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Items of significance include: <br />• Secured afive-year lease on twenty additional rail hopper cars restoring the traditional <br />rail car fleet for the project to nominally fifty cars. <br />• Natural gas pricing soared during second half of 2005. NSI was protected through <br />forward contracting of 75% of the natural gas requirements. <br />• 6H injection point was pulled back 400 feet in January. Continuous mining was enjoyed <br />during the work-over by injecting down the casing of the 5H recovery well while recovery <br />from the 1A submersible pumps. <br />• 50% of the dryer bag house bags were replaced. <br />• Anew safety incentive program was implemented. No accidents occurred in 2005. <br />• Six full time employees left the project in second half of 2005. Significant recruiting <br />occurred as a result. <br />• Significant improvement in boiler control reliability was achieved using an outside boiler <br />consultant. <br />• A shift in packaged vs. bulk product was seen. Anew record of 50,396 tons eclipsed the <br />2000 record of 41,800 tons of packaged product. The shift went from 60% bulk to 60% <br />bagged. <br />• Energy consumption decreased from the use of one boiler at high production rates. <br />• SaR in brines began a gradual increase in February. <br />• After fifteen years of operation the main plant air compressor was replaced. <br />• Experienced an extended utility power outage which lasted 14 hours in May. <br />• Installed access platform for tarping open top trucks and installed Dok Loks to prevent <br />slippage of vans on ice at the loading docks. <br />• De-bottlenecked the dried product bucket elevator to reach full capacity of the plant. <br />• Installed a dedicated barren liquor pipeline for pond solids mining. <br />• Completed bone yard and refuse clean up. <br />• Achieved an "excellent" rating with the American Institute of Baking tntemational. <br />• Completely reclaimed the liquid contents of the process pond. <br />• Successfully passed ISO-9001:2000 quality surveillance audit. <br />• Removed the bulk carbon dioxide gas storage vessel. <br />-5- <br />