With Werra 2060, we are securing the supply of raw materials.
As the name suggests, the Werra 2060 transformation project will enable us to extract the reserves of the Werra potash deposit until 2060. We extend the operating life of the Werra plant, secure employment and value creation in the region in the long term, and at the same time reduce our carbon footprint. We are also contribute to securing Europe's raw materials supply. Our Werra plant produces about half of all potassium and magnesium fertilizers in the EU and can, therefore, cover a large part of European demand. To ensure that we can continue to do so in the future, we are investing €600 million in our largest German site.
We aim at making the production of high-value fertilizers competitive and future-proof in the long term. Werra 2060 takes into account both environmental challenges and market developments.

The Werra 2060 transformation project is a central component of the K+S corporate strategy. The project is being driven forward by the Company and the employee representatives in a spirit of social partnership. With Werra 2060, we are living up to our claim of being a pioneer in environmentally friendly and sustainable mining, as we have set out in our mission statement.
Dry processing and new mining method
The Werra integrated plant is setting a new standard in production and extraction for the Werra 2060 project. This achievement is made possible by technical innovations from K+S, which are set to be implemented at multiple sites in the coming years.
The Wintershall factory is set to undergo a transformation into a dry processing plant by 2027. K+S will be employing a process known as electrostatic separation (ESTA) to sort salt minerals in a dry state, eliminating the need for water. This established technology has now been significantly further developed. Consequently, the downstream energy- and water-intensive hot solution and flotation processes will be discontinued, marking a significant reduction in our energy and water consumption.
Find out more about our innovative ESTA process.
The Unterbreizbach factory is undergoing a transformation into a processing site, with a focus on the granulation of fine-grain potash produced at the Wintershall factory. The granulation plant is scheduled to operate for the duration of the project, providing a long-term perspective for the Unterbreizbach site until 2060. Additionally, the hot solution process will be discontinued at Unterbreizbach.
Extraction at the Unterbreizbach mine is projected to continue until 2040, at which point the deposits are expected to be fully depleted.Beginning mid-2027, the crude salt from the Unterbreizbach mine will be processed at the Hattorf and Wintershall factories. The Hattorf-Wintershall mine will implement a new mining method, known as secondary mining with dry backfilling. This method will grant K+S access to areas with high concentrations of mineral contents, leading to an increase in the total crude salt yield, and the quality of the final product. As part of this process, solid production residues from the ESTA in Wintershall are introduced into the excavation cavities, where they act as a stabilizing agent. This development enables the mining and processing of valuable crude salt present in the pillars, which previously remained in the mine.
Watch our new mining methods in the video.
We reduce residues and CO2 emissions
The production of raw materials inevitably has an impact on the environment. However, the transformation of potash production in the Werra district will significantly reduce these environmental effects in the future.The innovative combination of dry processing and secondary extraction offers three major benefits:
- Halving the volume of production water: Further development of ESTA technology will completely eliminate the need for wet processing in fertilizer production at the Wintershall and Unterbreizbach sites. Saline production water will no longer be generated at these sites. The total volume of production water that needs to be disposed of at the Werra plant will be reduced by around 50%. This will directly relieve the burden on the Werra river: K+S has agreed not to discharge any more production water into the river from 2028.
- An end to most tailings disposal: The new secondary mining process allows the solid residues from potash production to be returned to where they came from - the mine. Instead of being transported to the tailings pile, as in the past, they are used as backfill material. As a result, the size of the tailings pile at the Wintershall site will be reduced by around 90% from 2028, and the pile will almost cease to grow.
- Halving CO2 emissions: Compared to previous wet processing methods, the dry ESTA process has the advantage of using significantly less energy and eliminating the need to dry the product and residues. This greatly reduces the amount of steam needed, cutting CO2 emissions at the Wintershall and Unterbreizbach sites by about 50%.
Korn-KALI in proven quality
K+S will continue to stand for the reliability and proven quality of its fertilizers in the future and will ensure the supply of the German and European markets from domestic production.
With the increasing focus on dry production processes, K+S is further developing its portfolio of fertilizer specialties and will in future rely more strongly on the well-known and popular potassium and magnesium fertilizer with sulfur - Korn-KALI.
The only change is that the nutrient composition will change slightly from summer 2025 due to modified raw material composition and processing.