At last week's Prospectors and Developers (PDAC) conference in Toronto, a minerals analyst for TD Newcrest predicted potash prices to remain flat this year but should see long term opportunities as global demand increases about 3% per year. Potash is used primarily as a fertilizer, with China, India, and Brazil using about 50% of global supply. There has not been a completely new potash mine developed in the world in the last 30 years.The Holbrook basin deposit described by AZGS in 2008 is continuing to attract attention from international mining firms.
Meanwhile, the US Interior Dept is doing an appraisal of private lands inside the boundaries of Petrified Forest National Park in anticipation of trying to acquire the lands. Congress approved the park expansion but never appropriated money to buy the land from its owners. At least one major ranch has been optioned by a mining firm for $10 million after the land owner gave up waiting for the feds to act.