![Palestine Potash Limited](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Palestine_Potash_Limited.jpg)
The Dead Sea Works ( he, מפעלי ים המלח, ''Mif'alei Yam HaMelakh'') is an Israeli
potash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. plant in
Sdom, on the
Dead Sea coast of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
History
Under the British administration,
concessions from the Mandatory government were given. On January 1, 1930, the "Concession for the extraction of salts and minerals in the Dead Sea" was granted to Palestine Potash Limited by the governments of
Palestine and
Transjordan Transjordan may refer to:
* Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River
* Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan
* Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946)
* Hashemite Kingdom of ...
jointly.
[Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, No. 260, June 1, 1930, p424.] The company, whose directors included
Moshe Novomeysky
Moshe Novomeysky ( he, משה נובומייסקי, russian: Моисей Абрамович Новомейский; November 25, 1873 – March 27, 1961) was an Israeli engineer and businessman. He was an early developer of the Palestine Potash C ...
, had been incorporated in England in 1929 and registered as a foreign company in Palestine in 1930.
[Official Gazette of the Government of Palestine, No. 252, February 1, 1930, p76.] From 1936, it was a profitable enterprise despite attempts by the German potash cartel to strangle the business by dumping potash at below-cost prices.[The political economy of Israel: From ideology to stagnation, Yakir Plessner](_blank)
/ref>
In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the northern half of the production facilities was occupied by the Jordanian Legion
The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 19 ...
, which was destroyed in the ensuing fighting.
In 1951, the company was nationalized by the Israeli government under the Ministry of Development. In 1953, it was renamed the Dead Sea Works.[Dead Sea Works](_blank)
/ref>
Today
Dead Sea Works is the world's fourth-largest producer and supplier of potash products. The company also produces magnesium chloride
Magnesium chloride is the family of inorganic compounds with the formula , where x can range from 0 to 12. These salts are colorless or white solids that are highly soluble in water. These compounds and their solutions, both of which occur in natu ...
, industrial salts, de-icer
Deicing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only deice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or prev ...
s, bath salts
Bath salts are water-soluble, pulverized minerals that are added to water to be used for bathing. They are said to improve cleaning, enhance the enjoyment of bathing, and serve as a vehicle for cosmetic agents. Bath salts have been developed wh ...
, table salt, and raw materials for the cosmetic industry. It has customers in over 60 countries. Dead Sea Works is part of the Fertilizers Division of Israel Chemicals Ltd. It is located in the southern basin of the Dead Sea and the extracted chemicals are exported around the world.
Rather than extracting potash and other minerals from the Dead Sea by mining them directly, the company makes use of solar evaporation with 2-meter deep evaporation ponds
Evaporation ponds are artificial ponds with very large surface areas that are designed to efficiently evaporate water by sunlight and expose water to the ambient temperatures. Evaporation ponds are inexpensive to design making it ideal for mult ...
.
Controversy
Dead Sea Works has been blamed by conservationists for polluting the environment and contributing to the Dead Sea's evaporation. Geological significance of the Dead Sea
See also
* Arab Potash
* Economy of Israel
*Ahava
Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, Limited ( he, אהבה, ''Love'') is an Israeli cosmetics company with headquarters in Lod that manufactures skin care products made of mud and mineral-based compounds from the Dead Sea. The company has flagship ...
References
External links
Company website
19th century boat of British explorer displayed at Dead Sea Works
"Wealth from the Dead Sea" ''Popular Mechanics'', November 1930, pp 794-798
{{Authority control
Chemical companies of Israel
Dead Sea
Economy of Israel
Potash
1929 establishments in Mandatory Palestine