For US$1 billion, Israel Chemicals agreed to remove salt build up on Israel's southern Dead Sea pools. The deal called for advanced royalties.
The salt that accumulated on the sea floor from its vaporization pool uplifted water levels in the basin. The water became so dense with the salt that it allowed anyone to float effortlessly. However, the spa and hotel industry was threatened due to the increase in water levels.
"When these hotels were built here 30 years ago, they knew the water levels were slowly rising and the state took responsibility for protecting the hotels," said David Zvida, senior vice president of Dead Sea Works Ltd.
Dead Sea Works Ltd. was a unit of ICL, the globe's seventh-biggest potash producer. It managed evaporation pools to extract minerals. Dead Sea Works ruled the business of gathering potash and some minerals.
20 million tons of salt were expected to be removed by ICL per year. The project would start in 2015. ICL agreed to unearth the salt and move it on a carrier belt. It would also dump the salt to the northern part of Dead Sea where water would be towed back to southern pools through canals.
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