Potash refers to various potassium compounds, primarily crude potassium carbonate, and it is also a term for potassium oxide in fertilizers. Traditionally, potash was produced by burning plant matter, leaching the resulting potassium carbonate–rich ash with water, and boiling the leachate in iron pots to obtain potassium hydroxide residue. Since the mid-19th century, commercial production of potash has relied on mining potassium-rich mineral ores, particularly sylvite (potassium chloride), from ancient seabeds.
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