The global potash market is dominated by Canada, the world’s leading potash producer , with an output of 13.3 million metric tonnes in 2019.
The potash industry has faced difficulties in the past few years, with prices and stocks dropping, but potash companies have remained resourceful and resilient. This latest test to the potash market in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic is no different.
A fair number of potash producers have managed to stay in business, and exploration companies continue to develop projects in preparation for a market upturn. We’ve put together a list of potash stocks listed on the TSX and TSXV; all had market caps of at least C$10 million at the time of publication.
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Let us know in the comments if we’ve missed a stock you think should be included. And if you want to learn more about potash stocks, you can read our article on ASX-listed potash companies .
TSX-listed Canadian potash companies
Nutrien (TSX: NTR ,NYSE:NTR)
Market cap: C$29.1 billion
Formed on January 1, 2018 after Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium completed a merger of equals , today Nutrien is Canada’s largest potash company. Nutrien bills itself as the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services, with an agricultural retail network that services more than 500,000 grower accounts. It says it is “committed to providing products and services that help growers optimize crop yields and their returns.”
The potash mining company produces a variety of different materials, but in terms of potash fertilizer it has over 20 million tonnes of capacity at its six potash mines in Saskatchewan.
Western Resources (TSX: WRX )
Market cap: C$34.57 million
Western Resources and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Western Potash Corp are working to build an environmentally-friendly and capital-efficient potash solution mine at the Milestone project in Saskatchewan. Milestone is close to Mosaic’s (NYSE: MOS ) Belle Plaine mine, which is one of the largest producing potash solution mines in the world.
Phase 1 of development at Milestone is nearing completion. In May 2020, the company announce d construction of the process plant will take place by the end of 2020.
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Read our FREE updated outlook report on investing in potash and phosphates! Get My Free ReportVerde AgriTech (TSX: NPK )
Market cap: C$32.85 million
Verde AgriTech bills itself as an agri- tech company focused on developing innovative products that promote sustainable agriculture . Its main asset is its Cerrado Verde project, which holds a potassium-rich deposit and is located in the heart of Brazil’s largest agricultural market.
Production began at Cerrado Verde in May 2017, and the company exported its first shipment of Super Greensand™ to US cannabis and organic markets. Super Greensand™ is a fertilizer and soil conditioner; as a fertilizer it provides potassium, magnesium , silicon, iron and manganese, and as a soil conditioner it increases the capacity of soil to retain water and nutrients. The company also launched a new product in 2018; it is called Super Greensand Granular ™. In May 2020, Verde AgriTech announced its revenue grew by 230 percent in Q1 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
Verde’s founder, president and CEO Cristiano Veloso said that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the company is on track to reach its 2020 growth target of 76 percent.
Karnalyte Resources (TSX: KRN )
Market cap: C$11.81 million
Karnalyte Resources is an advanced development stage company focused on its construction ready Wynyard potash project in central Saskatchewan. The project also hosts mineable magnesium resources. The company has completed feasibility studies and obtained environmental approval for moving the project t forward. Planned phase 1 production is targeted at 625,000 tonnes per year (TPY) of high grade granular potash, and two subsequent phases of 750,000 TPY each to eventually total production up to 2.125 million TPY.
Karnalyte is also exploring the development of a small-scale nitrogen fertilizer plant, the Proteos nitrogen project, for which it recently completed a feasibility study. The company’s strategic partner and largest investor is Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited, India’s premier fertilizer and chemical manufacturing company.
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TSXV-listed Canadian potash companies
Crystal Peak Minerals (TSXV: CPM )
Market cap: C$11.78 million
Crystal Peak Minerals is a Canadian potash company working to construct a specialty fertilizer operation at its Sevier Playa project in Utah. The company intends to produce SOP and other beneficial minerals. Crystal Peak released a feasibility study for its Sevier Lake project in 2018, forecasting average annual SOP production over the 30-year life of the project of approximately 298,000 metric tonnes with an estimated NPV (8 percent) of US$730 million and an estimated IRR of 21 percent. In August 2019, the Sevier Playa project received the governmental greenlight to proceed to construction. In January 2020, the company secured a convertible loan from EMR Capital Resources Fund for more than US$13.1 million.
Gensource Potash (TSXV: GSP )
Market cap: C$57.42 million
Gensource Potash’s Vanguard area and Lazlo area projects are located in Saskatchewan. The company’s main asset, the Tugaske project in the Vanguard area is its central focus. Once in operation, it will create no salt tailings and will require no brine ponds. The environmentally friendly project is expected to produce 250,000 tonnes per year of final product at very competitive capital and operating costs.
“Gensource’s business plan was created six years ago to specifically become a new and independent potash producer that approaches potash production in a different way. We’re essentially turning every component of conventional potash production upside down. Our business plan has two pillars. The first is to be small and efficient. The second is to be vertically integrated,” Gensource Potash CEO Mike Ferguson told Investing News Network at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference.
Gensource announced in January 2020 that agriculture chemical company HELM will be the offtaker for the company’s Tugaske project.
This is an updated version of an article originally published by the Investing News Network in 2015.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.