Intrepid Potash East Mine, New Mexico

Intrepid’s East Mine is an underground potash mine started by Kerr McGee in 1965. It was part of Mississippi Chemical’s operations when it was purchased by Intrepid in 2004. The East Mine is the largest of the underground mines in the area now owned by Intrepid. Around 25 square miles of room and pillar space has been excavated, and connect both the North and the West Mines. The working mine walls can be six miles from shaft sites, and the tailings impoundment and pile covers more than a square mile. Still a dry mine, with a few hundred people working in the mill and mine, the East Mine stopped producing muriate of potash in 2016, and now focuses on mining the langbeinite ore body layer, which produces a more valuable form of potash with a lower chloride content, favored by higher value crops like citrus, vegetables, and sugarcane.