The mining companies have descended on Saskatchewan. A proliferation of Potash mines is generating Billions and some small prairie communities see new opportunity while others worry about what they're getting into. All this as other potash mines scale back and prices drop.

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Three of The Current

Valentines Call Out

We're coming up to the twelfth Valentine's Day of the 21st century and we at The Current want to know what effect all the technical and social networking developments have on love lives. Producer Kathleen Goldhar wonders whether the internet and online dating really banish the blues.

E-mail us through our website at cbc.ca/thecurrent. Call us toll free at 1 877 287 7366. Or write to us at Box 500, Station A, Toronto, M5W 1E6.

New potash mines in Saskatchewan communities - CBC's Leisha Grebinski

You can melt the winter ice on highways with it, soften water with it, put out fires with it and recycle aluminum with it. But farmers know a little of it on their fields makes the crops grow faster, fuller and even taste better. Lots of people need lots of potash and Saskatchewan has lots to sell.

Several companies are expected to invest billions of dollars in potash mining over the next few decades, promising unprecedented wealth for the province. We aired a clip of Premier Brad Wall speaking during the provincial election campaign.

Brad Wall was re-elected last fall on a platform primarily focused on potash.
But in a province whose economy is swept-up with this one sector's growth, there is some tension starting to ripple through the potash belt. The CBC's Leisha Grebinski spent time in two communities grappling with potential growth.
She joined us from our Regina studio to tell us more about this story.

New potash mines in Saskatchewan communities - Professor Colin Boyd

So, while some wish there was more public debate, the province is looking ahead to unprecedented growth in the potash mining industry. There are concerns however over how much longer potash will remain this lucrative.

Colin Boyd is a professor at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. He watches the potash business closely, and joined us from Saskatoon.

For those of you listening in Saskatchewan, you can see more on this story tonight at the CBC News Saskatchewan.

Related Links:

• Newfoundland has a lesson for Canada on globalization By: Armine Yalnizyan - Globe & Mail
• Labour Board decision on fired Vale workers may take months - CBC News
• Potash Corp profit, Q1 outlook miss on weak demand By: Rod Nickel - Reuters
• Public Eye award singles out mining company Vale, Barclays By: Saabira Chaudhur - The Guardian

Last Word - Robert Falcon Scott Diaries

On today's Last Word-- some historic Last Words. The British museum has scanned and posted the final diaries of Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer who made it to the South Pole, but didn't make it back. You can search the diaries on the internet, although Scott's handwriting is difficult to make out.

The museum has helpfully posted a narrated version. Scott wrote in his diaries until the very end, recording the weather, how the trek went wrong, and how he had few regrets. He did worry the families of the explorers might be left destitute. But his stoicism inspired a nation; and contributions were lavish to a memorial fund that supported the widows.

Other segments from today's show:

• Syria's Untold Story
• Challenges ahead for the Arctic Council