Manitoba's 1st potash mine readies for market debut

Manitoba's first potash mine is on the verge of having its product hit the market, and it's being touted as a "unique" project that will benefit the local community and First Nations.

The facility, located in Harrowby, is about 16 kilometres west of Russell near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. It entered pilot operations just over a year ago.

Daymon Guillas, president of Potash and Agri Development Corporation of Manitoba (PADCOM), which operates the facility, has been working on the project for nearly two decades and says production began earlier this month.

The mine is now in the final stage before white Manitoba potash can hit the market.

"Potash is one of the three [major ingredients] to have enough food to feed the people," helping make things like fertilizer,Guillas said.

"Without potash, nitrogen and phosphate, there will not be enough food on the planet."

Guillas says western Manitoba is on "the shore" of Canada's vast ocean of potash deposits. Saskatchewan has the biggest supply in the world, but he says they come about 10 kilometres into Manitoba.

The first phase of the mine will see it produce 100,000 tonnes of potash per year, growing to 250,000 in the second phase, he said.

Across the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border, the Nutrien potash mine near Rocanville, Sask., produces fiveto sevenmillion tonnes per year, he said.

"In 36 hours, they produce more than we do in a year," said Guillas."Saskatchewan is the Niagara Falls of potash in Canada. Our little project is a drip, just a small drip out of the faucet."

PADCOM CEO Brian Clifford says the mine uses a solution-miningtechnique to extract potashthat isfriendlier to the environment than the conventional method of boring the earth and extracting ore from rockdeposits.

Solution mining involvesinjecting aheated mixture of water and salt underground to dissolve the potash deposits, before itis pumped to the surface and crystallized, he said.

The technique means that PADCOM's potashis white, and notthe "pinkish" colourthat people typically associate with the mineral, Clifford says.

"If you're not using solution mining, you're bringing up the salt to the surface as well, so one of our key mantras is to keep as much salt underground as we can," he said.

"When you're looking at the other mines around here when you're driving, you can see millions and millions of tonnes of salt on the surface. That is not a part of our mining operation."

The Mining Association of Manitoba, which represents all of the province's operating mines, isexcited to see themine become a reality, saysco-director John Morris.

"The potash has been there for millions of years, and we're now seeing an opportunity for extraction here in Manitoba, as opposed to Saskatchewan," he said.

Morris says potash isdefined as a critical mineral by the Canadian government.

"We're blessed with a bountiful supply," he said. "We have 29 of the 31 critical minerals located here in Manitoba."

Guillas says the idea for the mine came as potash prices spiked in 2006 and multiplied projects. He asked the province to consider miningthe mineral, but the government at the time replied that it wasn't interested and had trouble attracting potential developers.

"So that set us on our path to find our own developer," he said.

Guillas also owns the Russell Inn, a hotel in the town of Russell, and he says that's where he got to pick the brains ofpeople working in Saskatchewan's potash sector.

"In the '80s and '90s, a lot of the executives and contractors who worked at the [Nutrien] mine stayed at the hotel," he said. "That's how we learned about potash."

First Nation owns fifth of mine

Guillas says the company lucked out in several ways, as all of the exploration for potash deposits in the area had been completed in the 1980s and 1990s, meaning PADCOMstarted off knowingthe quantity and quality of potash in the region and where to find it.

They also lucked out in terms of location, with the mine situated near highways, power plants and water, and less than half a kilometre away from a rail line, according to Guillas.

"We're very fortunate we were able to get into the mining business with relativelypennies," he said. "It's major money for us, don't get me wrong, but relative to mining, it's pennies."

The company approached Gambler First Nation to sign an agreement to use the land where the mine is, which is their traditional hunting grounds. The community said it was prepared to invest in the project, according to Guillas.

He says the First Nationbought one-fifth of the project.

He wants to see oneper cent of the mine's net profits to eachgo to Gambler, as well as to Birdtail Sioux First Nation, Waywayseecappo First Nation and the Manitoba Mtis Federation.

"We're committed to reconciliation of course, but also economic reconciliation."

There are also plans for five per cent of netprofits to go to an economic and social development fund in order to improve the quality of life in the region, Guillas said.

The project currently has about 20 employees, but he says that willgrow alongside production.

Guillas calls the minea "regional project with a unique business model."

"We don't have any shareholders. We don't have much debt," he said.

"We want to continue to invest in the project, to expand it, [and] to create more good jobs."