Uralkali produces three main products: Granular, Pink MOP and White MOP, all of which are potash products:

• Granular is a premium product used mainly in countries with more advanced fertilizing application methods. Granulation slows down the absorption of fertilizer nutrients into the soil and thus prolongs the action of fertilisers. It is primarily used for agricultural purposes. Uralkali Granular is primarily sold to Brazil and also to countries such as the USA and China where it is then supplied for direct application to the ground or mechanically blended with nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers and sold at a premium to other potash products
• Pink MOP is a pink coloured potash product. Pink MOP is available as a single standard product and has potassium levels very similar to Granular. It is primarily used for agricultural purposes. It is applied directly to the ground and is primarily sold to China, India and Southeast Asia
• White MOP is a white coloured potash product. White MOP is available as White Standard (which is the standard White MOP product) and White Fine (which is White MOP with a slightly higher level of potassium purity). Uralkali's White MOP is primarily used for agricultural purposes, including NPK compound fertilizer. White MOP is primarily sold to China, Russia and to countries in the EEA

WMOP (white)

• White MOP is created in Uralkali's chemical enrichment plants using sylvinite ore, which is a type of potash ore
• Sylvinite ore is transported by trucks and by conveyor to the chemical enrichment plants where it is crushed for subsequent processes. It is then crushed to the correct size for the next stage. The crushed sylvinite ore is mixed with a "mother liquor", a solution of magnesium chloride and potassium chloride, to undergo a process called leaching
• The mother liquor dissolves the salt from the sylvinite ore, leaving a higher concentration of potassium chloride in a slurry form. The salt waste is removed and pumped to a separate chamber where it has the mother liquor removed from it. The mother liquor is then pumped back to a leaching chamber
• The useful slurry that is created from the leaching process is clarified in a hot thickening agent, that separates and removes waste clay and salt slimes, leaving a hot thickened liquid. Some of the waste from this clarification process, which still contains a useful amount of potassium chloride, is pumped back to a leaching chamber to recover more of the potassium chloride
• The hot thickened liquid is introduced into a crystallization system, where it is flash cooled and subjected to a further crystallization processes. This process creates a further refined slurry of potash crystals which is dried with hydrocyclones and product centrifuges to produce a "cake" of potash
• The cake is conveyed to a fuel oil and natural gas drum dryer for final water removal. The, final product, dried White MOP contains less than 0.2% moisture by weight.

PMOP (pink)

• Pink MOP is produced at Uralkali's flotation enrichment plants
• Once the potash ore is extracted, most of it is transported by conveyor belt to the nearest production facility, where it is crushed in preparation for subsequent processing
• Once it is crushed to the correct size it is ready for the next stage. The crushed potash ore is deslimed, a process in which fine materials such as clays and sand are separated from the potash ore by agitation in hydrocyclone machines
• The desliming process is completed by placing the partially cleaned potash ore in a flotation machine in which certain chemicals create bubbles that stick to the particles of potassium chloride and float those particles to the top of the mixture for separation
• The resulting foamy mixture is cleaned in flotation machines three times to increase the concentration of potassium chloride. High moisture levels in potash result in lump formation in storage and transportation and the destruction of the granular structure
• To reduce moisture content to 5%, Uralkali uses separators, vacuum filters and furnaces. Further drying in vertical pipe dryers at high temperatures reduces moisture from 5% to approximately 0.1%
• The potash is then treated with chemicals to help prevent the potash particles from lumping together and also to help prevent the production of dust upon application of the Pink MOP to the soil

GMOP (granular)

• The process for making Granular potash is identical to that used in the production of Pink MOP, up to the end of the final drying stage
• At this point, instead of being prepared for shipment, the dried potash powder is compressed into flakes using roller presses at a pressure of 250 atmospheres
• Granules of the correct size are separated through sieves. They are then treated to remove sharp edges and cracks and are hardened in furnaces to increase their strength. The resulting granules are treated with chemicals to help prevent them from lumping together and also to help prevent production of dust upon application to the soil
• Uralkali currently produces Granular as an add-on process to its production of Pink MOP, but if demand for Granular continues to grow, Uralkali may adapt its White MOP production lines to make Granular, in the future

To learn more about Uralkali's production see Capacity additions