Fatality at Mosaic K3 Esterhazy site
December 22, 2025, 11:36 am
Nicole Taylor, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
One person lost their life in an incident at Mosaic’s K3 site on the morning of Monday, December 15. Mosaic says a fall of ground incident was the cause of the fatality.
“The Mosaic Company is deeply saddened to report that early this morning on Monday, December 15, 2025, a fall of ground incident occurred at the K3 underground mine in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, resulting in a fatal injury to one employee. No further injuries have been reported,” said Mosaic in a statement immediately following the incident on Monday.
“Mosaic’s Emergency Response Team was activated following the incident. The site has now been secured and all mining activity has been temporarily halted. A full investigation is underway and Mosaic is working closely with all regulatory authorities. Support services are being provided through the company’s Employee and Family Assistance Program.
“The safety and wellbeing of our people remain Mosaic’s highest priority. Our thoughts go out to our colleague’s family and friends, all employees, and the broader community. We ask that the family be given privacy at this difficult time.”
Hitting community hard
Esterhazy Mayor Randy Bot says the tragic death has reverberated through Esterhazy and throughout the mining industry across Saskatchewan.
“It is definitely hitting the community hard. I’ve been working at the Aspen power plant at Lanigan, and they took a moment of silence. It’s not just affecting Esterhazy, you’re seeing it affect industry throughout the province.
“I’ve worked EMS my whole life so this is new to me, but to be out there at Lanigan this week you could see the impact out there. It impacted people out there that have worked in our area. There’s pipefitters, boilermakers, they’re all working at Aspen and they’ve all been to K3 mine site and they’ve been to K2 and they’ve worked in our area and they all know each other. It’s a close community. You meet a lot of people when you’re on the road and working and you can tell that it affects everybody when something tragic like this happens.”
Bot says the news has reverberated through Esterhazy, and the community always comes together in times of crisis.
“We are a close knit community, and there are many of us that work at the mine,” he said. “If you don’t work at the mine, you have family members who do or know somebody who does, and some are impacted directly. When something tragic like this happens it goes far past the work site, it reaches the families, friends, coworkers, our entire community.
“You can tell that there is a bit of a weight on the community right now. It’s not a good thing but in moments like these our community tends to come together, you’re checking in on neighbours, supporting local families and leaning on one another and in a way that is one of Esterhazy’s strengths that you see at times like this.
“When it comes to the town of Esterhazy, when something like this happens we are one hundred per cent supportive in whatever way we can do to help out because we are a mining community. We have to stick together and be there for one another.”
Bot said the fatality last week took him back to an earlier incident.
“It brings me back to 2009 when we lost another miner at that time. You never forget things like that. We know that Mosaic is very diligent when it comes to their safety protocols and when something goes wrong out there, it surprises you and it catches you off guard.
“I work out at Mosaic as a medic once in a while and it’s a very distinct place. There are protocols in place to make it that way and when something goes wrong you’re never really prepared for it because you never expect it. It definitely weighs on me as well as a lot of people that I’ve spoken to, there is a heaviness that everyone is feeling right now.”
Provincial impact
Bot says the news has reverberated around the province. “It’s provincial, not only Esterhazy, but Saskatchewan. There are people underground working in potash mines around Saskatoon, at Belle Plaine near Regina. This whole province is connected to that, and everybody knows somebody that’s worked or is working at a potash mine. In the province as a whole, it affects everybody and I think the support that is shown from around the province is enormous.
I’m blown away by how this has impacted so many people from east to west or north to south. It’s not something that I ever thought I’d have to deal with, answering these questions as the Mayor of Esterhazy, and it’s a tough one for our community and a tough one for our province and the mining industry.”
He said there are lessons to take away from incidents like this.
“Don’t take a moment for granted, be there for one another, make sure that if you see something unsafe on the work site address it, and you have to be there for one another and take care of one another. I think that is a big thing—just take care of one another,” he said.
