Bleak explained that the Twin Buttes land is on the western expansion approved for the Petrified Forest National Park. However, he added, the deadline had passed and the deal for the park to acquire the land has expired.

In that area, they have found potash at the 800 feet to 1,200 feet level, which is some of the most shallow areas of the deposit.

Passport Potash is based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, but is planning to be listed on an American stock exchange and wants to fully embrace U.S. status. They are also using as many Arizona contractors as possible.

“We feel it is important to keep this an Arizona project,” Bleak said.

Their drilling team is based in Peoria and the engineering team working on the National Instrument (NI) 43-101 is based in Tucson. The NI 43-101 is a mineral resource classification scheme used for public disclosure of mineral properties. It was developed in Canada. That report, which will state how much potash is available, is expected to be released on April 20 with the pre-feasibility report released by the end of 2011.

Bleak says they are now financing for mine development. They need to raise $5.5 million in the beginning and then an additional $8 million for later development.

With the new management team, Bleak said, they will update their Web site, www.passportpotash.com by Friday (Jan. 21) and will reveal their new logo for the Holbrook basin project.

Potash mining is not sought out for protest by environmental groups because, Bleak said, it’s a very environmentally friendly type of mining and the end result is fertilizer. The potash lies well below the Coconino Aquifer. He says those waters will be sealed off as the digging continues to the potash deposit.

Navajo County, most particularly Holbrook, is already seeing benefits from the exploration of the Holbrook Basin. Bleak said they have two full-time representatives of the company in Holbrook. On any given day, as many as 10 people are on site engaged in drilling, seismic (underground) mapping and other tasks.

They have just finished drilling a well so they now have their own supply of water, Bleak said.

Potash had been discovered in the area in the 1960s but little development was done, mostly because the price of potash dipped. Bleak explained that they are working to update the maps created at that time to get the best data for the deposit.

In the construction phase, 1,000 to 1,500 jobs will be created.

If they go into production, the mine will create between 300 to 500 high paying full-time jobs.

“We’re talking about that many families who will need housing and will shop at local stores,” Bleak said. “There will be thousands of more jobs created in the service industries and retail business as well as the secondary industries needed by the mine.”

Although the mine would be closest to Holbrook, it will have a beneficial effect on other area communities. As with jobs in the county seat, Catalyst Paper Mill and APS Cholla Plant, people could choose to live anywhere in the area.

A mine will add to the tax base for both Navajo and Apache Counties as well as the state. The landowners, including the state, will receive payments from the company. Public schools will benefit from the payments for state trust lands which are specifically set aside for that purpose.

Once construction starts, it will be another three to five years before production begins, Bleak said. Extracting the potash could be done by the conventional underground mining with pick and shovel or by solution mining which is similar to extracting oil and gas.

In that system, they would drill a hole and install a pipe through which warm water would be pumped and mixed with the potash. The resulting slurry would be pumped up to the surface where the brine solution is placed in evaporation ponds.

Salt, a by-product of the process, could be sold for use in water softener or on roads.

The number of workers used for either process would be similar, Bleak said. In the first process, they would work underground and in the second, they would work above ground. Neither process would harm the aquifer, he stated.

Bleak said the fertilizer created with potash is an important product for farmers in the state and beyond. If they sell their product within 500 miles of the mine, they will probably truck it to the location of the buyer. If it goes further, it will be sent by rail, most likely from Holbrook.