v2.3.0.15

COMPANY BACKGROUND	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011
COMPANY BACKGROUND
COMPANY BACKGROUND	Note 1—COMPANY BACKGROUND         Intrepid Potash, Inc. (individually or in any combination with its subsidiaries, "Intrepid") produces muriate of potash ("potassium chloride" or "potash"); langbeinite; and by-products including salt, magnesium chloride and metal recovery salts. The processing of langbeinite ore results in sulfate of potash magnesia, which is marketed for sale as Trio®. Intrepid owns five active potash production facilities, three in New Mexico, and two in Utah. Production comes from two underground mines in the Carlsbad region of New Mexico; a solar evaporation solution mine near Moab, Utah; and a solar evaporation brine recovery mine in Wendover, Utah. Intrepid manages sales and marketing operations centrally to evaluate the product needs of its customers and then determine which of its production facilities to utilize to fulfill the customers' requirements and to realize the highest average net realized sales price to Intrepid. As such, product inventory levels and overall productions costs are monitored centrally. Intrepid has one reporting segment being the extraction, production, and sale of potassium related products, and its extraction and production operations are conducted entirely in the continental United States.

X

- Details

Name:	ipi_CompanyBackgroundDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix:	ipi
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Name Statement of Position (SOP)

-Publisher AICPA

-Number 94-6

-Paragraph 10

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.



Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 275

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6003-108592

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NatureOfOperations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration