First off – apologies for the lengthy post, secondly, please don’t read this as somebody trying to preach. I know there is nothing worse than that – especially from a Brit.
But since I am a bit detached from the situation, maybe I can see things slightly differently. I hope it is of interest in any case.
I think that Chris and others who believe that pressure must be maintained or even ramped up on Intrepid are correct. And while I understand the sensitivity of the situation, imho only that pressure will make them realise that they have to be held to account. It’s a normal dynamic for any company and as has been noted by others, they are operating legally and fully within their remit. Take a look at this set of slides entitled Ingredients For Growth published May 2015 and posted as a PDF on their website. It details only how they aim to drive up both yield and profit.
http://investors.intrepidpotash.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=218952&p=irol-calendarSlide 14 is interesting because it shows that solar evaporation is linked to increased profit. Elsewhere they note that when Intrepid was formed they bought the Wendover facility specifically for that technology and the affect it would have on their overall profit/cost situation. They are now using that technology (brine washing Slide 15 and 16) to recover even more potash from mines thought to have been exhausted. They also list those mines and facilities close to end of life and Bonneville isn’t listed.
Conclusion – the Wendover facility is easier to operate compared to deep mines, more profitable and is part of their long term plans. Therefore, it is important to demonstrate, A: that they are serious about continuing their salt recovery program and B: that the recovered salt without all the potash and other things extracted by them will provide a surface that is as durable as the one with all those elements still intact. Unless and until that’s proven, then granting a licence for another company to mine potash is taking an even bigger risk imo.
If you go back to the slides and the Intrepid website, you’ll find no mention of the Salt Flats recovery program let alone read about how important it is to them. It’s currently off their radar to all intents and purposes. Corporate Social Responsibility ought to extend beyond providing economic benefit imo, but it’s an attitude that changes slowly and often only as a result of outside pressure by those affected to make it happen. It’s something I noted ever more frequently in my last 10 years before retiring. There is only a brief reference in Core Values on the About US section of the Intrepid website, but it’s primarily about such things as delivering profit and corporate governance (proving that the company operates within their remit). Quote:
Vision
To continually deliver value to our shareholders, employees and employees’ communities.
We’ll do this through operational excellence and profitable capital investments, and by providing high quality products.
Mission
Our mission is to grow our production base to deliver 1.5 million tons of potash and 500,000 tons of Trio® per year, while continually lowering our per-ton cash costs and simultaneously improving the health and safety of our employees and operations
In the note I sent to the BLM following the general request by Louise, I noted that my experience of such things in the UK is that (probably because we are a small island) our response to anything that affects the environment is usually more robust and usually led by environmental pressure groups. I noted anti-fracking protests which have been so successful that the government has now stepped in to limit the time for a decision by local authorities to consider and grant/reject licences for test drilling. But it is still primarily a local decision with the effect on the environment always part of the equation. Digging around some more on the Intrepid website I found reference to a mine operated by them in the UK and coming to end of life (Slide 34). That in turn led to some interesting stories here in the UK for comparison.
Take a look at these two links and you’ll see that Sirius Minerals PLC are planning a huge and controversial Potash mine here.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/20/sirius-minerals-potash-mine-idUSL1N0Y70G920150520http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-3146394/Sirius-Minerals-celebrates-national-park-potash-plan-approved.htmlEven though plans have been approved, they now have to the raise the finance to go ahead because constant pressure from the National Parks, local communities and environmental groups means they can only do it by digging a shaft a mile deep and then a
23 mile long tunnel (as long as the channel tunnel) to take it to a port in an area already used by the chemical industry. All this so that it doesn’t affect a National Park area that frankly, most people in the UK haven’t heard of. Unlike Intrepid, they do have a clear statement on Corporate Social Responsibility and it makes interesting reading because it references the “ten sustainability principles set out by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)”
http://www.siriusminerals.com/about-us/sirius-in-the-community/So how does this link to Bonneville? I think it shows that whatever Intrepid are spending on the salt recovery program, it is likely to be small beer compared to operational costs they and their competitors have to incur elsewhere. It also shows that the rewards for them are high enough to continue even when forced to take account of the environment. You don’t have to hug trees, wear tofu based makeup and knit your own vegetables to be concerned about the environment, but if the salt continues to disappear and potash extraction is still unproven as having no affect on this (and the onus ought to be on them to prove it), then sooner or later the environmentalist pressure groups are likely to involve themselves anyway. A concerted, ramped up course of action by Save The Salt is the best way to avoid that and engage with Intrepid imo, but I don’t think STS needs to be shy about engaging racers more directly, bringing the results of that pressure to bear on Intrepid or about sharing plans often and openly with racers and the wider community. These are serious players in a competitive market who will walk all over you without even meaning to if you let them but who will respond to pressure if you make them, simply because the business rewards are high.
Hope this helps.
Robin
