Intrepid Potash, Inc. (IPI) Business

ITEM 1.BUSINESS

General

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 sulfur, 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 U.S. 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.

We also have certain land, water rights, federal grazing leases, and other related assets in southeast New Mexico. We refer to these assets and operations as "Intrepid South." Our Intrepid South property generates revenue from sales of various oilfield related products and services, including but not limited to, water, brine, surface use and right-of-way agreements, a produced water royalty agreement, and caliche.

Our principal offices are located at 707 17th Street, Suite 4200, Denver, Colorado 80202, and our telephone number is (303) 296-3006. Intrepid was incorporated in Delaware in 2007.

Our Products and Services

Our three primary products are potash, Trio®, and water. We also sell salt, magnesium chloride, brines, and water that are derived as part of our mining processes. Product sales as a percentage of total sales for the last three years were as follows:

Potash

We sell potash into three primary markets: the agricultural market as a fertilizer input, the animal feed market as a nutrient supplement, and the industrial market as a component in drilling and fracturing fluids for oil and gas wells and an input to other industrial processes. Potash is sold in different product sizes, such as granular, standard, and fine standard. The agricultural market predominately uses granular-sized potash, while the industrial and animal feed markets mostly use standard- and fine standard-sized product. We have the flexibility to produce all of our product in a granular form, which decreases our dependence on sales of any one particular size of potash and any particular market.

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 is best suited, typically based on geographic location, 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 as sales less byproduct sales and freight costs and then divided by product sales tons. We also monitor product inventory levels and overall production costs centrally.

During 2025, we supplied approximately 0.5% of global annual potassium consumption and approximately 4.0% of the U.S.'s annual potassium consumption. Substantially all of our potash is sold in the U.S. Our domestic potash sales are geographically concentrated in the central and western U.S. Weather, planting conditions and farmer economics all affect fertilizer sales. For more information, please see "Seasonality."

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Trio®

Trio® is our specialty fertilizer that is low in chloride and delivers potassium, sulfur, and magnesium in a single particle. This unique combination of nutrients makes Trio® an attractive fertilizer across diverse crops and geographies. We produce Trio® in premium, granular, standard, and fine standard sizes for sale both domestically and internationally.

Oilfield Solutions

Oil and gas activity and development in southeast New Mexico drives demand for our water and other oilfield related products and services.

We have permitted, licensed, declared and partially adjudicated water rights in New Mexico under which we sell water primarily for industrial uses in the oil and gas services industry.

In May 2019, we acquired Intrepid South, from which we sell products and services to support oil and gas development in the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico. Our other oilfield related products and service offerings include, but are not limited to, caliche, right-of-way agreements, surface damages and easements, and a produced water royalty. Due to the strategic location of Intrepid South, part of our long-term operating strategy is selling small parcels of land, including restricted use agreements of surface or subsurface rights, to customers, where such sales provide a solution to a customer's operations in the oil and gas industry.

Byproducts

We also sell salt, magnesium chloride, and brines that are derived as part of our mining processes. Our salt is used in a variety of markets including animal feed, industrial applications, pool salt, and the treatment of roads and walkways for ice melting or to manage road conditions. Magnesium chloride is typically used as a road treatment agent for both deicing and dedusting. Our brines contain salt and potassium and are used primarily by the oil and gas industry to support well workover and completion activities. Sales of byproducts are accounted for within the segment that produced the byproduct. In each of the last three years, the potash segment accounted for the majority of our byproduct sales.

The brine at our Wendover facility also contains lithium and in 2025, we entered into a Joint Development Agreement (the "JDA") with Aquatech International, LLC ("Aquatech") and Adionics to pursue the potential development of a 5,000 metric tonne lithium extraction facility using the post-process brine at our Wendover facility. For more information see Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Significant Business Trends and Activities."

Production Facilities

We produce potash from three solar evaporation 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. Solution mining is a process by which potash is extracted from mineralized beds by injecting a salt-saturated brine into a potash ore body and recovering a brine that contains potash and other minerals. The brine is brought to the surface for mineral recovery through solar evaporation. For solar evaporation, the brine is placed in ponds and solar energy is used to evaporate water thus crystallizing out the potash and minerals contained in the brine. The resulting mineral evaporites are then processed to separate the minerals for sale. Solution mining does not require employees or machines to be underground.

We produce Trio® from our conventional underground East mine in Carlsbad, New Mexico. A conventional underground mine uses a mechanical method of extracting minerals from underground. Underground mining consists of multiple shafts or entry points and a network of tunnels to provide access to minerals and conveyance systems to transport materials to the surface. Underground mining machines are used to remove the ore and a series of pillars are left behind to provide the appropriate level of ground support to ensure safe access and mining.

We have a current estimated annual designed productive capacity of approximately 365,000 tons of potash from our solar evaporation solution mines. We also have an estimated annual designed productive capacity of 400,000 tons of Trio®.

Our annual production rates for potash and Trio® are less than our estimated productive capacity. Actual production is affected by operating rates, the grade of ore mined, recoveries, mining rates, evaporation rates, product pricing, product demand, and the amount of development work that we perform. Therefore, as with other producers in our industry, our production results tend to be lower than reported productive capacity.

We also have water pipelines and reservoir ponds that we use to deliver water to our New Mexico facilities and to customers.

Industry Overview

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Potash and Trio®

Fertilizer serves a fundamental role in global agriculture by providing essential crop nutrients that help sustain both crop yield and quality. The three primary nutrients required for plant growth are nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium. There are no known substitutes for these nutrients. A proper balance of each of the three nutrients is necessary to maximize their effectiveness in crop growth. Potassium helps regulate plants' physiological functions and improves plant durability, providing crops with protection from drought, disease, parasites, and cold weather. Unlike nitrogen and phosphate, the potassium contained in naturally occurring potash does not require additional chemical conversion to be used as a plant nutrient.

In addition to the primary nutrients, which are required in the greatest quantities in crop nutrition, important secondary nutrients such as sulfur and magnesium are also essential in crop nutrition. Intrepid's Trio® product contains the primary nutrient potassium and two secondary nutrients, sulfur, and magnesium.

Historically, population growth and global economic conditions drive long-term global fertilizer demand. Sustained per capita income growth and agricultural policies in the developing world and other geopolitical factors, such as temporary disruptions in fertilizer trade related to government intervention and changes in the buying patterns of key fertilizer consuming countries, also affect global fertilizer demand. Annual demand variations are affected by planted acreage, agricultural commodity yields and prices, inventories of grains and oilseeds, application rates of fertilizer, weather patterns, and farm sector income. Volatility in agricultural commodity prices may impact farmer fertilizer buying decisions. We expect these key variables to continue to have an impact on global fertilizer demand for the foreseeable future.

Nameplate production capacities that exceed demand historically shape the world potash market. A few potash companies have controlled a significant portion of this capacity, which was magnified in early 2018 with the merger of two Canadian producers. Generally, these larger producers have managed production levels to approximate world demand. The world potash market experienced a significant decrease in production rates in 2022 due to sanctions on Belarusian potash and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, global production decreased to approximately 61.1 million metric tonnes, compared to record production of approximately 71 million metric tonnes in 2021. Between 2022 and 2025, global production increased in each subsequent year with 2025 production of approximately 74 million metric tonnes, increasing to a projected 76 million metric tonnes in 2026. These increases are primarily driven by higher production in Belarus, Russia, Canada, and Laos. As global production rates continue to increase, with BHP Group Limited’s large-scale Jansen potash project expected to come online in mid-2027 in Canada, potash pricing will likely depend on the larger producers' ability to continue to manage the supply and demand balance through decreased utilization rates.

The volume of potash imports to the U.S. further impacts the potash market. A change in the volume of imports could result in a material change to potash prices in the U.S. In 2022, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Belarusian potash imports, although in December 2025, the U.S. lifted these sanctions. Belarusian potash historically accounted for approximately 7% of annual demand in the U.S., although the overall impact of the removal of sanctions and Belarusian imports to the U.S. potash market remains uncertain.

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The world's potash production is heavily focused on a few producers within a handful of countries. Twenty commercial potash deposits produce almost all of the world's potash. According to S&P Global Commodity Insights and data published by potash mining companies, six potash producing countries accounted for approximately 88% of the world's aggregate potash production and nine potash producing countries supplied approximately 93% of the world's potash production in 2025. Two major Canadian producers participate in the Canpotex marketing group that supplied approximately 29% of global potash production in 2025. Russia accounted for 21% and Belarus accounted for 14% of global potash production in 2025.

Oilfield Solutions

The most productive region in the U.S. for oil production is the Permian Basin, which spans from west Texas to southeastern New Mexico. The majority of oil and gas wells drilled in the U.S., including the Permian Basin, are hydraulically fractured horizontal wells, which account for the record amount of fossil fuels produced in the U.S. in recent years. The use of horizontal drilling in oil and gas production allows a well to remain in contact with the targeted formation thereby increasing production compared to vertically drilled wells. Horizontal drilling has resulted in longer wells, with some horizontal drilling sections reaching several miles long.

The increase in horizontal drilling has resulted in an increase in the use of water with a single hydraulically fracked well potentially using millions of gallons of water. In the frac process, water and sand are used to move proppant and other frac additives into the targeted rock formation. Pipelines transport most water used in fracking to the frac site, where it is stored in ponds or storage tanks.

In recent years, many operators have switched from using fresh water to using more recycled/produced water when completing wells. We believe this change is due to water conservation efforts, a move towards more environmentally friendly operations, an increase in the amount of produced water available for fracking, and an increasing in water recycling infrastructure. By recycling and using produced water, operators are able to reduce fresh water purchases and decrease the cost of transporting and disposing of produced water into disposal wells.

Competition and Competitive Strategy

We sell our potash and Trio® into commodity markets in which delivered price and the ability to timely deliver high quality products are essential. We are a competitive producer in the industry because of our ability to timely deliver high quality potash and Trio® products with specific particle sizes and with specific potassium oxide contents. In the potash market, we compete with larger Canadian potash producers and, to a lesser extent, producers located in Russia, Chile, Germany, and Israel. For Trio®, we compete with one other producer of langbeinite as well as producers of other specialty nutrients and blended products. The competitive market for our water resources includes other water right holders, which include companies, farmers, and ranchers operating in or near the Permian Basin in New Mexico and suppliers of produced and recycled water.

Some of our direct and potential competitors may have significant advantages over us, including greater name recognition, longer operating histories, pre-existing relationships with current or potential customers, significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources, ownership of more diverse assets and products, and/or access to less expensive mining assets, any of which could allow them to respond more quickly to new or changing opportunities.

Our competitive strategy is focused on the following:

•Maximizing potash gross margin and optimizing potash production. All of our potash production comes from solar solution mines, which carry fewer fixed costs than conventional potash mines. Our per-ton costs are lower for solution mining than conventional mining as solar solution mining requires less labor, energy, and equipment. Additionally, we are advantageously located close to the markets we serve, with the North American market demand being significantly larger than our production capacity; therefore, we are able to selectively participate in the markets that we believe will provide the highest average net realized sales price per ton. We also maximize our gross margin by leveraging our freight advantage to key geographies, improving our diverse customer and market base, and developing our flexible marketing approach. We have optimization and expansion opportunities at our solution mining facilities, that, over time, could reduce our per-ton costs and increase our potash production.

•Maximizing Trio® gross margin and optimizing Trio® production. We are working to optimize our production process to increase our mining efficiency, improve our overall plant recovery, and to produce more granular-sized product, which is preferred by most markets. Our sales and marketing approach is focused on domestic and select international markets and includes crop nutrition education and increased marketing efforts targeting organic agriculture and high-value specialty crop markets. We currently operate our Trio® facility below its productive capacity level and expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

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•Expanding offerings of oilfield solutions. We have water rights from which we sell water for commercial uses in the oil and gas services industry. We also use a portion of our water rights to produce heavy brines for use in the oil and gas industry. Our other oilfield related products and services include, but are not limited to, surface use and right-of-way agreements, a produced water royalty agreement, and caliche. Given the location of Intrepid South, part of our long-term operating strategy is selling small parcels of land, including through the use of restricted use agreements for surface or subsurface rights, to customers.

•Continuing diversification of byproducts and services. We recover magnesium chloride, salt, and brine water byproducts during the production of potash and Trio®. These byproducts diversify our portfolio of product and service offerings. The brine at our Wendover facility also contains lithium and in 2025, we entered into the JDA with Aquatech and Adionics to pursue the potential development of a 5,000 metric tonne lithium extraction facility using the post-process brine at our Wendover facility. As we continue to explore and evaluate opportunities to diversify our revenue sources, we may enter into new or complementary businesses that expand our current product and service offerings.

Competitive Strengths

•U.S.-based producer. We are the only producer of potash in the U.S. We are located in a market that consumes significantly more potash than we can currently produce on an annual basis. Our geographic location provides us with a transportation advantage over our competitors for shipping our product to customers. In general, this allows us to obtain a higher average net realized sales price per ton than our competitors, that ship their products across longer distances to consuming markets, which increases their costs and reduces their gross margin. Our location allows us to target sales to the markets in which we have the greatest transportation advantage, maximizing our average net realized sales price per ton. Our access to strategic rail destination points and our location along major agricultural trucking routes also supports this advantage.

As a U.S. producer, we enjoy a significantly lower total production tax and royalty burden than our principal competitors, which operate primarily in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Saskatchewan tax system for potash producers includes a capital tax and several potash mineral taxes, none of which are imposed on us as a U.S. producer. We currently pay an average royalty rate of approximately 4.9% for our potash and Trio® sales less their related freight costs, which compares favorably to that of our competitors in Canada. The relative tax and royalty advantage for U.S. producers becomes more pronounced when profits per ton increase due primarily to the profit tax component of the Saskatchewan potash mineral tax.

•Solar evaporation operations. All our potash production comes from solar solution mines. Solar evaporation is a cost-efficient production method because it significantly reduces our labor force and energy consumption, which are two of the largest costs of production. Our understanding and application of low-cost solution mining, combined with our reserves being located where a favorable climate for evaporation exists, make solar solution mining difficult for other producers to replicate. We also have significant reserves for future expansion of our solution mining operations.

•Diversity in secondary nutrient markets. Given the greater scarcity of langbeinite relative to potash, its agronomic suitability for certain chloride-sensitive crops, and the addition of key secondary nutrients in sulfur and magnesium, we believe there is a market for Trio® outside of our core potash markets. We also believe that there is a market for Trio® beyond the U.S., although freight expense and competition from substitute products have made this a difficult market to penetrate. We also offer Organic Materials Review Institute ("OMRI") listed potash and Trio® products that provide essential minerals for growing certified organic crops.

•Water rights. Water rights in New Mexico are real property rights, which authorize a water right owner to use a specific amount of water, diverted from a specific location, for a specific purpose of use, in a specific place. Water rights are limited to the amount of water put to beneficial use. In New Mexico, the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (“OSE”) administers water rights. The validity of water rights is ultimately confirmed or denied by a court in an adjudication proceeding. Prior to an adjudication, a water right may be acquired through the OSE’s permitting or licensing process. A water right claimant must apply to the OSE for a permit to make changes to a water right, including changes in the place or purpose of use. The validity of water rights is ultimately confirmed or denied by courts in an adjudication process. We have permitted, licensed, declared and partially adjudicated water rights in New Mexico under which we sell water primarily for commercial uses in the oil and gas services industry. The Intrepid South property increased our total water rights available for sale in and around the Permian Basin. This has expanded our relationships with oil and gas producers, which we may be able to use to expand sales of byproducts and services.

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•Diversity of potash markets. We sell potash into three different markets—the agricultural, feed, and industrial markets. In 2025, these markets represented approximately 75%, 21%, and 4%, of potash sales, respectively. The agricultural market supplies crop nutrients to farmers producing a wide range of crops in different geographies and the animal feed market supplies feed manufacturers with key nutrients for a wide range of feed blends into various markets such as pet food and cattle feed. Sales into industrial markets have historically supported drilling activities in oil and gas, although the use of lower-cost potash substitutes in recent years has reduced our sales into those markets.

•Marketing flexibility. We have the ability to convert all of our standard-sized potash product into granular-sized product as market conditions warrant. We produce Trio® in premium, granular, standard, and fine standard sizes. This provides us with increased marketing flexibility as well as decreased dependence on any one particular market.

•Significant mineral reserve and resource life. Our potash reserves and resources have substantial years of reserve life and resource life. Reserve life is based on the current mine plan and estimated at 25 years for all our potash facilities. Resource life at our potash facilities ranges from 33 years to over 100 years. In addition to our reserves, we have water rights and access to additional mineralized areas of potash for potential future exploitation. Additional information regarding our mineral reserves and resource estimates can be found in Item 2. Properties and in the Technical Report Summaries included with this filing.

•Existing facilities and infrastructure. Constructing a new potash production facility requires substantial time and extensive capital investment in mining, milling, and infrastructure to extract, process, store, and ship product. Our operations already have significant facilities and infrastructure in place. We also have the ability to expand our business using existing installed infrastructure, in less time and with lower expenditures than would be required to construct entirely new mines.

Seasonality

The month-to-month seasonality of our agricultural sales is somewhat moderated due to the variety of crops, industries, distribution strategies, and geographies that we serve. There is a seasonal sales pattern for potash sold into the agricultural market. Over the last three years, approximately 80% of our total annual potash sales volumes occurred in January through May, in anticipation for the spring application season, and September through November, in anticipation of the fall application season. The specific timing of when farmers apply potash remains highly weather dependent and varies across the numerous growing regions within the U.S. Marketing programs of potash producers and storage volumes closer to the farm gate significantly influence the timing of potash sales.

The sales pattern for Trio® sold into the domestic agricultural market is also seasonal. Over the last three years, our domestic Trio® sales volume has been highest in February through May, as Trio® products are typically applied to crops in the U.S. during the spring planting season. Demand for the spring planting season generally runs from December to May, when we have sold approximately 60% of our annual domestic Trio® volumes over the past three years.

We observed fertilizer dealers in North America instituting practices that are designed to reduce the risk of changes in the price of fertilizer products through consignment-type programs. These programs tend to make the timing of the spring and fall seasonal demand profile less predictable within the season. Further, through technological advances, farmers in the U.S. are more efficient in planting and harvesting their crops, which has compressed the application seasons.

Our quarterly and yearly financial results can also vary from one year to the next due to weather‑related shifts in planting schedules and purchasing patterns.

Because all of our potash production comes from our solar solution mines, our potash production is also seasonal. Our solar solution mines suspend potash production activities from early spring through late summer, the peak solar evaporation period. Accordingly, we manage our inventories during the low demand periods of the year in order to ensure timely product availability during the peak sales seasons, as well as during the summer evaporation period when we are not producing potash. Our sales volumes are highest during the spring and our working capital requirements are highest just before the start of the spring season, as a result of the seasonality of fertilizer demand.

Demand of our oilfield products and services is highly correlated to oil and gas exploration activities and can vary from quarter to quarter and year to year.

Major Customers

Within the agricultural market, we supply a diversified customer base of distributors, cooperatives, retailers, and dealers, which in turn supply farmers producing a wide range of crops in different geographies. We sell into the industrial and

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feed markets through distributors and directly to end users. For water, we sell to a diverse set of customers through a combination of spot sales and a multi-year contract. For brine, we sell to a diverse set of customers in the spot market.

In 2025 we had no customers that accounted for more than 10% of our total consolidated revenues. In 2024, and 2023, we had one customer, Bill Barr & Company, Inc., which accounted for more than 10% of our total consolidated revenues.

Environmental, Safety, and Health Matters

We are subject to federal, state, and local environmental, safety, and health laws that regulate, among other things; (1) soil, air, and water quality standards for our facilities; (2) the disposal, storage, and management of any hazardous and solid wastes we use or produce; (3) our post-mining land reclamation and closure requirements; (4) the conditions of our mining and production operations; (5) our employee and contractor safety and occupational health; and (6) product content and labeling. We employ and consult with professionals who assist in monitoring our compliance with these laws and who work with management to ensure that appropriate strategies and processes are in place to promote a culture that prioritizes safety and environmental responsibility.

In 2025, we had approximately $1.7 million of capital investments and reclamation projects, and $0.9 million in other expenses, relating to environmental compliance, environmental studies, and remediation efforts. We expect to spend $5.0 million to $6.0 million for environmental related capital and reclamation projects in both 2026 and 2027. Future capital expenditures are subject to uncertainties, including changes to environmental laws, operating permits, and lease conditions. Material expenditures could be required in the future to fulfill existing or new environmental compliance requirements. We anticipate a focus on environmental issues will result in increased future investments for environmental controls at our operations. See Item 1A. Risk Factors “Risks Related to Our Business - Environmental laws and regulations could subject us to significant liability and require us to incur additional costs.”

Product Registration Requirements

We are required to register fertilizer products with each U.S. state and foreign country where our products are sold. Each brand and grade of commercial fertilizer must be registered appropriately before being offered for sale, sold, or distributed. In most cases, these product registrations impose specific requirements relating to guaranteed analysis, product labeling, and regular reporting of sales.

Some U.S. states require similar registration and reporting for feed grade products. Industrial-grade products typically do not require registration or reporting.

Operating Requirements and Government Regulations

Permits

We are subject to numerous environmental laws and regulations, including laws and regulations regarding land use and reclamation; release of emissions to the atmosphere; release of contaminants to water; preservation of plant and animal life; and the generation, treatment, storage, disposal, and handling of hazardous substances and wastes. These laws include the Clean Air Act ("CAA"); the Clean Water Act ("CWA"); the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"); the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA"); the Toxic Substances Control Act ("TSCA"); and various other federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Violations can result in substantial penalties, court orders to install pollution‑control equipment, civil and criminal sanctions, permit revocations, and facility shutdowns. Environmental laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability, without regard to fault, for cleanup costs on potentially responsible parties who have released, disposed of, or arranged for release or disposal of hazardous substances in the environment.

We hold numerous environmental, mining, and other permits or approvals authorizing and regulating operations at each of our facilities. Our operations are subject to permits for, among other things, extraction of salt and brine, discharges of process water, air emissions, injection of brine, water storage and handling and appropriation of water. Some of our proposed activities may require waste storage permits. A decision by a government agency to deny or delay issuing a new, modified, or renewed permit or approval, or to revoke or substantially modify an existing permit or approval, could limit or prevent us from mining at these properties. In addition, changes to environmental and mining regulations or permit requirements could limit our ability to continue operations at the affected facility. In many cases, environmental and operating permits and approvals are also required for an expansion of, or changes to, our operations. As a condition to procuring the necessary permits and approvals, we may be required to comply with financial assurance regulatory requirements. The purpose of these requirements is to assure the government that sufficient company funds will be available for the reclamation, closure, and post-closure care at our facilities. We obtain bonds as financial assurance for these obligations. These bonds require annual payment and renewal. We believe we are in compliance with existing regulatory programs, permits, and approvals where non-compliance could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or financial condition.

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In 2016, the OSE Dam Safety Bureau determined that our East tailing impoundment and West tailing impoundment are considered jurisdictional dams. In 2024, the OSE Dam Safety Bureau classified our East tailing impoundment as a high hazard potential dam. We continue to work with the OSE Dam Safety Bureau to determine required dam modifications. We may be required to spend a significant amount of capital on our East tailing impoundment and West tailing impoundment to modify these impoundments to meet the requirements of the OSE Dam Safety Bureau.

Our operations are subject to oversight by the New Mexico Environment Department Groundwater Quality Bureau (“NMED GQB”). Our HB operations are subject to a discharge permit issued by NMED GQB. This permit was issued in 2015 and governs specific water discharges associated with our HB operations. We have requested modifications to this permit, which are still pending. In 2024, we received notice from the NMED GQB that the East tailing impoundment is subject to regulation by the NMED GQB and that our North facility may be subject to regulation by the NMED GQB. We submitted an application for a discharge permit for our East tailing impoundment to the NMED GQB in February 2025 and information regarding why we believe a discharge permit for our North facility is not required to NMED GQB in December 2024. We may be required to spend a significant amount of capital at our HB facility to comply with any new or modified conditions to our HB discharge permit when it is reissued; additionally, we may have to spend significant capital on our East tailing impoundment to comply with the discharge permit requirements. Similarly, we may be required to spend a significant amount of capital at our North facility to comply with the discharge permit requirements, if a discharge permit for the facility is required.

Occasionally governmental agencies notify us of noncompliance with certain environmental laws, regulations, permits, or approvals. For example, although designated as zero discharge facilities under the applicable water quality laws and regulations, our North, and Moab facilities at times may experience some water and brine discharges during periods of significant rainfall or due to other circumstances. We have implemented several initiatives to address discharge issues, including the reconstruction or modification of certain impoundments, increasing evaporative area, and reducing process water usage and improved management systems. State and federal officials are aware of these issues and have visited the sites to review our corrective efforts and action plans, and, in some circumstances, require an operational permit.

Air, Water Discharge, and Drinking Water

The New Mexico Environment Department (“NMED”) and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (“UDEQ”) affirm our compliance with applicable permits and conduct periodic inspections of our New Mexico and Utah facilities, respectively. In the ordinary course of business, we may receive notices from NMED or UDEQ of alleged air, water discharge, or drinking water quality violations. Upon receipt of any such violations, including notices of noncompliance, we make any required corrective actions.

Safety and Health Regulation and Programs

Some of our facilities are subject to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 ("MSHA"), the Occupational Safety and Health Act ("OSHA"), related state statutes and regulations, or a combination of these laws.

Our conventional underground mines and related surface facilities in New Mexico are subject to MSHA jurisdiction. In accordance with MSHA, these facilities are regularly inspected by MSHA personnel. Item 4 and Exhibit 95.1 to this Annual Report provide information concerning certain mine safety violations.

As part of our ongoing safety programs, we collaborate with MSHA and the New Mexico Bureau of Mine Safety to identify and implement accident prevention techniques and practices. A trained mine rescue team services our New Mexico facilities. This team is ready to respond to on-site incidents or assist in local incidents, if needed. In addition, our New Mexico facilities participate in a Mine Rescue Assistant Agreement with other mine facilities and a federal hazardous waste facility to provide mine rescue support.

Our Utah facilities and our HB mine and plant are subject to OSHA jurisdiction. We provide all OSHA required training and other certifications to our employees at these facilities.

Remediation at Intrepid Facilities

Many of our current facilities have been in operation for a number of years. Our and our predecessors' operations involved the historical use and handling of potash, salt, related potash and salt byproducts, process tailings, hydrocarbons, and other regulated substances. Some of these operations resulted, or may have resulted, in soil, surface water, or groundwater contamination. At some locations, there are areas where process waste, building materials (including asbestos‑containing transite), and ordinary trash may have been disposed or buried, and have since been properly closed and maintained.

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At some of our facilities, spills or other releases of regulated substances may have occurred or could potentially occur, possibly requiring us to undertake or fund cleanup efforts under CERCLA or state laws governing cleanup or disposal of hazardous and solid waste.

We work closely with government authorities to obtain the appropriate permits to address identified site conditions. For example, some buildings located at our facilities in Utah and New Mexico have a type of siding that contains asbestos. We have adopted programs to encapsulate and stabilize portions of the siding through use of an adhesive spray and to remove the siding, replacing it with an asbestos-free material. We have trained asbestos abatement crews that handle and dispose of the asbestos‑containing siding and related materials. We have a permitted asbestos landfill in Utah and have worked closely with Utah officials to address asbestos‑related issues at our Moab mine.

Reclamation Obligations

Mining and processing of potash generates residual materials that must be managed both during the operation of the facility and upon facility reclamation and closure. Potash tailings, consisting primarily of salt and fine sediments that remain after potash is removed from ore during processing, are stored in surface disposal sites. Some of these tailing materials may also include other contaminants, such as lead, that were introduced as reagents during historic processing methods. These tailings materials may require additional management and could result in the imposition of additional disposal and reclamation requirements. For example, at least one of our New Mexico mining facilities may have legacy issues regarding lead in a tailings pile that occurred from production methods utilized prior to our acquisition of these assets. During the life of the tailings management areas, we have incurred, and will continue to incur, significant costs to manage potash residual materials in accordance with environmental laws, regulations and permit requirements. Additional legal and permit requirements will take effect when these facilities are closed.

Our mining operating leases require us to reclaim property disturbed areas of our facilities. Our operations in Utah and New Mexico have specific obligations related to reclamation of the land after mining and processing operations are concluded. The discounted present value of our estimated reclamation costs for our facilities as of December 31, 2025, is approximately $38.8 million, which is reflected in our audited financial statements found elsewhere in this Annual Report. Various permits and authorization documents negotiated with or issued by the appropriate governmental authorities include these estimated reclamation costs on an undiscounted basis.

It is difficult to estimate and predict the potential actual costs and liabilities associated with remediation and reclamation of our facilities. Additionally, it is possible that we could be identified in the future as a potentially responsible party for additional remediation and reclamation costs, either as a result of changes in existing laws and regulations or as a result of the identification of additional matters subject to remediation and/or reclamation obligations or liabilities.

Royalties

The potash, langbeinite, water, and byproducts we produce and sell from leased land or minerals may be subject to royalty payments. We produce and sell products from leased land and/or minerals owned by the U.S., the States of New Mexico and Utah, and private landowners. The terms of the royalty payments are determined at the time of the issuance or renewal of leases. Some royalties are determined as a fixed percentage of revenue and others vary based upon ore grade. Additionally, some of our leases are subject to overriding royalty interest payments paid to various owners. In 2025, we paid $12.5 million in federal, state, and private royalties. The royalty rates on our state and federal leases in New Mexico are currently set at various rates from 2.0% to 5.0%. The royalty rates on our state and federal leases in Utah are currently set at rates from 3.0% to 5.0%. The royalty rates on our private leaseholds are between 5.0% and 8.0%.

Human Capital Resources

Headcount

We believe that our employees and contractors are significant contributors to the current and future success of Intrepid. Our ability to attract, retain, and motivate qualified personnel is critical to our operations. The skills, experience and industry knowledge of key employees significantly benefit our operations and performance. We value our relationships with our employees and consider our relationships with them to be good. As of December 31, 2025, we had a total of 478 employees. Our workforce is experienced, providing invaluable expertise and insight into our operations.

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We have a collective bargaining agreement with a labor organization representing our hourly employees in Wendover, Utah, which expires on May 31, 2026. This agreement was negotiated between us and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, Local 867, and became effective on June 1, 2023.

Employee Development and Training

We believe in providing opportunities for employees to continue to develop and grow their careers. We offer our employees a tuition reimbursement program and ongoing support for continuing education for professional certifications and other credentials. We also provide a comprehensive career path program for our hourly employees that outlines the proficiencies necessary for each job level and sets forth the development steps to progress through various job levels.

Competitive Pay and Benefits

We have structured our compensation programs to balance incentive earnings for both short-term and long-term performance goals. We provide employee wages that are competitive and consistent with employee positions, skill levels, experience, knowledge, and geographic location. We align our executives' long-term equity compensation with our shareholders' interests by linking realizable pay with stock performance.

We are also committed to providing comprehensive benefit options to our employees. We offer benefits that will allow our employees and their families to live healthier and more secure lives. Our employee benefits include health insurance, telemedicine, an employee assistance program, paid and unpaid leave, life insurance, short-term disability insurance and a retirement savings plan with a company match. We also offer a variety of voluntary benefits that allow employees to select the options that meet their needs, including flexible time-off, adoption assistance, prescription savings solutions, and a wellness program.

Health and Safety

The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority and is embodied in our operating philosophy. We are committed to providing a safe, functional, and effective work environment for anyone who comes to our properties.

Sustainability

We are committed to providing consistent returns to our shareholders while being a good corporate citizen that values the welfare of our employees, the communities in which we operate, and the customers we serve. In prioritizing, improving, and managing our sustainability goals, we will create long-term value for our investors. We have made sustainability initiatives a priority for our management team and are committed to providing focused reporting on the sustainability issues that are the most relevant to our business and stakeholders. We published an updated Sustainability Report in 2025 to clearly disclose the goals and metrics related to our sustainability programs, as we believe this information will allow our stakeholders to be informed about our progress. We intend to update these goals and metrics annually. We encourage you to read our Sustainability Report to learn more about our strategy, efforts, and goals relating to these initiatives, which can be found on our website, www.intrepidpotash.com.

Available Information

We file or furnish with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") reports, including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, and any amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. These reports are available free of charge on our website at www.intrepidpotash.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC. These reports can also be obtained at www.sec.gov.

We routinely post important information about us and our business, including information about upcoming investor presentations, on our website, www.intrepidpotash.com, under the Investor Relations tab. We encourage investors and other

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interested parties to enroll on our website to receive automatic email alerts regarding new postings. The information found on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.