Solution Mining Of Thin Bedded Potash

Continental Oil Co. has spent more than four years of research on the fundamentals of recovery of potash by solution mining. This work included laboratory investigations of salt solution, brine flow, selective extraction of KC1 from sylvinite, and control of cavity geometry. Laboratory results were expanded by means of a series of field tests, and subjects such as well completion and hydraulic fracturing were added to the investigation. Both single-well and multiwell mining systems were studied in the field work. This paper discusses one field test in which potash was solution mined from a thin sylvinite ore zone in the Carlsbad Potash Basin. A two-well mining system was used for this test.