Yancoal has not applied for Southey potash mine permits
Company has not specified tentative construction date
The company behind a controversial proposal to build a potash mine near Regina has not applied for any of the necessary licences and permits, despite having had almost 18 months to do so, government documents show.
The provincial government approved Yancoal Canada Resources Co.’s environmental impact statement for the Southey-area mine in August 2016 despite strong opposition. Herb Cox, who was the environment minister at the time, said the decision meant the company could begin gathering the remaining approvals.
However, the Ministry of the Economy said in legislative documents filed last week that “to date Yancoal has not applied for any of the additional provincial approvals required to advance the Southey project to construction and operation.”
Those requirements include a water rights licence, approval to build surface and groundwater works, permits to build a hazardous substance storage facility and operate a pollutant control facility and licences for injection wells, according to the documents.
Yancoal, which has been working for years to build the $3.8 billion, 2.8-million-tonnes-per-year operation 60 kilometres north of Regina, did not accommodate an interview request and instead provided a written statement.
“We’re actively meeting with global leaders in development and sales to ensure a solid foundation as we continue to build the project,” Adam Cooke, the company’s Southey project manager, said in the statement, which did not specify a tentative construction start date.
According to the environmental approval, Yancoal had one year to develop and submit a community involvement plan. The company in July applied for and subsequently received an extension, and the plan is now due in March, government spokeswoman Kathy Young said in an email.
The company has been in communication with the RM of Longlaketon, which encompasses the proposed mine site about 60 kilometres north of Regina, regarding the plan and appears to be moving slowly but steadily toward construction, according to the local reeve.
“They’re chipping away,” Delbert Schmidt said Tuesday. “It’s slow, maybe, but they’re chipping away. Nothing is moving fast but that’s maybe a good thing, so that everything gets done properly … on their side of it, the government side of it and the RM side of it.”
“It has been our priority to actively work with the RM council,” Cooke said in the statement from Yancoal. “Together we are working towards our agreed upon timebased objectives and goals and will continue to have the RM fully engaged in this project.”
Jim Harding, a spokesman for the Qu’Appelle Valley Environmental Association (QVEA) and staunch opponent of the project, said Tuesday that while the environmental advocacy group has heard little news from Southey and is concentrating on other issues, it remains opposed to it.
The QVEA and other opponents of the water-intensive solution mine have previously raised concern about its effect on the water supply in nearby Buffalo Pound Lake and the possible contamination of groundwater in the Southey area and the Qu’Appelle Valley watershed.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese government-backed Yanzhou Coal Mining Co., Yancoal was established in 2011 with the aim of helping its parent company diversify into the fertilizer business.