VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Major project developer K+S Potash Canada (KSPC) has partnered with the Saskatchewan government and nongovernmental organisation Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to protect a swathe of grassland in Saskatchewan.
The C$1-million project aims to achieve "no net loss" of native grasslands as a result of the construction of the KSPC’s Legacy mine, near Bethune.
In what K+S billed as the largest known industry investment in grassland habitat offset in Saskatchewan’s history, KSPC undertook to conserving an estimated 402 ha of high-value grassland to offset the 194 ha of grasslands that have been impacted by the mine development.
The plan enables NCC to invest KSPC funding where it will provide the greatest conservation value possible.
The formula-based approach tested at KSPC’s Legacy project mine site estimates functional loss and required offsets using a system of debits and credits. The formula includes the effect of development on species of concern and the effect of breaking up connected habitat, among other effects.
PROJECT UPDATE
KSPC in August pushed first production out to the second quarter of 2017, instead of the initially planned end of 2016. On July 17, a process vessel became detached from its mounting during a routine test and fell to the floor, causing considerable damage to property. Nobody was injured.
Regardless, KSPC is still assuming that it will be able to reach its target production capacity of two-million tonnes at the end of 2017, noting that production will be below the expected volume of up to one-million tonnes in the course of the delayed start-up period next year.