Complete Document - K+S Aktiengesellschaft

CommuniCationS
News
for all
of us
at k+s
The K+S Group has
become larger and
more international.
The employee
magazine is doing
the same.
water ProteCtion
Milestone
for ecofriendly
production
Construction starts on
a 360-million-euro program
to ensure clean water at
the Werra site.
» page 8
The magazine for employees of the K+S Group
PerSonnel
K+S SeeKing
to booSt
employee
diverSity
Increasing the percentage of
women, becoming more international
– the Board sets
new goals for the company.
» page 11
Fertilization
Potash
combating
drought
in EuroPE
Poland is located in the “Sahel
zone” of Europe. Witold
Grzebisz informs local farmers
why they need potash.
» page 13
SiteS
How salt
affects
life in
talcaHuano
Alex Adones (main photo),
supervisor for SPL at Chile’s
Port of San Vicente, introduces
himself and his site.
» page 25
www.k-PluS-S.Com
alex adones in
talcahuano has
already seen the
new Scoop. or is this
just a photo trick?

Dear colleagues,
the year is rapidly coming to an
end. Many cities and towns are glittering
with holiday decorations, and
we are all looking forward to spending
time with family and friends.
However, this is also a season for
pause and reflection.
We’ve all been working together
to significantly improve the K+S
Group’s turnover and results in
comparison to those of last year.
We’ve initiated many important
projects and measures that have improved
our efficiency and made K+ S
even more competitive: for example,
our purchase of the potash deposit
in Canada, the implementation of
our “Compass” strategy for the KALI
business segment as well as projects
such as preparing for the introduction
of SAP at Morton Salt and, last
but not least, the expansion of our
unique production and logistics
network in the salt sector. These are
only a few of the accomplishments
that you, my colleagues around
the world, have achieved with your
commitment, your diligence, and
your exactness. The Board of Directors
and I would like to extend our
thanks and appreciation to each one
of you.
and because it is you who have
made K+S such a success all over
the world, it is an even greater
pleasure to now be able to express
my gratitude to all of you in five languages.
Our new Scoop will give our
colleagues around the world access
to the same information at the same
time. You have in your hands the
medium that will enable us to communicate
with each other and cross
cultural and linguistic barriers. The
miners among us know that a scoop
is a vehicle that transports nothing
less than our raw materials. This
scoop in paper format is our way of
transporting something just as valuable:
new interesting developments,
as well as background information
and the company principles by
which we measure ourselves and for
which we stand. Enjoy!
We wish you and your family a
happy holiday season and all the
best for the coming year.
Yours sincerely,
norbert steiner Chairman,
Board of Executive Directors, K+S AG
2 WorldWide WeltWeit / monde / global / mundo
takeover
BASF SellS Fertilizer
ASSetS
antwerp / BASF, the world’s
largest chemical company,
is selling its fertilizer plants
in Antwerp, Belgium to the
Russian company EuroChem.
BASF’s 50% share of PEC-Rhin in
Ottmarsheim, France will also
go to EuroChem. The relevant
contracts were signed at the
end of September and transactions
should be finalized by the
end of the first quarter of 2012.
The existing supply contracts
between K+S and BASF regarding
K+S Nitrogen will not be
affected by the sales; these
contracts do not expire before
December 31, 2014 at the
earliest.
global potash market
HigH turnover
expected
Kassel / With demand for
fertilizer returning to normal
levels in 2010, K+S can expect
continued sales increases this
year. For 2011, global sales in
potash are expected to reach
between 58 to 60 million
tons (2010: 58.3 million tons).
For 2012, global potash sales
should reach 60 million tons.
Above all, this assessment is
based on the desirable level
of prices for agricultural commodities.
global potash turnover
in millions of tons (* forecast)
54.5 31.0 58.3
58.0 -
60.0
Industry news, company news, and news
from our sites around the world.
>60
2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*
Fertilizer demand remains high
green Week
experiencing Agriculture
up cloSe
Berlin / On January 20, 2012,
the 77th International Green
Week will open its doors to
the public. The world’s largest
trade fair for food, agriculture,
and horticulture will host
over 1,500 exhibitors from
over 50 countries. One of the
biggest crowd pleasers will
surely be the ErlebnisBauernhof
[Adventure Farm], which offers
the public a vivid, fun exploration
of agricultural production.
The focus here is on dialogue
between the consumer and
the producers of food, renewable
energy sources, and raw
materials.
CommuniCation
re-lAuncHing tHe
K+S portAl
Kassel / We are plan to relaunch
the K+S portal in April
2012. With a new navigational
structure and revised design,
we’re hoping to promote
the exchange and transfer
of knowledge throughout
the company. The new K+S
portal will be an international
platform designed to facilitate
communication between its
users, focus on individual user
requirements – and will be
available in five languages. An
international project team is
now working with our future
authors to develop the technology,
structure, and content.
logistiCs
expertS meet on tHe miSSiSSippi
new Orleans / At the end of October, shipping and harbor
logisticians from the entire K+S Group from Chile, Brazil, the USA,
Canada, and Germany met for the first time for an all-day conference
in New Orleans. On the following day, some participants took
the 2-hour drive to visit the Morton Salt mine on Weeks Island
while the rest of the group accepted an invitation from Empremar,
our Chilean shipping company, to tour the harbor on an ultramodern
tugboat. A visit to the Breakbulk Americas conference – a
platform for many important harbor and logistics service providers
–was also on the agenda. All of the K+S employees present
really appreciated the chance to exchange information, to discuss
the challenges presented by today’s maritime-based economy, and
to get to know each other personally. The Globale Logistik (H-LG)
holding unit invited everyone on a tour of this great harbor city on
the Mississippi River.
k+s nitrogen
new product
utec 46
MannheiM / Following the
successful sales launch of the
patent-pending urease inhibitor
(UI) in Brazil, K+S Nitrogen
GmbH has now begun selling
UTEC 46 in Italy. UTEC 46 is
UI-treated urea. It was tested in
collaboration with the Kali-research
institute. One particular
feature is the great stability of
its active ingredient. In comparison
to non-stabilized urea,
UTEC 46 shows only minimal
ammonia loss over prolonged
dry phases.
latin ameriCa day
cHileAn SAlt HeAdS
to ASiA
haMBUrG / K+S continues to
expand production facilities
in Chilean Salar Grande to increase
our ability to supply Asia
with industrial salt and salt for
chemical use. The investments
in the Patillos shipping facility
were undertaken with this
goal in mind, and completed
successfully and on time –
good news presented by K+S
CEO Norbert Steiner at the
Latin America Day meeting in
Hamburg. K+S is investing over
10 million euros to increase our
production capacity by 1.5 to
an annual 8 million tons by the
end of 2012. Chairman Norbert
Steiner praised Chile’s political
stability and high vocational
training standards.
Title: Aldo Fontana, KircherBurkhardt, Marc Brinkmeier; photos on page 2: Andreas Pohlmann/K+S, BASF, Machowina/IGW 2011, K+S (4) Grafics: KircherBurkhardt Infografik

Photos: Volker Straub/K+S
WorKing Arbeiten / trAvAiller / trAbAjAr / trAbAlhAr
Five Scoops in five languages: K+S people around the world are now on the same page.
A strong neWspAper
for All employees
Scoop wants to bring
you current events and
interesting articles from
the world of the K+S
Group. Scoop continues
the rich tradition of the
employee newspaper
previously published in
German.
W
hen a scoop drives to its operation
site far underground, everyone
in the general vicinity senses
the machine’s tremendous power. The
motor drones in the deepest bass, the air
vibrates. When the gigantic shovel scrapes
across the surface, the rocks creak and rumble.
Then the scoop heaves the precious salt
from the earth as if were nothing. Yet it is
over 17 tons of raw material that the scoop
lifts in a single motion and safely moves
through the darkness to the conveyor belt.
And strength and mobility are just what
this Scoop will bring to K+S Group’s international
internal communication as well. That,
at any rate, is the goal Oliver Morgenthal
and his team at the company headquarters
in Kassel have set for themselves. “The
scoop – a mining term used throughout the
world – plays an important role at K+S: It
reliably transports our raw materials and
scrap from the extraction site to the plant,”
says Morgenthal, Head of Communications
and Media. Scoop is also a term from
the world of journalism: “Journalists speak
of a scoop when they have an exclusive
story,” explains Managing Editor Christin
Bernhardt. “And with our Scoop, we want
to provide exclusive news and stories to our
colleagues worldwide.”
Just like the underground scoop, the Scoop
newspaper will transport the goods – in
this case information – from the source to
where it is needed. Reliable and informative,
consistent and, for
3
the first time, for all employees regardless
of where they work or what part of the business
they’re in.
To ensure that its articles are as interesting
for employees in Chile as in the USA, France
or Brazil, Scoop draws its content from an
international network of communicators
who contribute topics, suggestions and
ideas, playing an active role in the production
process. “The employees in our network
are ambassadors for their locations
and their teams. They know what their colleagues
are talking about and convey topics,
ideas, and suggestions to the editorial office
in Kassel,” says Continued on pAge 4 >>

4 5
WorKing Arbeiten / trAvAiller / trAbAjAr / trAbAlhAr
Christin Bernhardt. And to make sure none
of those suggestions get lost in the fray, the
network maintains close contact and has
regular face-to-face meetings. Three meetings
have already taken place: one each for
the European and German groups, and one
for the Americas.
Once all the topics have found their way
from their respective sources into the newspaper,
it is translated from German into four
languages, checked by the communicators
in their respective mother tongues and then
produced in Kassel. All versions go out on
the same day.
“This is naturally a great challenge for the
team and it’s one that we’re delighted to
accept. As the K+S Group continues to grow
and expand in the fertilizer and salt business,
it is very important for us to be able to
reach all employees worldwide with Scoop,”
says Oliver Morgenthal. Today 30 percent of
» Scoop transmits
the same content at
the same time in five
languages across the
entire world of K+S. «
K+S Group employees are based outside of
Germany and, of that third, 80 percent outside
of Europe. That’s why we’re committed
to this principle: the same information, the
same presentation, and at the same time
for every reader.
Of course, every new endeavor means bidding
farewell to what came before. Some of
our German employees will no doubt miss
the old K+S information, which for many
years reliably presented information and
also represented the local roots of our company,
as Morgenthal acknowledges: “Scoop
follows in the tradition of K+S information,
and our team is well aware that it will be a
big challenge to achieve that same level of
reader satisfaction. But that is our goal.”
At the same time, the team has committed
itself to being even more responsive to its
readership throughout the company and
around the world. To fulfill that commitment,
last year we began asking managers
and employees throughout the company
what expectations they had of an employee
newspaper. The results were very interesting.
Continued on pAge 6 >>
Scoop 1/2011
How “Scoop” iS made
Clearly, this newspaper is not produced in a mine, but the production process is still
complex. We’ve tried to illustrate the process with images from the world of mining.
2
What does “scoop”
mean exactly?
a) A “scoop” is not just a special spoon
for serving ice cream, it’s also the name
of a digging machine used in underground
mining. These low-clearance
vehicles transport the excavated material
in their shovels from the horizon to
the conveyor belt. Driving a scoop is no
easy feat because the driver cannot see
what is happening in front of the shovel
from the cabin.
b) In journalism, a “scoop” is an exclusive
story. The newspaper that breaks
a story first has “scooped” its competitors.
Our Scoop is exclusive too: for K+S
employees.
editorial staff
The editorial staff in the commu nications and
media department also contribute topics.
looking back:
the road
to Scoop
K+S doesn’t just have
a rich mining tradition.
It’s an old hand at
communications, too.
4/1970
1
The K+S company newsletter
makes its debut in 1970.
In its fourth issue, the K+S
Board of Executive Directors
greets the 300 employees
of the sales organization
of the German potash
industry. The previously
independent company joins
the Kali und Salz GmbH on
January 1, 1971.
3
gathering topics
Our network of communicators
extracts a multitude of
topics from all locations
and business areas.
Selection
The editorial staff
decides on a
selection of topics.
The
editors
decide
Scoop 1/2011
1/1977
CM Y K
The largest crystallization
plant in the world is built at
the Wintershall facility near
Heringen. After two years of
planning and construction,
it produces a coarsegrained,
dust-free potash
salt. The building in which
the construction is housed
is nearly 44 meters high.
4
Layout
5
SCOOP
4
Final touches
For each topic, a design concept, or text, emerges.
Photographs are procured or made, sometimes graphics.
Text
Text Photographs
translation
Once approved, the German text
is translated into four languages.
6
printing
After lithography and pre-press,
the newspaper goes to press.
SCOOP SCOOP
5/1986
October 12, 7:07 p.m.:
Four K+S employees are
interviewed by the host of
the “Sunday Express” radio
program on HR3 during
a broadcast on potash
mining. The broadcaster
and audience were equally
impressed by the quartet of
K+S experts.
7
Graphics
Translation
distribution
All Scoop editions
are shipped at
the same time.
oliver Morgenthal
is the head of
Communications
and Media in Kassel.
1/1987
The company newsletter
becomes K+S information.
Also new is a modern
telephone system at the
head office. Microprocessorcontrolled
technology
connects employees more
quickly and reliably with
people all around the world.
Up to 500 calls are received
daily.
“everyone should
know where we’re
headed”
Oliver Morgenthal is responsible
for communications at K+S. For
him, the new employee newspaper
Scoop represents the dawn
of the company’s increasingly
international reality.
Mr. Morgenthal, why a new newspaper?
No one wants to stand still and watch the
world go by, either privately or professionally.
We keep developing, learning new
things and looking for new challenges.
how does that relate to the newspaper?
Today, every one of us, even if we work far
from e-mail and cell phone coverage in a
mine or production facility, is bombarded
with information from a wide range of
sources. That has effects within the company
as well. We have to work that much
harder for our readers’ time, to get their
attention and awaken their interest in
what we have to offer.
is a company newspaper important for
such a large company as K+S?
More than ever. We all need to know
what’s going on, where changes are taking
place, where the company is headed. It’s
the only way to work effectively together
to reach a common goal. And we have to
do that if we want to stay successful in the
future.
that’s a priority, but is it the most important
one?
The most important asset that K+S has
is our employees, their skills and their
experience. With Scoop, we want to
inform all of our employees worldwide
about the K+S Group in a way that
is credible, honest, transparent and
responsive to readers’ interests.
Our whole team is looking
forward to the reactions of
our readers in the different
countries and regions in
which K+S is active.
Photos: Straub/K+S, Bernd Schoelzchen, KircherBukrhardt (4) Graphics: KircherBurkhardt Infografik

6 7
WorKing Arbeiten / trAvAiller / trAbAjAr / trAbAlhAr
Respondents wanted more in-depth reports,
more information about products
and processes and more stories about the
countries and people in the regions around
the world in which K+S is active. These suggestions
have all shaped the new employee
newspaper you now have in your hands.
With the “Worldwide” section and the four
main sections “Working, Living, Learning
and Sharing,” the newspaper we developed
now effectively covers all the bases
throughout the company.
Here’s a rundown of how we have organized
the publication and what kind of stories you
are likely to find in our new sections: After
an overview of news concerning the company,
the market and the business environment
(Worldwide), the Working section
deals with the working lives of employees.
The Life section talks about how K+S products
and community involvement impact
the world around us. The Learning section
presents information that helps employees
» Internationalizing our
content is naturally also a
priority for us at Scoop. «
master the challenges of their daily work as
efficiently as possible. And in the Sharing
section, contributors share personal experiences
from their daily lives with other K+S
workers. There will be no shortage of exciting,
amazing and amusing tidbits from the
world of K+S either: “At the end of the day,
we want to entertain as well as inform our
readers,” says Christin Bernhardt. (See the
box at right for more information about the
new sections).
Scoop will appear four times a year, one
edition for each season. But there is also
more to come. To ensure that we can react
quickly to current events and provide employees
with important information in a
timely fashion, in the coming year we will
also be adding an electronic newsletter to
supplement Scoop, which can be printed
and made available to employees who don’t
have regular access to the portal.
“The editorial staff would like to wish everyone
a good read and look forward to your
responses,” says Oliver Morgenthal. “After
all, it is our readers whose suggestions and
ideas enable us to make Scoop the medium
that we have set out to create: a newspaper
that transmits valuable information from
employees to employees.”
1/1994
A new Kali und Salz GmbH
emerges from the merger
of Kali und Salz AG, the
Treuhandanstalt and the
Mitteldeutsche Kali AG on
December 21, 1993. A new
light-blue logo expresses
greater dynamism, freshness
and openness.
MaRkus Bock
K+S KALI GmbH, Zielitz Plant,
Zielitz, Germany
for messages to be inspiring, the information
has to be user-friendly and attractively
presented. We have to speak to employees
at all levels and across national boundaries.
With the refreshingly modern approach
and a new structure, I’m absolutely convinced that the new
Scoop will meet with wide acceptance and make an important
contribution to promoting a sense of identification with the
philosophy and values of K+S. This really brings us together.
dR. knut
clasen
KALI France,
Reims, France
I am sure that
employees around
the world will look
forward to our first
issue of Scoop with great curiosity and
high expectations. With this new conception
of the employee newspaper, we
have created a platform through which
employees can not only better acquaint
themselves with the activities, cultures
and lives of their colleagues around
the world, but also share ideas and
experiences with each other. This will
jump-start the international network
and promote understanding between
people and societies. Scoop makes a
valuable contribution to making our
corporate culture and values
become reality.
4/1999
At the turn of the millennium,
the K+S Group is
posting impressive figures.
A firm and directed market
strategy has propelled the
company through a decade
as successful as it was
eventful. As the year 2000
approaches, the company is
well placed for the future.
chRistin BeRnhaRdt
Managing Editor, Internal Communications and
Media, K+S AG, Kassel, Germany
Without the hard work of colleagues throughout the
world we could not have launched this newspaper.
They contributed ideas and exciting stories and put in
a lot of hard work. But they also shared our enthusiasm
for what we want Scoop to be: a newspaper
by the employees for the employees. Worldwide. All over the world, K+S
employees bring their skills and passion to the work they do. That makes
for a rich trove of stories that deserve to be told. And if we can succeed in
interesting you in these stories too, that will be very gratifying for us.
FeRnando
slade
Salina Diamante
Branco (SDB), Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil
At salina Diamante
Branco
we are very
happy to be a part of this project.
The newspaper will not only help us
transmit the corporate philosophy
of K+S to the group companies, but
will also inspire and motivate us
all by strengthening our sense of
belonging to the K+S community. I
wish us all the best.
4/2008
Scoop 1/2011
The World of
Scoop is produced with
the help of a worldwide
network of communicators.
The network is still a
work in progress, but
we’ve already asked some
of our colleagues what
they think of Scoop …
PatRícia
coiMBRa
Vatel-Companhia de
Produtos Alimentares,
SA, Alverca, Portugal
In my view, the
international employee
newspaper is
a very important and useful instrument
for all K+S employees. We will have
more information about the team, the
brands, the experience and the issues
that make up K+S, and have the chance
to exchange know-how with our colleagues.
It is very motivating to learn
about other parts of the group and the
best practices and methods used in the
different regions.
K+S becomes the first commodities
group to join the
DAX. In an interview, Chairman
of the Executive Board
Norbert Steiner describes
the event as “an honor and
a challenge for us all.” K+S is
now among the ranks of the
30 most important listed
corporations in Germany.
Scoop 1/2011
Bianca schanklies
european salt company (esco),
Hanover, Germany
K+s was a player on the international
stage even before
acquiring SPL and Morton, and
I think that Scoop will help us
finally get the word out. The
employees and organizations spread around the
world will come together and begin to have a sense
of belonging to a larger whole. I’m looking forward
to being able to contribute to that as one of many
communicators – and to the many exciting articles
from our worldwide network. As miners says here
in Germany, “Glückauf”... good luck to all involved!
allison
schMidt
K+S North
America Salt
Holdings (NASH),
Chicago, USA
I’m thrilled to
be a part of the
communicator network. The international
employee newspaper
gives us the unique opportunity to
look at ideas, interests and events
from a global perspective. It will
be an important instrument to
bring the different parts of the K+S
Group together.
5/2009
K+S welcomes new colleagues
in the USA and
Canada at day-one events
in North America. Chicagobased
Morton Salt joins K+S
on October 1. The acquisition
makes K+S the world’s
largest salt provider.
ivonne
BalduF
K+S KALI GmbH,
Werra Plant,
Philippsthal, Germany
Informative,
entertaining and
as diverse as the
employees who work for the success of
K+S around the world every day – that’s
what the new employee newspaper is
all about. Scoop will unite K+S employees
throughout the world and promote
knowledge transfer and mutual understanding.
I wish Scoop a readership that
is proud to work for such a company.
RichaRd PinneR
K+S UK & Eire,
Hertford, UK
I have been working for K+s for
over six years now and the company
has changed so much in
that short space of time. The fact
that information about the work
and lifestyles within the company is now available
in several languages will allow everyone to feel a
part of this truly global enterprise. I’m really looking
forward to the opportunity to learn about the activities
of colleagues from around the world. This will
definitely help us work together as a company. We’re
looking forward to the first issue ...
4/2011
The Braunschweig-
Lüneburg plant graces the
cover of the final issue of
K+S information. It is not
only the smallest of the
three K+S rock salt plants
in Germany and Europe; at
100 years-old, it is also the
oldest. In August, a large
anniversary party is held in
Grasleben.
astRid
von BoRRies
Salina Diamante
Branco (SPL), Las
Condes, Santiago, Chile
this new employee
newspaper will be
a great platform for everyone to get to
know the K+S Group a little better. It is
a great honor for us in Chile to have the
opportunity to introduce our people
and traditions in the very first issue. I
personally consider this new newspaper
a great idea, because K+S is now
more international than ever. I am very
excited about the coming issues and am
looking forward to the chance to learn
more about the people and countries
in which K+S is also active.
here’s what you’ll
find in the four
new Scoop sections
The newspaper itself is fairly
self-explanatory, but here’s a
primer just in case:
the WorKing section looks
at what is or what will be
important in the company’s
work. Whether it’s economic
results, strategic decisions,
new business developments
or important personalities – this
is where you’ll find everything that
has anything to do with work. The pieces
touch on aspects from every business
area and sometimes even the industry as
a whole. If you want to be informed, you
have to know more than just your own
area of expertise.
the living section examines
the impact that K+S products
and services have on the
world at large. Here you’ll
learn what happens to the
raw materials extracted or
processed by K+S, where the
products are used and how they
make a difference. You’ll get to know real
people from real life anywhere in the
world who come into contact with a product
that we produce. You may know some
things already but we hope to surprise you
as well.
the leArning section features
things to look at, to be
amazed by and – naturally –
to learn. In the future, Scoop
will present new procedures,
processes or machines in this
section, as well as interesting
insights into research and development.
And of course, Scoop’s know-how
section would hardly be complete without
including everything related to occupational
health and safety: How do you stay
safe and healthy in the workplace? What
are others doing to improve standards
even more? And general information
about salt and potash will have its place in
this section as well.
the final section is called
ShAring because it’s about
the people of K+S. Here the
people of K+S introduce their
locations, talk about their
traditions or history, look to
the future and branch out into
the unknown. Just how interesting
this section proves to be will depend
in part upon the readers themselves, for
employees are called on to contribute
here. Got something to say? Send an email
to the editors and let’s talk about what
you have to share! SCOOP@k-plus-s.com
Photos: K+S (10), KircherBurkhardt (5) Graphics: KircherBurkhardt Infografik

8 9
WORKING ARBEITEN / TRAVAILLER / TRABAJAR / TRABALHAR
Norbert Steiner, Chairman
of the Board of K+S: “Sustainable
potash production
and environmental protection
of the environment go
hand in hand for us.”
T
he start of construction at the Werra
potash plant marks a milestone in
safeguarding a sustainable basis for
long-term, successful potash production,”
said Board Chairman Norbert Steiner in
his speech before several hundred representatives
from the workforce and the
» We stand by mining
and domestic production
of raw materials in Hesse
and Thuringia. «
political sphere at the Hattorf site. “At the
same time, it is an important signal to our
employees, to the people around us, to our
political representatives, and to critical observers
of what we do: We stand by mining
1360 million euros
for water protection
The big day was here at last: On October 27, 2011,
with a symbolic press of the “green button,” K+S
signaled the start for a 360-million-euro package
of measures for water protection introduced
three years ago.
and domestic production of raw materials
in Hesse and Thuringia. We keep our word
and accept responsibility. And in doing so,
we focus our attention on the people and
the successful economic development of
the company and region, as well as on further
improvement of the environment.”
All obligations met
According to Steiner, K+S has reliably met
each of the obligations to which the company
has committed itself: for example,
as recorded in a public-sector agreement
with the state governments of Hesse and
Thuringia in February 2009, K+S first developed
an overall strategy for saline wastewater
and then presented an integrated concept
for action based on it. “We delivered,”
explained the Board Chairman, “and we did
even more than that.” Immediately after
the package of measures was announced in
2008, the company began working out the
planning bases for the major projects, says
The start of construction at the push of a
button (from left to right): Plant Manager
Dr. Rainer Gerling, Project Manager Gerd
Hofmann, KALI CEO Dr. Ralf Diekmann,
Works Council Chairman Harald Döll, and
K+S Chairman Norbert Steiner.
Steiner. “That was the only way we would
be able to stay on schedule in implementing
these challenging projects, which utilize
every sensible option for reduction of saline
wastewater, but also approach the limits of
what is economically feasible,” said Steiner.
“We are taking advantage of this opportunity
– and that is a huge step forward.”
Proposals for long-distance pipelines
Regardless of the measures with which the
“basis for a long-term concept for sustainable
local disposal” was laid, K+S decided in
December 2010 to develop proposal documents
for two long-distance pipelines, as
Scoop 1/2011
2… for
maintaining
potash
production
“We’re keeping our Word”
the Board Chairman further explained. This
was done in order to “keep our available options
open and our judgment impartial.”
The planning documents of these disposal
variants were also carefully prepared and
are expected to be submitted for official
approval in spring 2012. “We are also doing
this because there has been some criticism
of our concept for disposal near the site. We
are not putting all of our ‘eggs’ in one basket:
the local package of measures,” accord-
» We are not putting
all of our ›eggs‹ in one
basket: the local package
of measures. «
ing to Steiner. Thus, no one can claim that
K+S is not acting with anticipatory diligence
or that it does not have a concept. Quite the
opposite is true: K+S has made well-considered
decisions for the path to the future and
is remaining on this course.
“Responsibility for people, nature, and K+S
– this is a responsibility we are fully aware
of,” said the Board Chairman in conclusion.
“We will do our best to ensure that potash
mining has a good future, along with the
region.” (akö)
Photos: Boettcher/Bilderberg, Ritter/DPA, Straub/K+S (3), K+S (2)
Scoop 1/2011
“We know our processes – and they
set standards worldwide”
Project Manager Gerd Hofmann is confident that each subproject
in the package of measures will work. In this interview, he reveals
what makes him so certain.
Are you glad that it is now really getting
underway?
We began with preparations at the beginning
of 2009. Thus, for nearly three years
the team’s focus has been on working
towards the start of construction. We’re
very happy that this important milestone
has now been reached.
What makes you so confident?
It’s really quite simple: Our processes,
which set standards worldwide, were
largely developed in-house. The saline-free
ESTP process, for example, which will also
be used for kieserite production in Hattorf,
is something we developed ourselves, and
we also know one or two things about concentrating
solutions containing chloride...
We are breaking new ground only with
the planned solution deep-freeze system,
which will also be in Hattorf. But thanks to
a pilot system, we have acquired the necessary
experience here as well.
3… for a
livable
region
Then nothing more can go wrong along
the rest of the way?
Stumbling blocks in regard to the technical
processes are nearly ruled out. It
is always possible that the outside
companies we have commissioned
will not deliver on time. However,
our purchasing department colleagues
helped us with selecting
these companies so this is quite
unlikely.
What’s the next milestone?
The most important milestones
include conclusion of the planning
stage, completion of construction, conclusion
of the tests, and start-up of regular
operation. It’s not often that we let the
champagne corks fly. But when the first
plant is erected in 2013 – which will already
represent the achievement of 90 percent
of the intended wastewater conservation
– we will definitely celebrate. (akö)
Challenging
projects at the
Werra locations
A team of ca. 25 engineers,
researchers, and technicians developed
the individual measures.
All production sites of the Werra combined
plant, Hattorf, and Wintershall in Hesse,
as well as Unterbreizbach in Thuringia, are
included in the package of measures with
new construction projects, process optimizations,
and plant expansions.
In particular, an additional plant is being
erected at the Hattorf location for salinefree
potash production (ESTP = electrostatic
treatment process), along with a solution
deep-freeze system, while at the Unterbreizbach
site, a plant is being added to the
potash processing system, and the capacity
of the existing thick-matter plant is being
increased. At the Wintershall location,
the magnesium chloride plant is being
expanded, a new evaporation facility is
being erected, and the kieserite flotation is
being optimized. As overarching measures,
reservoirs will be constructed, and the
return capacity for salt water from the flat
layers of dolomite will be increased.
The goal is to cut the amount of saline
wastewater by half by 2015 and
to make a further contribution
to the betterment of the Werra
and Weser rivers, as well as the
protection of the groundwater.
The Upper Weser will again be
of freshwater quality and the
Lower Weser as of Bremen will
be of drinking water quality.
At the same time, the previous
form of immersion will be
abandoned and for the first
time it will even be possible to
reduce the saline load of the
subsurface. (akö)
With a helmet, notebook, and cell
phone: This is how Gerd Hofmann
looks at the construction site.

10 Scoop
WORKING ARBEITEN / TRAVAILLER / TRABAJAR / TRABALHAR
Green LiGht for Potash
Project in canada
K+S AG’s Board of Executive Directors and Supervisory Board have
decided to build a new potash location in the province of Saskatchewan.
K+S plans to implement the Legacy Project in
the province of Saskatchewan and begin potash
production based on solution mining. K+S
AG’s Board of Executive Directors and Supervisory
Board have made the respective resolutions. “The
implementation of the Legacy Project is a significant
step towards expanding our potash capacities. Combined
with our current potash mines in Germany,
this will substantially strengthen our international
competitiveness, with the results benefiting the
entire K+S Group in Europe and overseas,” says K+S
Chairman of the Executive Board Norbert Steiner.
Around 3.25 billion Canadian dollars
(approximately 2.4 billion
euros) have been allocated for
construction of the new potash lo-
cation. By the end of 2015, the first
quantities of the globally coveted
mineral should be available. Annual
production will then increase
to 2.86 million tons of potassium
chloride (KCl) by 2023, taking market
conditions into consideration.
An additional expansion phase
would make it possible to increase to a capacity of
4 million tons of KCl a year.
K+S acquired the previous owners of the natural
mineral deposit – the exploration and development
corporation Potash One – in early 2011. Over recent
months, K+S has been revising and optimizing an ex-
K+S Potash Canada GP in figures:
3.25 BN
CAN$ were authorized for investment in
the construction of a new location.
isting feasibility study. Richard L. “Dick” Wilson, President
and CEO of K+S Potash Canada emphasizes:
“Thanks to the excellent work of our entire team we
were able to develop a concept with a construction
timeline that is ideal for K+S production and market
forecasts and that as a whole INFOshows
a very positive
31
economic efficiency.”
Zeal for Work
31
Meanwhile, the initial infrastructure work, which
began this year in the areas INFO of water supply, electricity
and public roads, as well
31
as the first drilling
activities, are progressing well. At
INFO
K+S Potash 31 Canada GP in Saskatoon,
around 30 K+S employees
from various countries are working
31
in the project office on construction
CANADA
of the new location. “A real pioneering
spirit is driving us all. All of our
team members are excited about
this project,” says mining engineer
Tobias Geisen, who relocated to
Saskatoon
Canada from the esco plant in Bernburg,
Germany. Since there is no
longer enough room at the old Potash One office, in
just a few weeks the team will be moving into larger
premises in downtown Saskatoon. (mwu)
320
employees will be
employed at the new
location.
You can find more information about the Legacy
Project on the K+s Potash canada website at:
http://www.ks-potashcanada.com/en/index.html
2.86 m
K+S
tons of potassium chloride will be produced annually
in the first two expansion phases (until 2023).
Let’s go!
1/2011
From left to right:
Mike Ferguson, Vice President
and Project Manager,
K+S Potash Canada; Franz
Xaver Spachtholz, Vice
President Engineering;
Richard L. “Dick” Wilson,
President and CEO
K+S Potash Canada.
Dr. Ralf Diekmann, CEO
of K+S KALI GmbH, on the
importance of the Legacy
Project.
“The Legacy Project
fits perfectly
into the potash
and magnesium
veranstalltung mehr info
products business
division
strategy and is
indispensable for
the long-term security of produc-
portal Intranet
tion capacities and for our participation
in the growth of the global
potash market. Thanks to Legacy,
we are adding a North American
potash location to our six German
mines. This not only strengthens
our global presence; it also
opens up new potential markets
internet because of its relative proximity
to key regions in North and South
America, as well as Asia. Legacy
will also have a positive effect on
the average costs of the potash
and magnesium products business
division and will extend the
average life of our mines.
I am absolutely convinced that
with our experienced team of
specialists, we will rise to this
immense and significant challenge
for the entire K+S Group.
Let’s go!”
Photos: K+S (2), Volker Straub/K+S

Photos: KircherBurkhardt, K+S (2)
Scoop 1/2011
P
romoting women has been a topic
of intensive discussion in German
political circles in 2011. As a result of
the demographic shift, no European company
can do without well-educated female
employees. Both for this reason and its own
set of values, K+S has made a commitment
toward equal opportunities, along with the
companies in the DAX, which is the leading
German stock market index. The key word
here is diversity. K+S has declared the ambitious
aim of having women occupy ten
percent of its management positions by
the year 2020. Its share of female managers
would then reflect precisely that of Germany
in general.
As a mining company, however, K+S
faces completely different challenges in
the process than companies in the trade
or service sectors, for example. It was not
until 2009 that women were permitted to
work as mining technicians (formerly mining
engineers) in Germany.
“We view this development as a giant step
forward and one that is very beneficial for
us,” says Holger Blannarsch, Director of Human
Resources at K+S. It helps that women
hold the majority of secondary school and
college diplomas. “But that shouldn’t ob-
Changing traditions
For centuries, miners have placed their
street clothes in baskets in the changing
room – a building called a “coe”
– before heading down into the mine.
The baskets are pulled up several meters
to the ceiling of the coe via a chain,
which is then locked. This keeps the
clothing safe and saves space. Up until
a year ago, only men’s clothes were
hanging under the rafters, but that has
now changed. Which is a good thing,
says HR director Holger Blannarsch.
Co-eds in the Coe
K+S is committed to equal opportunity and diversity. It seeks to increase its
share of female management personnel by around 30 percent by the year
2020 and thus reflect the overall figures for women in the German workforce.
Theresa Schellhas (left) and Sarah Lipp ventured
into a man’s world in 2010 as the first
female mining technicians at K+S KALI GmbH.
scure the fact that a comparatively low
number of women take up technical or
mathematical and scientific training and
studies,” he adds. And those are the very
areas that account for the lion’s share
of occupations at K+S. Dr. Thomas
Nöcker, the member of the Executive
Board in charge of human resources,
is aware that there is no set answer to
the equal opportunity question. “We
reject the notion of mandatory quotas,”
he says, “because they cannot take into
account the different conditions at individual
companies. Instead, we are seeking
long-term and sustainable development
that is tailored to the corporate structure
and special features of our industry.
Here at K+S, we are strongly committed to
diversity.”
Diversity promotes the bottom line
It has been shown that heterogeneous
teams produce the best results. “We need
different approaches to work and ideas.
Women are just as irreplaceable as men,
young employees are just as important
as older ones, and a wide range
of professional and cultural backgrounds
also contributes to corporate
success,” explains Blannarsch.
With the aim of promoting women,
Holger Blannarsch became HR
Director Germany in May of 2011.
and with the associated actions to
back this up, K+S is building on its
own corporate culture: one committed
to equal opportunities and one that is
no less committed to promoting future
generation of employees. “We are expressly
committed to our own people and
we want to recruit the majority of our specialists
and leadership personnel from our
own ranks,” says Nöcker. “We have been
pursuing this policy for decades and it
has been a crucial factor in our success.”
Nöcker has no doubt that the commitment
to diversity applies not only to Germany.
“Equal opportunities are important
both internationally as well as across different
societies,” he notes. And they cannot
be implemented by companies alone.
“Even though policies to ensure equal
opportunities have to take into account
the respective social and political
features of different countries,” he
observes, “openness and flexibility
across corporate and geographical
boundaries are needed. This includes
questioning one’s own
ingrained and often outdated
role expectations.”
(cbe)
11

12 Scoop
WORKING ARBEITEN / TRAVAILLER / TRABAJAR / TRABALHAR
a place for Happy cHildren
There’s flexibility in store for K+S employees in Kassel who choose to return
to their jobs only six months after the birth of a child. The company has had
an on-site daycare center since 2009. And it dosn’t just look nice: It’s a real hit.
At “GlückKSinder”, K+S
children start learning
how to work with
heavy machinery. Ageappropriate,
of course.
T
his is what the perfect daycare looks like: light, brightly colored
rooms, spaces to play, build, socialize, climb, and play
dress-up, a few play kitchens, a library, and a gym. Hardly
any wish goes unfulfilled at the K+S daycare. In the daycare
washing rooms, the GlücKSkinder [Happy Kids] can even paint
themselves with colored soaps and splash around with water. In
their workshops, they have an opportunity to experiment or construct
objects based on natural science themes. There is plenty of
space to let off steam on their playground. And every Wednesday
is “Sweet Day,” with Nutella served at breakfast. In short: a real
children’s paradise.
40 children of K+S employees are enrolled at the daycare center.
It’s perfect for parents because it gives them an opportunity to
quickly return to their careers even with a family. Once a child
is six months old, it can start attending the daycare for 25, 35,
or 45 hours a week. And should a meeting suddenly come up?
“We’re flexible,” says daycare director Christina Bertram. “Parents
can request extended hours on short notice.” The daycare
is open during K+S working hours, from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm.
The company opened the facility two years ago in cooperation
with educcare, a private daycare operator. Since then, every employee
who wants to send children there is guaranteed a spot –
not something to be taken for granted in Kassel. K+S also subsidizes
the daycare costs for each child. Every group has three educators.
One of the three speaks only English to the children. And
starting in 2012 there’ll be even more to offer: A first-aid class is
planned for children aged four and up. “And we offer parental
coaching: strong parents make for strong children,” says Christina
Bertram. (cbe)
it can be hard to maintain a career while not
neglecting your family at the same time. How do
our colleagues at k+s manage this balancing act?
scoop asked around.
AlvercA, PortugAl
» Having Maria
definiTely cHanged
My daily rouTine .«
ana ramos, secretary at Vatel,
responds: “My daughter Maria is
two years old and very cheerful,
alert, and curious. Having her
definitely changed my routine.
I wake up earlier to drop Maria
off with her grandparents (who
are a huge help) and then head
off to work. I pick her up in the
evening and then prepare dinner.
We eat, play, and then it’s off
to bed. And it’s the same routine
the next day. She’ll be starting
daycare next year. That will of
course change everything. But
it’ll be good. I manage my time
without neglecting either my
career or my family.
KAssel, germAny
» i Manage THis
balancing acT wiTH
a fair aMounT of
planning. «
claudia böhm is a consultant for
K+S AG Corporate Development
and the mother of two sons (threeyear
old Moritz and six-month-old
Felix). Her response: “The right
amount of planning (we have four
family calendars), a good amount
of support, and the right partner
make it all work. It’s especially
helpful that my boss understands
if I have to leave early for school
events. And if I need to bake muffins,
the school will have to make
do with little cakes that are “ONLY”
delicious, rather than works of art
1/2011
HAnover,
germAny
» My wife Takes
care of THe bulk of
THe work. «
francisco Martín, esco HQ,
Hanover (transferred on
September 13 from esco spain,
Barcelona) writes: It’s really
convenient that my wife can
work from home as a freelance
interior designer and translator.
That was already the case when
we were living in Barcelona and
we want to keep it like that in
Germany. That means that she
can take care of our children –
aged six years, four years, and 18
months – at home and back me
up so that I can go to work. We
switch on the weekends, but
of course she takes care of the
bulk of the work.
cHicAgo, usA
» iT’s cHallenging
To Manage work
and a faMily. «
eloisa Henthorn is the director
of Internal Auditing for the
K+S Group in North America.
She writes: “I work in our Chicago
office, but I have to travel
frequently to conduct audits.
I have two children, Isabelle
(13 months) and Kenneth (12).
I admit that it can sometimes
be challenging to manage work
and family life. But when I come
home after a long day and hold
and kiss Isabelle, I realize that
it’s all worth it. Fortunately, I
have someone at home who
takes care of the kids because
(4)
private (2), Schölzchen Bernd
daycare is very expensive in
that took hours to prepare. the USA.
Photos:

Photo: Marc Brinkmeier
living leben/ vivre / vivir / viver
Stamping
out drought
in poland
Agricultural yields in Poland are far too low. Drought and a lack of need-based
fertilization are the reasons for this. There’s a remedy, says Witold grzebisz.
W
itold Grzebisz is actually a scientist.
“But at the moment I feel
more like a missionary,” says this
professor of agricultural chemistry who has
been researching and teaching at the University
of Life Sciences in the Polish city of
Poznań for 16 years. He couldn’t have a more
welcome message for Polish farmers because
he knows how they can substantially
increase – in some cases even double – their
yields of sugar beets, potatoes, wheat and
the triticale grain. The field trials that he ran
for K+S KALI GmbH in and around Poznań
have demonstrated that “the solution lies
in the combinations that I tested of potash,
magnesium and other minerals that have
been precisely adjusted to the specific soil
conditions. But for this to work, the farmers
have to change their ideas and understand
that it’s not enough to sow and hope for
rain, but that they also have to invest something.”
Not an easy task for the dynamic
professor of agriculture who never tires of
writing articles for farming magazines –
without taking any payment, of course – or
of visiting farmers on their land. He also
invites entire villages to events where they
can exchange experiences and share new
information with one another. “Sometimes
I have 100,000 hectares or more represented
in a single room,” he says. In some villages
he has planted demonstration fields to
show farmers the positive effects of needbased
mineral fertilizers.
Poland’s sandy soil presents a serious challenge
to anyone in the agriculture business.
Grzebisz’s devastating conclusion: “Around
half the land area could simply be reforested
and you wouldn’t really notice a difference
13
On-site visit by Witold
grzebisz (2nd from left)
in Drzonek, about
60 kilometers south of
Poznań. Following nearly
eight weeks without rain,
the soil is dry as a bone.
in the current output.” To maintain stable
and predictable yields, Polish farmers would
have to add a lot of minerals to the weak
soil. But since the political transformation
in the early 1990s, state subsidies for fertilizers
have been drastically cut and many
farmers have nearly stopped fertilizing their
fields. The real problem in the region, however,
is water. “Water management will be
the problem of the future here in Europe
as well,” warns Grzebisz. Most people still
associate phrases and words such as “water
shortage” cOnTinueD On Page 14 >>

14 15
living leben / vivre / vivir / viver
Farmers in the village of Drzonek (population
300) are participating in grzebisz’s field trials.
and “drought” primarily with the desert
regions of the Third World. “But we in Poland,
Belarus and Eastern Germany have
long since been in Europe’s Sahel zone,” he
observes. The main issue, after all, is not
the annual amount of rainfall. Much more
important for the farming business is timing:
when it falls. And in this region, that is
happening less frequently in the spring and
fall which are the most important planting
and growth periods. “In 2011 we had a heat
wave from March to May with hardly any
» But we in Poland, Belarus
and Eastern Germany
have long since been
in Europe’s Sahel zone. «
rain, then a rainy summer, and then in the
fall the farmers couldn’t start sowing because
there wasn’t a drop of rain for a good
six weeks.” In farming, the term “drought”
is already applied after a rainless period of
four weeks. If the region had to rely solely on
local production, like it did in past centuries,
Eastern Germany, Poland and Belarus would
be facing a disaster this winter with not
near enough food to feed the population.
This Polish agricultural expert is frustrated
when he sees fields of stunted corn plants
or barley plants that are barely knee-high.
This is the most visible evidence of the acute
shortage. “It doesn’t have to be this way – as
we’ve shown in our trials,” he says.
Experts at K+S have long suspected that
Sugar beets have
been grown in Poland
for ages, which is
why Witold grzebisz
is studying what they
need to thrive despite
dry conditions.
Fertilization changes
root growth
Root depth
Days after
in cm
sowing
0 0
20
40
60
80
Fertilized with
300 kg of potash
Unfertilized
Tractors apply
potash-magnesium
fertilizer that has
been adjusted
precisely for local
soil and climatic
conditions.
26
28
31
35
38
44
49
Scoop 1/2011
Scoop 1/2011
Drought in the
spring and fall –
crucial planting
and growth
periods – is fatal
for farming. So
it’s important to
keep the small
amounts of water
in the soil.
D
CZ
Poznań
Poland
SK
LT
BY
UA
not only the
composition but
also the timing
and the amount
of fertilization
are precisely
determined.
targeted fertilization with potassium and
magnesium would promote the efficiency
of water usage for agricultural purposes.
And now there’s proof. For three years, research
teams connected with Professor Andreas
Gransee, Director of Applied Research
at K+S KALI GmbH, tested this prediction by
means of different experiments and field
trials in the German cities of Gießen, Kiel,
Halle and then Poznań in Poland.
“We found solid evidence for a synergistic
effect on water use in the overall system,”
concludes Professor Grzebisz, who led the
tests in Poznań. The minerals in the fertilizer
– especially potassium – enhance not only
plant and root growth, but also change the
soil structure in such a way that more water
is retained in its upper levels combating the
effect of gravity, where it is easily accessible
to the powerful root networks of the fertilized
plants (see diagram).
It’s this aspect in particular that is slowly
causing the farmers in Poland to take note.
“There’s nothing special about getting a decent
yield in a good year with enough rain,”
says Grzebisz. “But you only really make
money in farming when your yields are satisfactory
in dry years as well.” (cbe)
Exceptional
consulting expertise
K+S KALI GmbH advises farmers around the
world on how to add minerals to their soil.
Based on results of 250 field trials worldwide, K+S
researchers are not only able to continuously improve
their products, but also to offer farmers around the
globe local consulting services on the
best possible fertilizer composition, amounts and
timing. These services always start with a soil
analysis. Interactive consulting software has also
proven valuable.
In addition to potash and magnesium, the major nutrients
nitrogen and phosphorus are also essential for a balanced
plant diet and thus for healthy growth and yields.
Balanced fertilization enables
the available amounts of
water to be optimally utilized
without unproductive evaporation,
which means that
less water is needed per ton
of yield.
Photos: Marc Brinkmeier (5), dpa Picture-Alliance/Patrick Pleul, K+S Graphics: KircherBurkhardt Infografik

16 Living Leben / vivre / vivir / viver
Photos: Plainpicture/Johner, Gentsch/dpa Picture-Alliance, Getty Images, K+S, Straub/K+S,
De-icing salt
anD roaD safety
in many parts of the world, snow removal and de-icing vehicles are as familiar a sight
in winter as snow and ice themselves. These road services have been developing.
Today they are putting smaller amounts of salt to more effective use.
Snow has arrived unusually early on the
East Coast of the United States and in
large parts of Canada. From Washington
D.C. to Calgary, when Halloween usually
brings no more than a cool autumnal mist
for the children out trick-or-treating, this
year the snow removal services have already
been called out. In New York’s Central
Park, huge tree branches still bearing foliage
are breaking off under the weight of the
snow. As long as anyone can remember, it
hasn’t snowed so much so early. The same
is true of Saskatchewan, the home region
of K+S Potash Canada. The radio is reporting
an ever lengthening list of hazardous
highways. Dozens of cars have skidded off
icy streets, when many commuters should
have heeded warnings to travel by bus or
train. People are late for work or can‘t show
up at all. The weather is a hazard for safety,
but it can also have severe economic consequences
when logistics services are held up
for too long.
Not only in North America but also in many
other parts of the world, ice and snow often
bring traffic to a halt. When the roads are
as slick as a bar of soap, even careful steering
and braking maneuvers can go wrong.
Those who don’t want to land in the greenery
– or the “whitery” – are advised to drive
» On icy roads, braking
distances increase at
least fivefold. «
slowly. On icy roads, braking distances increase
at least fivefold, which means that
a car moving at 50 km/h will need a minimum
of 100 meters to stop – usually too
much to avoid a crash.
All efforts to make it safer to drive in winter
are therefore directed at improving grip on
the roads. For decades now, de-icing agents
have been used to good effect. Salt lowers
the freezing point of water so ice and snow
change from solid to liquid form. Tires have
early days: The “Original Weisser Streuer”
launched the successful history of the dispersal
plate, although it was hard work to fill it.
Clearing roads in Canada. Snow and ice are a familiar
sight by mid-november at the latest.
a better grip on wet surfaces than on icy,
which in turn substantially lowers the risk
of skidding.
Snow removal services have been making
use of this knowledge since the 1930s.
When removal and plowing services started,
however, they were not very good at
dosing the salt on the roads and highways.
Scoop ScOOp 1/2011
Scoop ScOOp 1/2011
Workers simply
shovelled it from
trucks onto the
roads. The difference
this made for
driving was dramatic,
of course. Still, the work
was grueling physical
labor, and on top of that,
it also wasn’t the best way
to spread the salt evenly.
Later the salt was shoveled
into a spreader device through
which it trickled at faster or
slower rates. But its ranges and
volumes remained arbitrary.
A milestone in salt-spreading technology
was reached in 1938 with
the invention of the dispersal plate,
which was the first system that could
spread salt evenly over a wide range
on the roads. Its development was pioneered
by the Weisser company located
in the southwestern town of Bräunlingen,
whose snow-covered slopes in the Black
Forest provided ideal conditions for testing
innovative dispersal systems.
The dispersal plate, however, was by no
means the end of this development. There
was still a problem connected with the fact
that the vehicle – whether in towns or on
highways – had to drive at a constant speed
in order to achieve roughly consistent results.
It wasn’t until around 1960 that “route-dependent
dispersal” became possible.
Dispersal systems were coupled to speedometers
which enabled salt volumes to be
adjusted to the speed of the vehicle.
Back to Canada. By the end of November
winter has settled in to stay, for example
in the relatively densely populated province
of Ontario. At temperatures around
freezing, winter services here
have to struggle with roads
covered with ice or with
wet, slippery slush.
When tempera-
tures drop in the evening, they again and
again have to spread salt on the major highways
to keep them open for traffic.
A wet salt dispersal process is used here
which was first developed in the mid-1970s.
This process doesn’t apply dry salt, but instead
uses a salt solution for about one
third of the volume. The wet mass can be
spread more effectively and suffers considerably
less loss due to the wind or the
natural scattering behavior of salt grains.
Above all, the de-icing process sets in faster
and continues longer which means that 20-
25 percent less salt is needed for the same
effect.
In other regions of Canada, wet salt is not
yet standard. The Ministry of Transport in
» A milestone in saltspreading
technology
was reached in 1938
with the invention of
the dispersal plate. «
the snow-rich province of Ontario has been
campaigning for years to help other areas
learn from its experience and make regular
use of pre-wetted salt. According to the Ministry,
“Ontario’s snow and ice removal services
are based on the best processes used
in North America.” Not only water is used
to wet the salt in Ontario but also special
anti-frost solutions.
Throughout Germany and Scandinavia, the
wet-salt process is state-of-the-art technology
– 80 to 90 percent of de-icing salt
sold by esco is applied via this method.
The rest of Europe shows a lot of variation,
with dry salt still in use where limited budgets
preclude investment in wetsalt
technology. Other crucial factors
include individual landscape
COnTinued On Page 18 >>
With salt, it’s
the mixture that
counts!
While fine grains of salt immediately
start causing icy surfaces to
melt, coarser crystals provide the
long-term effect needed for thick
layers of ice and snow.
In Europe, our subsidiary esco sells a
de-icing salt that has been proven for
decades. Its especially effective mixture
of fine and coarse crystals (0.2–5.0 millimeters)
ensures the maximum de-icing
effect on ice and snow.
it takes quite a few handfuls of de-icing
salt to fill a truck. The average salt-spreading
vehicle can carry 6.5 metric tons.
vacuum salt from esco, which is also
used as de-icing salt in some European
markets, is much finer (0.1–0.8 millimeters).
Fine-grained salts dissolve faster
in solutions, which is especially advantageous
for icing prevention.
Mixtures of SPL and Morton Salt, which
are produced especially for the North
American market, are considerably
more coarse. The grain spectrum here
runs from 1.0 to 12.5 millimeters.
Our de-icing salts, which are produced
on three continents, are bought by
private households as well as winter
services, road-building agencies, and
large-scale commercial consumers.
Something for
everyone: vacuum
salt (right), esco deicing
salt (center),
and de-icing salt
from SPL (left)
17

18 Living Leben / vivre / vivir / viver
Snow falls in Ontario in the night: Without salt, streets and sidewalks become icy skidpads.
features, climatic conditions, and the technical
sophistication of local winter services.
But everywhere efforts are underway to
learn from other locations. On the European
level, there is a lively exchange of information
about best practices. One European
research project, for example, is working on
recommendations for uniform Europe-wide
standards. Its final report concludes that
the use of de-icing salt is the most economical
and environmentally friendly method. It
strongly recommends increasing the use
of wetsalt technology.
Wetsalt dispersal can even make sense
before there is any snow on the
ground. When a snowstorm looms on
the horizon in Ontario, for example,
wet salt is often spread as a preventive
or anti-icing measure. This
is advisable not only because it
helps make the roads safer for
traffic, but also because it saves
salt in the long run. And
when you get hit with an
unexpected snow storm,
you need as much as
salt in reserve as possible.
Depending on the
specific weather and
temperature conditions,
this anti-icing
method can use
30-70 percent
less salt than
that needed to
Thawing only starts when water
enters the picture. Water can come
from ambient humidity, or a thin film
of brine can be created artificially.
Wetsalt dispersal does the latter. Dry
de-icing salt is wetted with a salt
solution at a weight ratio of 70 to 30
percent right before it is put on the
dispersal plate.
remove already existing layers of ice.
In the meantime, road-clearance services in
the wintry country of Canada are equipped
not only with different spreading methods
and processes. Thanks to satellite data,
traffic-monitoring personnel are kept informed
of the latest weather conditions and
» When the next snow-
INFO
storm looms on the 31
horizon in Ontario, salt
is spread as a preventive
31
measure. That saves INFO a lot
31
of salt. «
31
trends. At crucial locations, such as highway
bridges, experts have also installed ice de-
31
tection systems that provide valuable data.
Sensors in the roads and measurement systems
on the roadsides monitor road and air
temperatures – and thus help to detect ice
formation more easily and quickly than ever
before. The Canadians, however, are especially
proud of their GPS-controlled snowremoval
vehicles which can clear multi-lane
roads by driving in a stepped formation,
much like combine harvesters on a wheat
field. (akö)
For more information: www.cost.esf.
org/domains_actions/tud/Actions/
Winter _Service_Strategies
How the wetsalt process works
In many countries around the globe this is state-of-the-art technology.
Ice
INFO
We’ve long known that salt has a deicing
effect. What else is there left to
learn here?
Depending on local conditions, the latest
electronic systems can be used to spread
the right amount of salt on the roads
with unparalleled precision these days.
This feat has been made possible not only
by clever engineers, but also by years of
science and research. Our efforts at this
company continue to be driven by the
goal of making road-clearing services
as efficient as possible so that people
can better cope with exteme weather
conditions.
despite their efficiency, road-clearing
services are time-consuming and expensive.
is the expense worth it?
All studies which we have seen show that
winter road-clearing services are very
valuable to the economy. For one thing,
they make the roads considerably safer,
and because of this, they also lower accident
rates and the associated costs. They
also greatly improve the flow of traffic.
They substantially lower the number of
traffic jams, which has the additional
benefit of lowering fuel consumption.
A number of studies, both in Germany
and in other countries where snow and
ice is a problem, have shown that every
euro invested in winter services saves
several euros for the economy that would
otherwise have to be spent on account of
accidents, limited mobility, lower productivity,
and non-productive wages.
Critics claim
veranstalltung
that environmental
mehr info
costs
also need to be included in the overall
economic equation.
This is already the case. The environmental
effects of salt and grit have been
portal Intranet
under discussion since the 1970s, and
their volumes have been actually been
greatly reduced since then. By 2003 at the
latest, K+S however, everyone should have realized
that prudent use of de-icing salt is
not only more economical but also more
environmentally friendly than other roadclearance
substances. That was when the
widely respected internet Institute for Applied
Ecology in Freiburg (Ökoinstitut Freiburg)
Salt grain The salt solution has a lower freezing point
than waterwhich causes the ice to melt.
Scoop ScOOp 1/2011
Why de-icing salt is better than
other substances for cleaning roads
Winter road services make a valuable contribution to the
economy. De-icing salt remains the leading method, says
expert Horst Hanke.
The salt solution has a thawing effect over a wide area
completed a major comparative study
commissioned by the German Federal
Environmental Agency (Umweltbundesamt),
which took into account all environmental
effects including the production
of road-clearance substances, the effects
on health, and waste disposal.
but some people still consider grit an
alternative.
Grit is absolutely not an alternative for
roads and highways. In particular, this
type of substance is useless for black
ice. But also for fresh snow, grit and
similar materials are either quickly hurled
away by tires or pressed so deeply into
the ground that their effect is lost. At
most, grit is an alternative to de-icing
salt for sidewalks under certain weather
conditions.
Wetsalt technology has become the
method of choice for spreading salt on
roads. is this because we don’t have
anything better?
The development done on this technology,
largely here in Germany, has certainly
played a crucial role. Today this method is
used throughout the world. But there are
also newer developments. For two years
now, as part of our anti-icing program,
we have been testing a process that uses
only a liquid salt solution and no dry salt
at all for certain weather conditions. This
innovative method has proven to be a
valuable supplement to wet salt, and
we will be making much greater use of
it over the coming years. But it can only
supplement wetsalt technology which
remains the standard
means to deal with
black ice once it
forms. (akö)
dr. Horst Hanke,
director of the
Winter Services
group at germany’s
road and Traffic
research institute
(FgSv).
Photos: Getty Images, Plainpicture/Johner, Jennifer Weyland Graphic: KircherBurkhardt Infografik

Phtos: K+S, Straub/K+S, imago
learning lernen / apprendre / aprender / aprender
» page 22
LaRGeR
CROSS-SeCtION
New machines in Zielitz. How
two heavyweights will achieve
faster results at a potash plant.
» page 20
19
Safety:
ReSCUe MISSIONS
fROM tHe aIR
The team from the esco plant
in Borth shows what an airborne
rescue team needs to know and
put into practice.
» page 24
SaLt CULtURe:
tHe PROMINeNCe
Of WHIte GOLD
Six examples of the major role
our product plays in culture, history,
and everyday life.

20 21
Photos: K+S (7) Graphics: KircherBurkhardt Infografik
Learning Lernen / apprendre / aprender / aprender
Trainer Smock from the
rescue service in Herne and
Helmut Köster from the rescue
team monitor the set-up
of the exercise station.
Helmut Köster gives
instructions: Well secured,
Michael Helmes and Wolfgang
Knoblich are slowly
lowered to the ground.
While Wolfgang
Knoblich lies in the
basket, Michael
Helmes makes sure
that the rappeling
exercise comes to a
safe conclusion.
exercise in shaft ii at
the Borth salt works.
From the 740-meter
deep horizon, the
rescued person is
hoisted to the surface
in a rescue basket
using a winch.
Rope Rescue
at the K+s GRoup
Rope rescue is a special procedure
in the public emergency
response services. Rope rescue
teams are provided by organizations
such as fire departments,
technical assistance organizations,
and the operators of large
objects (power lines, electricity
providers). Rope rescue is technically
closely related to mountain
rescue and medical rescue
services. In the K+S Group, most
German locations have special
rope rescue teams which
are typically assigned to the
plant fire departments or
mine rescue brigades. Over 90
employees work in these teams.
At Morton Salt, special “Mine
Rescue Teams” comparable to
the German mine rescue brigades
assume these duties.
at the end of a
successful day
of exercises,
(l. to r.) team
leader Thomas
Clewe, ermin
Kosuta and
Michael
Helmes.
Scoop 1/2011
Christian Kazur, an
industrial machinist
by day, in full rescue
gear during the
exercise.
Scoop 1/2011
rope rescue At K+s:
Not For the FAiNt oF heArt!
rope rescuers are a tight-knit community. The eight-member team from the esco facility
Borth practiced spectacular rope rescue techniques at the Tetrahedron in Bottrop.
A
nyone who wants to join us absolutely
cannot have vertigo or a fear
of heights,” says Thomas Clewe
matter-of-factly. After all, the year-old rope
rescue team from the rock salt facility in
Borth is charged with rescuing people from
great heights or great depths. If need be,
the team has to be able to rescue a sick or
injured person from places such as a tower
in the above-ground facilities at the plant
at heights of up to 70 meters. Likewise, the
team has to be able to perform rescues in
shafts more than 700 meters deep. Dizziness
would indeed be a hindrance. Absolute
trust between team members is an indispensable
prerequisite. The rope rescuers are
a tight-knit team.
Absolute mutual
trust is an indispensable
prerequisite.
Thomas Clewe heads up the squad in Borth.
An employee at the salt works since 1992,
the 46 year-old is a safety technician, works
council member, and company health and
safety officer all in one. His team includes
members from the mine rescue brigade as
well as colleagues from the above-ground
production facilities. The team members
bring a wide range of different skills to the
job. What they share is their training as rope
rescue technicians. Germany has a school
dedicated to just this set of skills: The Cen-
a figure-eight loop in just four steps
The figure-eight knot is the most important knot used by rope rescuers.
1 2 3 4
Form a loop with the
closed end.
“do we have everything?” Before an exercise
like the one at the Tetrahedron in Bottrop begins,
team members check their equipment.
tral Mine Rescue Service in Herne in the state
of North Rhine-Westphalia.
To ensure that everything goes to plan when
it counts, the Central Mine Rescue Service of
the BBG professional miner‘s association
(now the Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe
pass the closed end under the rope and put
it through the loop.
und Chemische Industrie – BG RCI) requires
the team to do four exercises per year.
While team members do spend time in the
classroom, the core of the program is practicing
rappeling techniques. Thomas Clewe
and his team spend most of their practice
time on the tower in the saltern area
which offers a variety of rescue exercise options.
Other “playgrounds” include the over
70-meter high extraction shaft I and the
mine head building at shaft II which is used
both for manwinding (i.e. lowering miners
into the shaft) and material haulage for mining
operations.
But other training locations are also used
and provide valuable experience in different
settings. This year, for example, the team
took part in a spectacular training exercise
at the over 60-meter high Tetrahedron in
Bottrop.
The Tetrahedron is a viewing platform in the
shape of three-sided pyramid on a hill near
Bottrop in Germany‘s Ruhr valley industrial
area. The 60-meter wide steel construction,
which opened in 1994, sits atop a 120-meter
coal mining tip on 10-meter high concrete
pillars separating it from the ground. When
it is illuminated at night, the Tetrahedron
seems to almost float in the air.
Also appearing to float between the sky
and the ground below was the basket with
which the rope team rescued an “injured
person” from the Ruhr valley landmark.
What a thrill! The Borth-based rope rescuers
have once again prepared themselves
for a real rescue mission – an eventuality
that Thomas Clewe is happy not to have experienced
so far. (uha)
Burj Khalifa
818.75 m
Statue of Liberty
92.99 m
Shaft tower
70 m
Eiffel Tower
325 m
Shaft II
700 m
Cologne
Cathedral
157 m
From the highest tower to
the lowest depths
K+S rope rescuers could rescue an injured
person from the Statue of Liberty with their
ropes alone which are roughly 100 meters
long. If required,even, they are able to provide
assistance at much greater distances. After all,
shaft II could easily accommodate two Eiffel
towers and very nearly the highest building in
the world, the Burj Khalifa. For distances such
as these, however, the rescuers use motorized
hoisting winches with steel cables.
pull firmly on both ends of the rope. The figure-eight knot is finished and the
carabiner can be placed in the loop.

22 23
WORKING ARBEITEN / TRAVAILLER / TRABAJAR / TRABALHARR
THE GIANTS
OF ZIELITZ
They weigh more than 120 tons and, in the dim subterranean
light, resemble massive primeval beasts. We are talking about
the MB770 continuous miner (a bolter miner), and the MT520
tunneling miner (a tunneling roadheader).
S
ince this summer, these impressive new arrivals
have been put to work at the Zielitz potash Mine.
The company invested millions – and created an
additional 49 jobs. With cutting heads made of hardened
steel, the two behemoths have been eating their
way through the raw salt since their arrival. previously,
the Zielitz Mine had extracted the valuable raw material
by means of drilling and blasting.
» The goal is to cut through up
to 1,500 meters per year with the
two machines. «
The new heavyweights have a decisive advantage:
they’re faster. “They cut through a lot more ground, as
we say in the mine,” says project manager Ralf Hegemann,
a mining engineer at Zielitz. The goal is to cover
up to 1,500 meters per year. By way of comparison, K+S
was able to cover only half of this distance with drilling
and blasting.
The company invested 14 million euros. Test drives and
training will continue until the end of the year. Regular
operation will start at the beginning of 2012.
The machines were originally designed for bituminous
coal mining and were modified specifically for K+S. “We
worked closely with K+S to meet the special requirements
of potash and salt mining,” says André Jakobs,
sales manager at the manufacturer Sandvik in Essen,
Germany. (uha)
Here’s how they cut through
A four-tunnel system with grid lengths of 180 meters is planned. The diagram below
shows two tunnels as an example. Conventional drilling and blasting is still used at Zielitz.
10 m cutting width
Mining direction
MB770
continuous miner
7 m cutting width
The tunneling miner (photo) is more maneuverable than the continuous
miner. It expands the precut profile and cuts access roads.
cuTTing Head
Adjustable, with cutters made from specially
hardened steel spaced 76 mm apart.
TH540
dump truck
Dust extraction (air-ducting system), up to 450 m
1
SCoop 1/2011
Transformer
Converts the voltage of the power source (6 kV)
to the 1 kV operating voltage for the machinery.
SCoop 1/2011
6 kV mine
grid power
line
6 kV
transformer
1 The continuous miner cuts a linear, 2 The tunneling miner expands the tunnel
MT520
Cable drum Air-ducting system
3 A dump truck transports the
4
7 m wide path into the salt.
to 10 m and cuts the cross connections.
tunneling miner
raw salt to the dump location.
How the two machines complement each other
The continuous miner creates a rectangular profile with a tunnel width of
7.2 meters and a maximum cutting height of 5.3 meters. The tunneling
MB770
continuous miner
Unloading location with conveyor belt
Dedusting plant
2 4
3
TH540
dump truck
5m cutting height
air-condiTioned conTrol sTaTion
Ensures stress-free work in spite of the high
ambient temperature.
In the dedusting plant, the salt dust
is separated using filters.
miner broadens this profile to a tunnel width of 8 to 10 meters and a
height of up to 7.1 meters. It also adds a vaulted ceiling to the profile.
MT520 tunneling miner
Fresh air
Exhaust air
7m cutting height
dry dedusTing
Directs the suctioned dust through an air-ducting
system to the dedusting plant outside of the work area.
Technical specifications
of the continuous miner
General
Total length ......................................................................................17.100 mm
Total width (transport) ...............................................................5.940 mm
Total height (transport) .............................................................4.200 mm
Weight .......................................................................................... Approx. 128 t
Power (1 kV, 50 Hz) ...............................................................................790 kW
Bearing load .......................................................................................30 N/cm²
Cutting system
Cutting height ................................................................4.900 – 5.300 mm
Cutting width ................................................................ 6.700 – 7.200 mm
Cutting profile ............................................................................Rectangular
Cutter placement (spacing) ............................................................76 mm
Drum diameter ............................................................................... 1.200 mm
Drum speed .........................................................................................32.4 rpm
» We were all
impressed when
we first saw the
size of the
machinery. But
of course, all that
power has to come
from somewhere. «
Holger Kohlhauser,
Zielitz II Head of
Development.
Photos: Straub/K+S (2) Graphic: KircherBurkhardt Infografik

24 Scoop
Learning Lernen / apprendre / aprender / aprender
Multifaceted and valuable
There are many stories
about salt – exciting
and surprising
tales, useful and
delicious ones.
We present six
examples in which
“white gold” plays
a leading role.
Salt is much more than just a spice that
makes our breakfast eggs and dinner
soups more tasty. Salt is part of our
cultural heritage. It has changed the course
of history, appeared in films, and plays an indispensable
role in human health. But salt
is and always will be a classic in the kitchen,
as demonstrated once again by our recipe.
Have fun cooking! (cbe)
everyday uSeS of Salt,
then and now
reStoring the Shine
to tarniShed Silver
Salt is great for cleaning tarnished silver.
Simply place your silver in a container
with a few snippets of aluminum foil,
add a spoonful of cooking salt and hot
water and stir. The chemical reaction
that takes place will restore
the shine to your silverware
in just minutes. Give it
a try!
Salt in the kitchen
give alMondS an extra je ne SaiS quoi
“Salted almonds” recipe
Ingredients: 200 g unpeeled almonds
2 liters of vegetable oil for frying
1 teaspoon rock salt
1 teaspoon spicy or sweet paprika
Fry the almonds in hot vegetable
oil (180° Celsius) for 2 to 3
minutes.
SerieS:
salt as a
cultural
good
Salt in hiStory
how the indianS Marched
385 kiloMeterS with gandhi
It was Gandhi’s most spectacular action in India‘s struggle for
independence from Great Britain: the 385 kilometer salt march in
1930 from his ashram near Ahmedabad to Dandi on the Arabian Sea.
When he arrived, Gandhi raised a lump of salt to demonstrate his
defiance of the British salt monopoly. He called on his fellow country
people to join his campaign of civil disobedience. Many heeded the
call, not only making a statement of opposition but giving impetus
to a movement that would end British rule in India. The principles of
truth and non-violence that Gandhi espoused have made him a role
model for many people ever since.
Remove from oil and drain briefly. Place
in strainer and sprinkle with rock salt and
paprika. Shake until the almonds are well
covered by the spices.
The almonds taste
best fresh and
slightly
warm.
Salt and health
breathing free
with Salt
The value of salt in treating
respiratory problems has long been
recognized. In spas such as Bad
Salzungen, Bad Sooden-Allendorf
or Bad Oeynhausen, graduation
houses alleviate what ails welcome
relief guests as brine drizzles over
bundles of sticks in a wooden
frame, raising the salt concentration
in the air – a godsend for the
nose and bronchial tubes.
1/2011
film and literature
Morton Salt
driveS away SpiritS
In the film “The Spiderwick Chronicles,”
Morton Salt is the last defense
against goblins that haunt a
house in the woods. Only the salt
from the dispenser and a portion
of tomato sauce keep the goblins
at bay. Together with their mother,
Jared, Simon, and Mallory move
into the old house of their greatgreat
uncle Arthur Spiderwick and
soon find themselves embroiled in
an exciting fantasy adventure. The
film by director Mark Waters is
based on the book by Holly Black
and is an absolute must for saltlovers
everywhere.
Salt and belief
Metaphor froM
the bible
“Ye are the salt of the earth:
but if the salt have lost his
savor, wherewith shall it be
salted? It is thenceforth good
for nothing, but to be cast out,
and to be trodden under foot
of men.” In this verse from the
Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
compares Christians to the
valuable good of salt. Beyond
the religious meaning of these
words, this comparison from
the Bible also demonstrates
the immense importance of
salt at that time.
Photos: Universal Pict.Int.Ger./Cinetext, Morton Salt, ullstein bild, Stadt Bad Sooden-Allendorf, Getty Images/Thinkstock (3)

Photos: Aldo Fontana
Sharing Teilen / parTager / comparTir / comparTilhar
Alex Adones with a shovel excavator. He supervises the transportation of thousands of tons of salt.
His colleagues say that you’ll almost
never find Alex Adones without two
things: a good mood and the desire
to progress. If you ask him to describe
himself, he would say, “I see myself as an
uncomplicated person who enjoys setting
goals for himself.”
Alex Adones is 34 years old. For six years
now he has been working as a supervisor for
bulk materials for the international division
(División Internacional) of Sociedad Punta
de Lobos (SPL). He oversees the unloading of
salt shipped by Empremar – a subsidiary of
SPL – to the Port of San Vicente in the Chilean
city of Talcahuano. The salt comes from
the north of Chile, near the city of Iquique
where the company’s mines are located.
There, in the “Salar Grande” salt flats of the
Tarapacá Desert, SPL extracts open-case mining
for rock salt. The deposit has enough
reserves to supply the world’s population
for hundreds of years. In order to keep deliveries
of this valuable commodity coming
both now and in the future 700 people are
employed by SPL in Chile.
Alex Adones is one of them. He is in charge
of ensuring that the salt is sent on,
punctually and in the best quality, to four
large-scale customers in the region who
each consume 2,000 to 8,000 tons every
month. Alex supervises the loading of the
trucks and he processes the transports.
“It’s my job to ensure that everything runs
smoothly,” he says. “And if something gets
stuck somewhere then I do my best to solve
the problem without causing any new
ones in the process,” he adds with a smile.
Alex was born and raised near San Vicente
25
salt and tHe
tHirst for knowledge
Alex Adones is a bulk salt supervisor for SPL,
a subsidiary of K+S in Chile. At the Port of San
Vicente, he ensures that the right amounts of
salt are sent off to customers on time. His
greatest dream is to visit all the company’s sites
in order to increase his knowledge.
in the city of Concepción which is the
center of the country’s second most important
economic region. He and his three
brothers spent their childhood amidst
crates of vegetables and grain. “My parents
only completed elementary school because
they had to start working very early on,” he
says. “And they’re still working today.”
Engineering education
Alex’s two elder brothers have continued
the family business. “I started on that road
too,” he says, “but when I was 20 I knew
that I wanted to do something different so
I started a technical training program in the
chemical industry.” His parents supported
him in these efforts while Alex continued
to help out at the market. He worked during
the day and studied at night. Five years later,
he had just Continued on PAge 26 >>

26 27
SHAring teiLen / PArtAger / CoMPArtir / CoMPArtiLHAr
the Port of San Vicente de talcahuano, where
empremar’s ships unload the salt they have brought
from iquique in the north of the country.
finished his training and was working at a
water-testing lab when a friend told him
about SPL’s Talcahuano facility. They were
looking for someone to run analyses at
their lab. “That’s how I came to the company,”
he recalls. “I was responsible for authorizing
the end product and meeting all the
regulations. I liked the work right from the
start.” But Alex wasn’t finished with learning,
so he completed a second degree as a
chemical engineer (Ingeniería de Ejecución
Química). And as if the desert salt causes a
veritable thirst for knowledge, he also embarked
on an economic engineering program
this year.
» I can’t start studying
until the children are
in bed. And none of this
would be possible without
my wife Carolina. «
For a father of three children – Javier (7),
Alex Benjamín (3) and Josefa Ignacia (1 ½)
– studying is not always easy of course. “I
can’t start studying until the children are in
bed,” he says. “And without my wife Carolina,
who gives me a lot of support, none of
this would be possible.”
His life and dreams
When he’s not working or studying, Alex
spends as much time as possible with his
children and with other people he is close
to. “I try to spend time with all the people
I’m fond of,” he says. That naturally includes
his parents whom he regularly visits
both at home and at the market as well as
friends with whom he plays soccer and enjoys
barbecues. Alex also loves traveling. “I
used to work for part of the school holidays
Alex’s mother
elizabeth and
younger brother
Cristopher at his
parents’ home.
Alex with his wife Carolina and his two
younger children, Josefa and Alex Benjamín,
in the living room of their new house.
TalcahuaNo
Port center
between
two bays
Talcahuano, one of Chile’s
major port centers, thanks
to its location between
two bays, is near the city
of Concepción. Meaning
“thundering sky,” Talcahuano
is named after Talcahueñu,
a Mapuche Indio
who was a great warrior
against the Spaniards. In
port cities like Talcahuano,
sea lions like to come on
shore to be fed or swim
near fish markets to eat
what lands in the water.
Scoop 1/2011
This is my homeland
With not quite 17 million inhabitants, Chile has a relatively small
population. It is rich in natural resources and impressive landscapes
which include the driest desert in the world as well as the
green region of Patagonia in the far south.
and then for the rest of the time I set out
with a backpack and hitchhiked throughout
all of Chile and neighboring areas too
– in the south to Isla de Chiloé, in the north
to Machu Pichu in Peru.”
Despite his job, studies and family, Alex
cannot imagine life without traveling.
“What I’d most love to do is travel throug-
INFO
31
31
INFO
31
INFO
31
31
hout the entire world of K+S and get to
know all the sites. I’d like to know how they
work, and then use the knowledge to improve
some things here. That would be my
dream!” (cbe)
further information on the chilean
subsidiary sociedad Punta de lobos:
http://www.spl.cl/
K+S
Scoop 1/2011
NaTural
woNder
tHe laja falls
veranstalltung mehr info
The Río de La Laja has
its source in the Andes
and empties into the Río
Biobío. Along its course, it
has to bridge a drop of 35
portal meters Intranet which has produced
the four spectacular
waterfalls in Laja. Visitors
can view them from below,
from the shore of the now
calmly flowing river or
from a vantage point on a
bridge above.
internet
Alex and his
father david
Adones who
sells groceries
and grain from
an old bus at
the market in
talcahuano.
coNcepcióN
a city tHat
always recovers
The official name of
this university town
is “La Concepción de
María Purísima del
Nuevo Extremo.” It has
212,000 inhabitants, with
approximately another
800,000 people in the
outlying areas. The metropolitan
area is Chile’s
second most important
commercial center. In
more than 450 years
of recorded history, Concepción
has been hit several times by
earthquakes. For safety reasons,
the buildings are now made of
reinforced concrete. Many people
also live in wooden dwellings because
this material can withstand
earthquakes better than stone.
Salar grande de tarapacá
Map Location
Chile
Chile is 4,270 kilometers long, a narrow country bordered on one side by the
Pacific Ocean and on the other by the Andes. The northern part of the country
has a dry desert climate. This is where SPL’s salt mines are, in the Salar of Tarapacá
which is one of the largest salt deposits on our planet. It can meet the
worldwide need for sodium chloride for at least one thousand years.
The part of San Vicente de Talcahuano where the ships of the SPL - owned
company Empremar land - lies in the middle of the country with a moderate
climate and clearly defined seasons (summer, fall, winter, and spring).
The southern part of Chile also has a moderate climate, with high levels of
rainfall and low temperatures in the winter.
Force oF NaTure
the tsunami
swept boats
from the port
into the city.
earthquake and tsunami – natural
disaster of February 27, 2010
There hadn’t been such a strong earthquake for fifty years.
It could be felt 1,000 kilometers away.
At 3:34 am on February 27, 2010,
Chile was hit by an earthquake of
8.8 on the Richter Scale – one of the
six strongest quakes ever registered
in the world. The epicenter was 150
kilometers from Concepción and
Talcahuano and the quake caused
a major tsunami in the coastal
regions. A total of 525 people died in
the country. According to NASA, the
earthquake shifted the city of Concepción
3.04 meters to the west.
A big wave hit the SPL facility in
Talcahuano and destroyed part of its
building. Fortunately no lives were
lost at the company.
No rain in sight: The Salar Grande
salt flat in Tarapacá
More than 500 square kilometers
– a surface area equivalent to the
Czech capital Prague – is the size
of the Salar Grande de Tarapacá
in the Atacama Desert. A driedup
salt sea, it shows no moisture
even at its lowest point. Covered
by a thin layer of soil, it has a
bed of rock salt up to 100 meters
thick. The salt is mined by blasting,
and operations are very low-cost.
Another advantage is that all the
work can be done in the open air, it
is not for nothing that the Atacama
Desert is known as the “driest
desert in the world.” It never rains
in this part of northern Chile.
Photos: Aldo Fontana (5), Bildstelle, Gianni Muratore / Alamy, F1online, Caballero/Reuters, K+S Grafics: KircherBurkhardt Infografik

28 Sharing 29
Teilen / parTager / comparTir / comparTilhar Scoop 1/2011
Scoop 1/2011
A cAreer vein thAt runs
through the Ages
Grandfather, mother, and son – three generations of one
family have done their professional training at K+S in Neuhof.
Fifty years ago, a special training initiative was launched
at the site – reason enough for a special look back.
W
hen the Krack family in Kalbach gathers
around the long table in their living room,
they all have the same favorite topic of discussion
– the potash plant. That’s no wonder K+S is the
largest employer in Neuhof, a municipality in the east
of the German state of Hesse. Nearly everyone here
has a family member who is or has been employed by
the company. But the Krack family has a very special
connection to mining. For the potash plant is a family
tradition. Each of the last three generations, one of
their members has been trained and then gone on to
work there. This means the family has a very good idea
of how professional training programs have devel-oped
over the decades.
When grandfather Rudolf Krack started his apprenticeship
as a miner in 1953, he didn’t know what to expect.
A trained shoemaker, he was one of the first to learn
about mining in Neuhof-Ellers. “We didn’t have classroom
lessons on theory together with practical training
in the mine – we learned by doing,” he recalls. The underground
route had to be extended, rails had to be laid,
and all of that often in a tunnel barely one meter high.
» We didn’t have theory in
the classroom and practical
training in the mine –
we learned by doing in. «
Despite that, Rudolf Krack always enjoyed the work.
He liked the honest, sometimes rough manner of the
foremen. In the pit, he was trained in a very hands-on
way by the more advanced apprentices, and in 1957
he passed his miner’s test. He would have gone
on working for many more years had he not been
seriously injured in a work accident in 1967. That
meant he could do only light physical work for K+S
until his retirement.
His daughter-in-law Andrea always knew that she
wanted to work at the Neuhof-Ellers site. “I lived
only 200 meters away,” she says. “And my father was
a miner here too.” In the 1970s, the application process
the grandfather
AlWAys liked
going to Work
Rudolf Krack (80) has an old acetylene
lamp in his cellar from his mining days.
He can still explain how it works. “If
the matches ran out in the pit, it was
the mother
trAining 200 meters
from her pArents’
home
the son
kept right on going
from trAining to studies
Even as a youngster Philipp Krack (24) always
enjoyed being at the site. It meant he could
join in when his mother and grandfather
talked about technical matters yet again. He
realized early on that he wanted to do his
apprenticeship at K+S. Because he especially
liked repairing and maintaining machines,
he completed a program as an industrial mechanic
after receiving his high school diploma
(Abitur). He enjoyed the training program so
much that he kept right on going, namely
by starting a degree program in mechanical
engineering in Kassel sponsored by K+S. He is
now studying hard and spending his semester
breaks at the potash plant. Upon completion
of his studies he wants to become a project
director, which means he’ll have even more to
tell his grandfather and mother.
was brief and uncomplicated. After submitting a written
application she had an interview with the head of
personnel and immediately was told she could start.
Her practical training as an office administrator took
her through all of the departments at the site and she
also traveled regularly to the vocational school in Fulda
for external instruction. The bookkeeping department
was what she liked best and that is where she got a position
after her final exams. She now works in the secretarial
office for the site director.
» Three years later Philipp Krack
wanted to keep going so he enrolled
in a K+S work-study program
to become an engineer. «
The experiences of his grandfather and mother so fascinated
young Philipp Krack that he started doing holiday
jobs at the site as a youngster. Soon he decided to
become an industrial mechanic. After receiving his high
school diploma, he applied for a training program. He
was invited to take a test that lasted several hours and
then a practical aptitude test. The personnel director
and department director as well a works council representative
were at his interview. Only four were accepted
for the apprenticeship – one was Philipp Krack. He
enjoyed the instruction and liked the training director.
“Seminars, further education – we were offered a lot
of opportunities,” he says with relish. Three years later
he would have been given a job, but he wanted
to keep going so he enrolled in an engineering
program sponsored by K+S. He is studying me-
chanical engineering while continuing to work
at the Neuhof-Ellers site during the semester
breaks. After receiving his bachelor‘s degree, he
will be assigned to projects at K+S. “I won’t be
working as a tradesman but my activities will
certainly continue to be very interesting,” he
says.
The son, the mother, and the grandfather have
experienced very different ways of training in
different eras. Asked whether they would advise
young people today to enter a program
at K+S, all three give the same answer: “It’s a
good education and you have very good
chances of being accepted for a job afterwards
and remaining connected
for many years.” These qualities are
due to the special training initiative
launched at the Neuhof-Ellers
potash plant 50 years ago. At a
celebration to mark the occasion,
the 46 current apprentices showed
their skills – to guests including
the instructors from half a century
ago. (uha)
(2) private Stadtfeld, P. Christian Meyer, Heiko Photos:
If someone like Andrea Krack (51) lives
only 200 meters from a potash plant
and her father is also a miner there, it
makes sense to join the company too.
A combined program of theory and
practice had already been instituted
by the time she did her training as an
office administrator from 1975 to 1978.
So she attended the vocational school
Rudolf Krack at the
gatekeeper’s office in 1981.
in Fulda in addition to gaining familiarity
with all the commercial departments
at the site. She quickly realized
completely dark,” he says. The lack of
that bookkeeping was what she did
daylight, the different air conditions,
and the limited space never deterred
best. Following her exams, she was
given a job and after two maternity
Blending the theoretical
him. “I always liked going to work,
leaves could return to work part-time
and looked forward to being with my
without any difficulties. “K+S is a good
with the practical
colleagues,” he recalls. A native of
employer,” she says. “We’d miss it if
Kalbach, he originally planned to make
they weren’t here.”
K+S has 645 apprentices working in 15 different vo-
his living as a shoemaker. But business
cations in Germany. All these young people benefit
did not go well, so he started a new
Andrea Krack
career path in 1957. Drilling, laying
during her
from the country’s regulated and often-copied
rails, blasting – at that time there was
training in 1975.
vocational training system. During the apprenti-
no special training for this. Rudolf
ceship, career beginners acquire all they need via
Krack learned it all on the job in the
a program which blends theoretical lessons in a
pit. He never regretted coming to K+S
classroom setting with practical training on the
and remained loyal to the company
job. In the first year of the program, all students
through to retirement.
are also given instruction in communication and
team-working skills. For those wanting academic
qualification, the company also offers three
Take a look: At the 50th anniversary celebration of the
programs leading to a bachelor’s degree. These
training initiative, today’s apprentices showed their skills. schemes incorporate a university curriculum with
professional experience at a K+S site. Outside of
Germany, the company has so far not offered very
many apprenticeships.

30 Scoop
sharing teilen / partager / compartir / compartilhar
What do you
serve over the holidays?
IquIque, ChIle
» We alWays have hot
chocolate at christmas «
There are six of us in my family: my husband Sergio
González Tejerina and myself, our daughters
Faviola and Javiera, and our pets Frieden and
Chiroy. Christmas is a very special holiday for
us – it’s a joyful occasion and celebrated with
many lights. Many Chilean families serve a
stuffed turkey for their Christmas meal. We
have a different family tradition: we serve hot
chocolate, a torta de galletas, which is a cookielike
cake with a nut and mocha cream filling,
pan de Pascua, a Chilean Christmas cake, and
queque de Pascua, a kind of fruit bread. And my
younger daughter bakes Christmas cookies.
mónica victoria soto silva, sPl, iquique, chile
1/2011
Over the holidays, not every K+S employee will be eating the delicious gingerbread cookies – mini scoops–
that you see here. But there are many ways to celebrate the holiday season. So we asked around:
sao Paulo, BrasIl
» We alWays have my mother’s
famous farofa «
sasKatoon, Canada
» i’ll be in the Kitchen at 6 a.m. «
Both my sons arrived here with their families a few days
ago. I’m expecting between 18 and 25 guests – family and
friends – for Christmas. We’ll be having a feast: turkey with
roasted bacon, along with red cabbage, seasonal vegetables,
and many other dishes. Afterwards, we’ll have a vinatarta,
which is an Icelandic cake, plus Christmas cookies, pudding,
and oranges ... I’ll be in the kitchen at 6 a.m. – but for me, it’s all a
part of the holiday. A very merry Christmas to all my colleagues!
naomi Peters, K+s Potash canada, saskatoon, canada
Kassel, Germany
» We looK forWard to seeinG
each other all year lonG «
On Christmas Eve, after the tree has been trimmed
and we’ve gone to the evening church service, we
come home to our traditional meal of sausages and
warm potato salad. After dinner, we exchange gifts.
At that point, we’re still just a small group but over
the course of the following days, the rest of the family
joins us. We look forward to seeing each other all year
long, as we’re scattered all over the place.
uwe fischer, ellermann & hoff Gmbh fachunternehmen
für Werkschutz c/o K+s aG, Kassel, Germany
PhIlIPPsthal,
Germany
» there’s time for
everyone and time
for conversation «
Our family is scattered far and
wide, but not at Christmastime.
And what do we eat? Raclette with
a variety of treats, so everyone can
grill whatever they like with the
cheese. It’s our favorite holiday
meal because it’s so sociable and
cozy; the meal is so varied, and it
takes time to prepare and eat, so
you have a lot of time to spend at
the table with everyone there. Even
the preparation is something you
all do together. If it snows as well,
the mood is perfect!
dr. rainer Gerling, K+s Kali Gmbh,
Philippsthal, Germany
la PaZ, BolIvIa/Kassel, Germany
» a huGe family celebration –
no matter Where «
If we’re in Bolivia, my mother prepares a traditional Christmas
meal of Picana Navideña, a dish made from lamb, pork, chicken,
vegetables, and wine. It’s unbelievably delicious! However, if
we’re celebrating in Germany, my father-in-law is in charge of
the meal. Even though it seems like it’s all about the food, for
us Christmas is really about celebrating being together with the
people you love. Feliz Navidad!
hugo bascopé, K+s aG, Kassel, Germany
My mother puts a huge leg of pork into the oven. The pork is
(6)
first marinated overnight and then covered with bacon and
green olives. It then goes into the oven where it is braised for
private
a number of hours. Along with that, we usually eat potato
(7),
salad – made from potatoes, olives, and a good helping of
mayonnaise – and her famous farofa, which is made from
manioc flour and then fried together with onions, garlic,
bacon, cabanossi, and green olives. As you can tell, my family
loves their bacon and olives! We usually serve beer or soda,
KircherBurkhardt
but ever since I’ve returned from Germany, we also serve
wine. Bom apetite!
fabiane dias da motta, K+s brasileira, sao Paulo, brasil Photos:

Photos: Deutsches Salzmuseum (4)
Scoop 1/2011
Journey To The world of salT
Germany is home to
one of the most unique
salt museums in the
world. It makes the fascinating
history of salt
come alive. Scoop
introduces this museum.
T
he world’s largest salt mining areas
are neighbors at the Salzmuseum
[Salt Museum] in Lüneburg. In just
a few minutes, visitors can get an idea of
how salt is produced in China, the USA,
Germany, and elsewhere. A modern multimedia
table is what makes this journey
of discovery possible. As museum director
Dr. Christian Lamschus explains, “The great
thing about it is that everybody can take
their own individual trip through the world
of salt.” To demonstrate, he touches one of
the 34 salt crystals on an interactive map
of the globe. Each crystal represents a selected
salt-mining area somewhere in the
world. The crystal that he touches begins to
glow while virtual grains of salt sprinkle to
great effect onto an informational display
that includes images, texts, and videos of
the respective mining area. Around 180 different
sets of information about salt works
and mines can be accessed in this way, in
both German and English. This multimedia
Salt crystals on the interactive “salt table,”
which was sponsored by a 150,000-euro
donation from K+S.
table was made possible by the
largest salt producer in the
world. That’s right – K+S.
But the “salt table”
is not the only
highlight of
the museum
which is
visited every
year by up to
70,000 people
from
around the
world. With
exhibits in
three buildings,
the
A museum employee
in a salt worker’s costume
from the Middle
Ages works with a
historical salt pan.
Germany’s amazing Salt
Museum: Visitors walk through
a freight car (right) to enter the
large display hall featuring a block
of rock salt weighing six tons.
museum invites visitors to explore the fascinating
history of salt from the Middle Ages
on into the 20th century. A bubbling brine
spring, old pump machinery, and salt-boiling
huts come to life in combination with
modern videos and interactive displays. Visitors
are no mere observers. Among other
things, they can boil salt themselves.
“Our motto is ‛See, smell, feel, and taste for
yourself,’” says museum director Lamschus.
And this is a prize-winning approach. The
Lüneburg Salt Museum won the
Museum Award from the Council
of Europe in recognition of
its “hands-on” quality.
The Salt Museum is situated
on the premises of the former
Lüneburg Salt Works (Lüneburger Saline).
Built in 1924, its boiling facility is a historical
monument and can be visited. “It is the only
museum in Germany devoted exclusively to
» Our motto is
›See, smell, feel, and taste
for yourself‹ «
salt,” notes Lamschus. For over a millennium,
salt dominated not only the history
of this city in northern Germany. The salt
works was Europe’s largest producer of salt
from the Middle Ages to the early modern
era. (uha)
31

32 Scoop
fun page bunTe seiTe / page de fin / página en color / ÚlTima página
Picture Puzzle
Spot the difference
You shouldn’t let
Santa Claus lead
you onto thin ice
and the same
goes for Mrs.
Claus: There are
ten differences
between the
pictures. Where
are they?
how do you
like scoop?
let us know.
Quickly. it
could pay off…
The new Scoop has been
created with you in mind.
The editorial staff is very interested
in finding out what
you like and don’t like about
the magazine, what you
would like to see, and what
you especially enjoy about it.
Send us your feedback – and
don’t delay. The first 100 submissions
we receive will be
included in a drawing with
a fantastic prize: an original
model of the new tunneling
miner from sandvik at a scale
of 1:50. Send your letter to
the address at the bottom of
this page. The postmark date
of the letter will apply for
inclusion in the drawing.
original
These days, santa claus is sure to make a stop in south Korea. but if dozens of women show up as mrs. claus on ice
skates, they just might be amusement park employees. Take a closer look…
The doctored photo
did
you know
that…
the survey
1/2011
15o kg
is canada’s annual per capita consumption
of the substance discussed
on page 16? in germany, that figure is
19 kg per person and season.
1.5
kilometers is the length of the 210-ton
pipes of the structure described on
page 21.
5,496
square kilometers is the drainage
area of the river after which the K+s
potash combined plant is named.
more on page 8.
What I
always wanted
to know…
now it’s your turn: We want
to read something written by
you, the employees of the K+S
Group. This time around, we
are posing the questions, in
the future you will see not only
your answers but your questions
as well.
How will that work?
Do you have a funny answer
to our question? Then send a
postcard to the Scoop editorial
office (see the imprint for the
address) or send an e-mail to
scoop@k-plus-s.com.
The most original answers will
be printed in the next issue,
and anyone who sends in an
answer can suggest the next
question.
Our questIOn:
What expression is
especially unsuitable at
the start of a workday?
What is the last thing
you want to hear when
you arrive at the plant
or pass through the
turnstile – and why?
And remember: there’s
no need to be serious.
imPrint
publisher: K+S Aktiengesellschaft editor-in-chief: Christin Bernhardt (cbe) editorial staff: Uwe Handke (uha), Andreas Köster (akö), Jennifer Merten (jme), Michael Wudonig
(mwu) phone: +49 561 9301-1424 fax: +49 561 9301-1666 e-mail: SCOOP@k-plus-s.com internet: www.k-plus-s.com address: K+S Aktiengesellschaft, Kommunikation und
Medien, Bertha-von-Suttner-Straße 7, 34131 D-Kassel photo editing, layout and production: KircherBurkhardt GmbH printed by: Werbedruck GmbH Horst Schreckhase,
Spangenberg circulation: 23,500
Photos: Kim Jae-Hwan/AFP/Getty Images (2), 3PR/Sandvik