Potassium rich salts that are primarily used for fertilizer, potash is an increasingly important resource in the global economy. Formed from dried sea and lake beds, potash can be found in the Canadian prairies, Brazil, Belarus, and Germany. Potash, as a commodity, has had major fluctuations over the past 10 years, with prices moving up to $875 per tonne in February 2009 down to $245 per tonne in March 2020. Potash mining projects are typically large, requiring significant capital investments, but have long mine life and consistent revenues.
Typically considered as part of the oil and gas sector, oil sands projects also share a lot of similarities to the mining sector. For one, the exploration of oil sands projects follows similar paths as mining for base metals projects and valuations are based on how much oil is in the ground. Secondly, extracting oil sands can sometimes seem similar to the processing of base metals, where inputs such as energy, equipment, and chemicals must be used to extract the final product. While the oil sands projects in Canada have faced continued challenges due to low oil prices, for a long time, these projects have provided predictable revenues and growth for investors.