![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/PotashUSGOV.jpg/640px-PotashUSGOV.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Potash
Salt mixture / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with pottage.
For other uses, see Potash (disambiguation).
Potash (/ˈpɒtæʃ/ POT-ash) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form.[1] The name derives from pot ash, plant ashes or wood ash soaked in water in a pot, the primary means of manufacturing potash before the Industrial Era. The word potassium is derived from potash.[2]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/PotashUSGOV.jpg/320px-PotashUSGOV.jpg)
Potash is produced worldwide in amounts exceeding 71.9 million tonnes (~45.4 million tonnes K2O equivalent[5]) per year as of 2021, with Canada being the largest producer, mostly for use in fertilizer.[6] Various kinds of fertilizer-potash constitute the single greatest industrial use of the element potassium in the world. Potassium was first derived in 1807 by electrolysis of caustic potash (potassium hydroxide).[7]