(File photo/CKOM News Staff)

By Cam Lee

Jansen potash project

Humboldt chamber weighs in on potential BHP potash mine in Jansen

Oct 18, 2019 | 5:01 PM

The discussion continues as to what a possible Jansen potash project could do for the region.

BHP announced on Thursday that its board would be asked to make a “final investment decision” on the Jansen project in February 2021.

Should the project fully proceed, it would “change the very fabric of this area of the province,” Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brent Fitzpatrick said.

“Jansen, LeRoy, Lanigan, Humboldt, Watson, down toward Dafoe, that whole little bubble is going to be impacted, and for the better,” he said.

However, there would also be challenges.

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“At the same time, it’s going to put pressure on all of the businesses, all of the municipal governments with all of the infrastructure — it literally changes the entire landscape here,” Fitzpatrick said. He added BHP would likely use a lot of local businesses for products needed at the mine project should it come to fruition.

“I can’t overstate how much of an impact it will have on our area.”

In 2014, Humboldt commissioned a study on the potential effect of a fully operational Jansen potash mine on the city.

That study concluded that the city’s population could double in size within 10 years, and nearly triple within 20 years.

Fitzpatrick said while the major population increase may not materialize at that pace, but there will be growth.

“I think it’s generally accepted now that that massive influx is not going to happen, but what will happen is there’s going to be more people here, there’s going to be more business here, which then is going to require people,” Fitzpatrick said.

On the flip side, there is a possibility BHP doesn’t go through with the mine.

“There is right now work that’s done locally, there’s a lot of their procurement that’s done locally for what they have right now at the site, but that is the way the business climate has adjusted here in the last few years should it not go,” Fitzpatrick said. He added that it’s generally expected the project will proceed when market conditions are favourable.

BHP has said the earliest production could begin in 2025.

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cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974