OTTAWA, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- About 70 miners are trapped after afire occurred in a potash mine in Canada's Saskatchewan province Sunday, but reports say they are safe.

    Marshall Hamilton, a spokesman for the Mosaic Company, the mine's U.S.-based operator, said the miners have made their way to underground shelters called refuge stations, Canadian Television reported.

    "In those refuge stations, the workers can seal themselves in with enough oxygen and food and water to be comfortable for the next 36 hours at least," he told CTV Newsnet.

    They will stay there until mine firefighters can put out the blaze and the mine's air quality improves, he said.

    However, he added that officials have not been able to establish radio contact with 30 of the miners.

    "There are 30 of them that are in an area where the communication link, we believe, was destroyed by fire, but we believe they're safe," he said.

    "We've seen evidence that they've sealed themselves off. We have no reason to doubt they are anything but safe."

    The fire broke out early Sunday morning at the mine near Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, about 210 km east of the provincial capital Regina and not far from the Manitoba border.

    Workers first detected smoke in the company's K2 mine, according to Hamilton. He said that K1 and K2 are part of a large mining operation about 945 meters below the surface.

    The Mosaic mine is Saskatchewan's oldest, having opened in 1962.

    Hamilton said this might not be the biggest fire the mine has suffered, but is "the trickiest one that we've encountered in quite a few years."

    "For most fires that happen in an underground operation, it maybe as simple as throwing a couple shovels of potash on it to put it out. This one is proving to be a little more tricky," he said.

    Potash is a non-metallic mineral commonly used in the production of agricultural fertilizer. Enditem