Potash Corp. Mine Fire Traps Workers

(Due to a publishing format issue, this story was republished from 1:00 PM EST)

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) is seeing its shares hold up rather well compared to a few headlines on Dow Jones. A headline hit stating that 20 miners were trapped at a Potash Corp. mine in Saskatchewan followed by news that a fire took place there this morning.

No news has officially been released by Potash Corp. itself, but now it appears that 9 workers of the 29 workers were brought to surface and the rest are safe at refuge stations.

The full report is on NewsTalk650.com and it shows that at about 1:56 AM local time a fire broke out underground along the cable reel which is primarily made of wood.

The move has been very muted in Potash Corp. shares with a drop of only 0.5% to $43.56 aginst a 52-week range of $36.73 to $51.96. This does not sound like one those absolute disasters if the reports are accurate, but we have learned with any mining accident that these situations are not over until they are over. Sometimes they are not even over then as mine safety officials have to review and make recommendations on each situation.

Until the company releases formal details, we would consider this unfinished business.

JON C. OGG