An II-mile, $20 million conveyor belt is under construction to transport potash from the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth’s surface, to a railhead from where it will be carried by train to the Mediterranean port of Ashdod for loading aboard ships bound for European and American markets. Potash is used primarily in agriculture and is Israel’s principal raw materials export.
The 1.7 million tons of potash extracted annually from the Dead Sea works at Sdom is presently carried by truck to the railhead at Mishor Rotem on a plateau between Arad and Dimona in the Negev. The conveyor belt will speed up transportation and reduce expenses. It is being built by Cable Belt Ltd., a British firm based at Camberley, Surrey. The total cost of the project is $38 million.
The system is expected to be in operation by January, 1987 and will reduce the cost of transporting Dead Sea potash by more than $5 million a year, making potash competitive on world markets.
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