COMPANY BACKGROUND	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Company Background [Abstract]
COMPANY BACKGROUND	COMPANY BACKGROUND We are a diversified mineral company that delivers potassium, magnesium, sulfur, salt, and water products essential for customer success in agriculture, animal feed and the oil and gas industry. We are the only U.S. producer of muriate of potash (sometimes referred to as potassium chloride or potash), which is applied as an essential nutrient for healthy crop development, utilized in several industrial applications, and used as an ingredient in animal feed. In addition, we produce a specialty fertilizer, Trio^®, which delivers three key nutrients, potassium, magnesium, and sulfate, in a single particle. We also provide water, magnesium chloride, brine and various oilfield products and services. Our extraction and production operations are conducted entirely in the continental United States. We produce potash from three solution mining facilities: our HB solution mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico, our solution mine in Moab, Utah and our brine recovery mine in Wendover, Utah. We also operate our North compaction facility in Carlsbad, New Mexico, which compacts and granulates product from the HB mine. We produce Trio^® from our conventional underground East mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Until mid-2016, we also produced potash from our East and West mines in Carlsbad, New Mexico. In April 2016, we converted our East facility from a mixed-ore facility that produced both potash and Trio^® to a Trio^®‑only facility. In addition, in early July 2016, we idled mining operations at our West facility and transitioned the facility into care and maintenance. These changes were designed to increase our production of Trio^®, a product that had traditionally shown more resilience to pricing pressure than potash, and to lower costs in a time of declining potash prices. We have water rights in New Mexico under which we sell water primarily to support oil and gas development in the Permian Basin near our Carlsbad facilities. We continue to work to expand our sales of water. On February 5, 2019, we and Sherbrooke Partners (together, the "buyers") entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Dinwiddie Cattle Company under which the buyers will purchase certain Dinwiddie Jal Ranch assets located in Lea County, New Mexico, consisting primarily of land, water rights and other related assets. The aggregate consideration for the purchase will be $65 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Further, as additional consideration for the sale, buyers will grant certain royalties on saltwater disposal revenue relating to the purchased assets or properties located near the assets. We and Sherbrooke will pay 51% and 49% of the purchase price, or approximately $33.2 million and $31.8 million, respectively, for a 51% and 49% undivided interest in the assets, respectively. We expect to close the purchase in the first quarter of 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The buyers expect to enter into a joint development agreement with respect to the assets, pursuant to which the buyers will agree, among other things, that Intrepid will operate the assets. We have three segments: potash, Trio^®, and oilfield solutions. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2018, we had two reporting segments; potash and Trio^®. As a result of the growth of our water business and other oilfield products and services, we reevaluated our segments and determined that, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018, we have an additional segment for oilfield solutions. We account for the sales of byproducts as revenue in the potash or Trio^®segment, base on which segment generates the byproduct. Prior to the adoption of Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 606 Revenue from Contract with Customers (ASC 606"), we accounted for the sale of byproducts as a credit to cost of goods sold. A majority of our byproduct sales were accounted for in the potash segment. We have recast the financial information for our segments for the years ended December 31, 2017, and 2016, to show the oilfield solutions segment and reclassification of byproduct sales to revenue. We manage sales and marketing operations centrally. This allows us to evaluate the product needs of our customers and then centrally determine which of our production facilities to use to fill customer orders in a manner designed to realize the highest average net realized sales price per ton. Average net realized sales price per ton is a non-GAAP measure that we calculate for each of potash and Trio as segment sales less segment byproduct sales and segment freight costs, divided by the number of tons of product sold in the period. We also monitor product inventory levels and overall production costs centrally.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

We are a diversified mineral company that delivers potassium, magnesium, sulfur, salt, and water products essential for customer success in agriculture, animal feed and the oil and gas industry. We are the only U.S. producer of muriate of potash (sometimes referred to as potassium chloride or potash), which is applied as an essential nutrient for healthy crop development, utilized in several industrial applications, and used as an ingredient in animal feed. In addition, we produce a specialty fertilizer, Trio^®, which delivers three key nutrients, potassium, magnesium, and sulfate, in a single particle. We also provide water, magnesium chloride, brine and various oilfield products and services.

Our extraction and production operations are conducted entirely in the continental United States. We produce potash from three solution mining facilities: our HB solution mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico, our solution mine in Moab, Utah and our brine recovery mine in Wendover, Utah. We also operate our North compaction facility in Carlsbad, New Mexico, which compacts and granulates product from the HB mine. We produce Trio^® from our conventional underground East mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Until mid-2016, we also produced potash from our East and West mines in Carlsbad, New Mexico. In April 2016, we converted our East facility from a mixed-ore facility that produced both potash and Trio^® to a Trio^®‑only facility. In addition, in early July 2016, we idled mining operations at our West facility and transitioned the facility into care and maintenance. These changes were designed to increase our production of Trio^®, a product that had traditionally shown more resilience to pricing pressure than potash, and to lower costs in a time of declining potash prices.

We have water rights in New Mexico under which we sell water primarily to support oil and gas development in the Permian Basin near our Carlsbad facilities. We continue to work to expand our sales of water. On February 5, 2019, we and Sherbrooke Partners (together, the "buyers") entered into a purchase and sale agreement with Dinwiddie Cattle Company under which the buyers will purchase certain Dinwiddie Jal Ranch assets located in Lea County, New Mexico, consisting primarily of land, water rights and other related assets. The aggregate consideration for the purchase will be $65 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Further, as additional consideration for the sale, buyers will grant certain royalties on saltwater disposal revenue relating to the purchased assets or properties located near the assets. We and Sherbrooke will pay 51% and 49% of the purchase price, or approximately $33.2 million and $31.8 million, respectively, for a 51% and 49% undivided interest in the assets, respectively. We expect to close the purchase in the first quarter of 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The buyers expect to enter into a joint development agreement with respect to the assets, pursuant to which the buyers will agree, among other things, that Intrepid will operate the assets.

We have three segments: potash, Trio^®, and oilfield solutions. Prior to the fourth quarter of 2018, we had two reporting segments; potash and Trio^®. As a result of the growth of our water business and other oilfield products and services, we reevaluated our segments and determined that, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2018, we have an additional segment for oilfield solutions. We account for the sales of byproducts as revenue in the potash or Trio^®segment, base on which segment generates the byproduct. Prior to the adoption of Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 606 Revenue from Contract with Customers (ASC 606"), we accounted for the sale of byproducts as a credit to cost of goods sold. A majority of our byproduct sales were accounted for in the potash segment. We have recast the financial information for our segments for the years ended December 31, 2017, and 2016, to show the oilfield solutions segment and reclassification of byproduct sales to revenue.

We manage sales and marketing operations centrally. This allows us to evaluate the product needs of our customers and then centrally determine which of our production facilities to use to fill customer orders in a manner designed to realize the highest average net realized sales price per ton. Average net realized sales price per ton is a non-GAAP measure that we calculate for each of potash and Trio as segment sales less segment byproduct sales and segment freight costs, divided by the number of tons of product sold in the period. We also monitor product inventory levels and overall production costs centrally.