Potash, << POT ash, >> is the commercial name for a group of salts containing the element potassium. The most important type of potash is potassium chloride (KCl), which is mainly used to make fertilizer. About 95 per cent of the potash that is processed throughout the world is refined for fertilizers. Potash is also used in the manufacture of soaps and detergents, glass, ceramics, textiles, dyes, chemicals, and drugs.
The mineral sylvite (naturally occurring potassium chloride) is the chief potash ore. Most potash ore is found in underground salt beds that formed when ancient seas evaporated. The deposits are usually obtained by a method of mining called the room-and-pillar system (see Mining (Underground mining methods) ). Potash also occurs in salt lakes. Potash is graded according to its potassium oxide (K2O) equivalent, a standard that measures potassium content. The (K2O) equivalent is also used to determine how much potash a mine will produce.
The term potash originally referred to potassium carbonate (K2CO3). Called pot ash, it was obtained by running water through wood ashes and boiling the resulting solution in iron pots. The United States imports two-thirds of its potash supply from Canada. Most of the potash produced in the United States comes from New Mexico.
