Post by Gerrit Goedecke

There are no potash or salt mines in Berlin. This is professionally inconvenient. It would make parts of my job at VKS – Association of the Potash and Salt Industry much easier if there were one somewhere near the Bundestag. A short walk, a helmet at the entrance, a quick trip underground, and a lot of explaining would take care of itself. Unfortunately, geology did not organise itself around federal politics. When you advocate for the potash and salt industry, you have to write papers, prepare briefings, explain supply chains, talk about permitting, raw materials and industrial resilience. But the strongest argument is often the mine itself. Going underground is not something people easily forget. You leave the normal office-and-meeting-room world behind for a while and enter a place that appears out of this world. You see people doing their job in an environment most people will never experience. Politicians and officials see many companies and sites. That is part of the job. But I would wager that an underground visit to a potash or salt mine stays in the memory forever. Later today I’ll travel for a quick trip so I can be there for a mine visit tomorrow morning. And I’m looking forward to it. I always do when I get to go underground. For those of you who do this regularly, or even every day: does it ever become normal? #Mining #Potash #Salt #RawMaterials