The process of developing an open-pit silica sand mine south of La Ronge could take much longer than what the public is being told, and the project is far from being a sure thing.
Garcia Silica Inc., a company based in Fort McMurray, Alberta, has obtained the mineral rights to 43.6 km2 of land just east of Highway 2 and south of Highway 165. The company claims the silica sand reserve in the area is over two billion metric tons.
Company CEO, Camilo Garcia, held a public meeting in La Ronge on January 31 at the Jonas Roberts Community Centre. Garcia spoke with MBC News before the gathering and answered a number of questions about the proposed project. Some of the details regarding the regulatory process involved in this type of operation remain unclear.
MBC contacted the Ministry of the Environment and requested more information on the timeline of the project, some of the regulatory requirements and the company’s duty to consult with First Nations and Metis people in the area.
The Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Assessment and Stewardship Branch says it received a technical proposal for the proposed Garcia Silica Sand Project in August 2017.
The ministry says more information was needed before a determination can be made on whether the project is a ‘development’ under the Environmental Assessment Act and would therefore require an environmental impact assessment (EIA).
If the project is determined to be a development, the ministry would then consider whether the duty to consult with potentially affected First Nations and Metis communities has been triggered, and if so, the duty to consult would be carried out during the EIA.
The EIA includes public notification, an environmental impact statement by the company, a technical review of the EIS by government, and public review of the EIS.
Following that, the Ministry of Environment considers all the information gathered, including comments by the public, in a decision to either approve or refuse to approve the project.
More information about the EA process is available on the website: www.saskatchewan.ca/environmentalassessment, in guidelines and in this flowchart.
The ministry says typical EIA’s take at minimum six months to one year, and some projects take several years before they receive a decision.
Garcia Silica Inc. would also need to obtain the various permits and licenses required for the project to proceed.
(PHOTO: La Ronge. Photo courtesy of tourismsaskatchewan.com)