mueang Udon Thani District together with Huai Sam Phat and Na Muang Sub-districts of Prachaksinlapakhom District.^[1]

Potash salt mixtures that contain potassium in water-soluble form, mainly: halite, sylvite, carnallite, kieserite

Potash is some of various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. The name derives from pot ash, which refers to plant ashes soaked in water in a pot, the primary means of manufacturing the product before the industrial era. The word potassium is derived from potash.

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam, is a country at the center of the Southeast Asian Indochinese peninsula composed of 76 provinces. At 513,120 km² (198,120 sq mi) and over 68 million people, Thailand is the world's 50th largest country by total area and the 21st-most-populous country. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, a special administrative area. Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. Although nominally a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, the most recent coup in 2014 established a de facto military dictatorship.

Udon Thani is a province (changwat) in northeast Thailand. It is bordered by the provinces of Nong Khai to the north, Sakon Nakhon to the east, Kalasin Province to the southeast, Khon Kaen to the south, and Loei and Nong Bua Lamphu to the west. It occupies an area of 11,730 km². The provincial capital is Udon Thani, the major city in the province.

Operations

Mining operations occupy an area of about 26,446 rai or 42.3 km² which consists of the processing plant area of 1,250 rai (2 km²) and an underground mine.^[1] The mine is an underground room and pillar mine projected to reach depths of 350–380 metres.^[2]

A rai is a unit of area equal to 1,600 square metres, and is used in measuring land area for a cadastre or cadastral map. Its current size is precisely derived from the metre, but is neither part of nor recognized by the modern metric system, the International System (SI).

Udon North and South represent one of the largest potash reserves in Thailand, having estimated reserves of 665 million tonnes of ore grading 16 percent potassium chloride extracted from sylvite ore.^[3] With a construction budget of more than 30 billion baht, the project is slated to have a maximum capacity of two million tonnes of potash a year.^[4]

Potassium chloride (KCl) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water and its solutions have a salt-like taste. KCl is used as a fertilizer, in medicine, in scientific applications, and in food processing, where it may be known as E number additive E508.

Sylvite, or sylvine, is potassium chloride (KCl) in natural mineral form. It forms crystals in the isometric system very similar to normal rock salt, halite (NaCl). The two are, in fact, isomorphous. Sylvite is colorless to white with shades of yellow and red due to inclusions. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 1.99. It has a refractive index of 1.4903. Sylvite has a salty taste with a distinct bitterness.

The baht is the official currency of Thailand. It is subdivided into 100 satang. The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand.

Local opposition

As of July 2015^[update] mining had not begun at at least some sites due to local opposition.^[4] Concerns include questions about the disposal of mine tailings, a waste rock by-product and projected land subsidance.^[4] New mining legislation in the form of a minerals act to be enacted 29 October 2017, has increased fears among activists that its intent is to dampen public participation in mining decisions while expediting mining projects.^[5]

Tailings, also called mine dumps, culm dumps, slimes, tails, refuse, leach residue or slickens, terra-cone (terrikon), are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed.

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Khon Kaen is the fifth-largest of the northeastern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Nong Bua Lamphu, Udon Thani, Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, Buriram, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Phetchabun, and Loei.

Nong Bua Lamphu is one of the northeastern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, and Loei.

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References

1 2 "Project Location". Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC). Retrieved 9 October 2017.
↑ "Project Implementation". Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC). Retrieved 9 October 2017.
↑ "Exploration in Thailand" (PDF). minerals.usgs.gov. 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
1 2 3 Saengpassa, Chularat (2015-07-13). "Locals up in arms over potash mine". The Nation. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
↑ Fernes, Praveena; Gurney, Molly (2017-09-08). "New mining legislation in Thailand – Who will really benefit?". Isaan Record. Retrieved 9 October 2017.

External links

New push for potash mining hits opposition in Isaan

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[Project_location-1] 1 2 "Project Location". Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC). Retrieved 9 October 2017.

[2] "Project Implementation". Asia Pacific Potash Corporation (APPC). Retrieved 9 October 2017.

[Kiruna-3] "Exploration in Thailand" (PDF). minerals.usgs.gov. 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-26.

[Nation-20150715-4] 1 2 3 Saengpassa, Chularat (2015-07-13). "Locals up in arms over potash mine". The Nation. Retrieved 9 October 2017.

[5] Fernes, Praveena; Gurney, Molly (2017-09-08). "New mining legislation in Thailand – Who will really benefit?". Isaan Record. Retrieved 9 October 2017.