Northrup weighs new potash mine proposals

The New Brunswick government is a week away from announcing a company that will have the rights to build a potash mine in the Millstream area, according to Natural Resources Minister Bruce Northrup.

The provincial government issued a request for proposals in April requesting companies to come forward with plans to develop the potash deposit near Apohaqui.

Northrup said several companies forwarded proposals to his department and they are in the final stages of selecting a successful candidate.

He said the department is hoping to notify the companies of the province's decision by the end of next week.

"We've talked to a few companies that wanted to come to New Brunswick to explore for potash. So we put the RFP out and there was a lot of interest," he said in an interview.

The successful company will receive a two-year window to set up operations and explore in the area.

Northrup said the real construction of the mine would likely start after the initial period is over.

The area was explored by BP Resources Canada in the 1980s. But Northrup said there wasn't a big demand for potash at the time.

The global industry has shifted in recent years and now there is an intense demand for potash.

"There is a big demand for potash. The existing [PotashCorp] mine here, right now everything that is brought out of the ground is sold and gone," he said.

Northrupsaid the potential Millstream mine would create hundreds of jobs and have economic spinoffs beyond just that area.

The minister raised the possibility of a fertilizer plant in Saint John as one option.

The companies have been advised that spinoffs for the provincial economy will form a portion of the grading scale used by the government.

For instance, the provincial government is weighting the supplementary contribution to the provincial economy as 20 per cent and the potential contribution to provincial economy as 15 per cent of the overall proposal.

"As such the Province is very interested in ensuring that this deposit is exploited to its full economic potential and that opportunities for adding value are taken into consideration," the province's request for proposal stated.

"Evaluation will be based on the proponent demonstrating that their proposal offers the maximum economic benefit that can be realized from the Millstream deposit."

In 2007, PotashCorp announced it wasbuilding a new $1.7-billion potash minenear its existing operations in the Sussex area.

Water concerns raised

The potential for new economic benefits is not convincing some people who have had bad experiences with potash mining.

Beth Nixon said she's had problems with her well water and the ground shifting since potash mining began near her Penobsquis home.

She said residents in the Millstream area need to be prepared if a potash mine moves there.

"It's something that you have to become informed on. And it's because we always thought that the government was looking out for us and in fact they haven't been looking out for us," she said.

Nixon is among a group of residentsthat have been a part of a hearing with the province's mining commissioner.

Nixon and 23 other Penobsquis residents say they lost their well water when the PotashCorp began seismic testing for a new mine in the area.

The company supplied water to the affected homes but paid no financial compensation.

New Brunswick`s natural resource minister said protecting local water supplies is very important for the provincial government.

"We would definitely monitor it very closely on a day-to-day basis," Northrup said.

"That's the last thing that myself and the government would want to see is the people lose their water. We will do everything that we can with the regulatory system and the [environmental impact assessment] system to make sure that everything is taken care of."