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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