CORY POTASH MINE

A spokesman for Potash Corp. (TSX:POT) in Saskatchewan says operations have been stopped at one mine, while managers are doing what maintenance they can at two others after 500 unionized workers went out on strike Thursday, reports the Canadian Press. Bill Johnson, a company spokesman, says they've halted operations at the Cory mine near Saskatoon and are evaluating what their next steps might be. Two other mines, Allan and Patience Lake, are shut down for scheduled maintenance and Johnson says managers are being bused in to do what they can at those sites He says there hasn't been any trouble with picketers trying to stop them. Lee Edwards, the lead negotiator for the United Steelworkers, says no new talks are scheduled, but she adds they're trying to keep the lines of communication open with the company. Johnson notes that Potash Corp. is spending about $6.8 billion on expanding its operations in Canada, but doesn't think the labour disruption will hinder those plans. The company posted second-quarter earnings of $905 million, which is 62 per cent higher than its first-quarter earnings of $566 million.

Announced that unionized employees at its Allan Division, Cory Division and Patience Lake Division potash operations commenced strike action, effective 5:30 p.m. (CST) today. The 487 striking employees are members of United Steelworkers' (USW) Local 7689 at Allan, USW Local 7458 at Cory and USW Local 189 at Patience Lake and are responsible for underground mining operations as well as milling and shipping activities on the surface.

Announced that it plans to add 2.7 million tonnes of potash capacity at three of its Saskatchewan facilities. This capacity will be achieved through a new debottlenecking project at Allan and increases in the scope of projects announced in 2007 for Cory and Rocanville. At Cory, the new project will add 1 million tonnes to a 1.2-million-tonne-per-year debottlenecking and expansion project initiated in 2007. The initial project is scheduled for completion in 2010, with construction and ramp-up of the new project completed by the end of 2012. The additional work has an estimated cost of US $220 million and will raisethe facility's annual capacity to 3 million tonnes. Ore supply and ore grade were low in the last part of 2007. This was addressed by moving mining equipment and requesting additional manpower. Underground operations achieved two years lost-time injury-free. Surface operations reached three years lost-time injury-free. Some 768,000 t of KCl have been produced in 2007. A significant expansion was announced in 2007, adding 1.2 million tonnes of potash capacity in 2010 at the cost of CDN $890 million. Public meetings were held to provide information on the expansion of the site.