Author 1:
Name & Surname: Shemet S. F.
Company: Belgorkhimprom JSC (Minsk, Belarus)
Work Position: Chief Executive Officer
Scientific Degree: Doctor of Engineering Sciences
Contacts: phone: +375 (17) 334-72-00

Author 2:
Name & Surname: Kologrivko A. A.
Company: Belarusian National Technical University (Minsk, Belarus)
Work Position: Associate Professor, Open and Underground Mining Department
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Engineering Sciences

Mineral deposits holding the largest reserves of potassium are the Upper Kama Potash–Magnesium Salt Deposit (Russian Federation), Starobinsk Potash Salt Deposit (Belarus), Saskatchewan Salt (Canada) and potash salt deposits in Germany. The CIS countries manufacture potash fertilizers mainly at the largest deposits of potash salts (Starobinsk, Belaruskali) and potash–magnesium salts (Upper Kama, Uralkali) that are extracted with the underground method. Potassium chloride content of produced ore varies between 24 and 32%. In sylvinite ore dressing, waste make 65–75% where 92–95% of solid is sodium chloride and liquid waste is clayey–salt slurry. Waste amount to 2.3–5.7 g per 1 g of the main product. In future it is possible to enhance potash fertilizer production by means of taking assured reserves of Gremyachinsk, Nepsk, Eltonskoe deposits in Russia, Garlyk in Turkmenistan and Petrikovsk deposit in Belarus. Potash mining induces adverse, sometimes large-scale or disastrous change of geoecological situation in industrial areas. The authors discuss issues connected with mitigation of geoecological impact of underground potassium salt mining. The article reports the related research findings and offers practical solutions in the areas of minimization of loss in potash mining, potash mine flooding countermeasures, as well as technologies for halite and slurry waste storage in terms of the ground and mine-technical conditions of Starobinsk potash salt deposit.

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