Western Potash Corp. (WPX:TSX) will pay the City of Regina $200 million over 45 years for treated wastewater to be used at a new potash mine south of the Prairie capital.
Under an agreement signed between Regina and Western Potash, the Vancouver-headquartered company will receive 60,000 cubic metres of treated effluent daily from the city’s wastewater treatment.
It will be piped 30 kilometres southeast of Regina to the company’s Milestone Potash project and used in the process of bringing potash to the surface. The Milestone Project mine is not expected to be in operation until 2016.
Western Potash will fund the capital costs – about $120 million – for building a pump house and pipeline and will use between 40% and 70% of the city’s treated wastewater, which currently goes into Wascana Creek.
“Western Potash is delighted to have reached this agreement with the City of Regina and is pleased to be working together to sustainably innovate the potash solution mining process,” said Western Potash Corp. CEO Patricio Varas. “There are certainly no other potash solution mines in the world utilizing treated waste water.”
“Not only is the City of Regina now being compensated for treating a waste product, but we are facilitating economic growth in one of Saskatchewan’s key sectors: Potash development,” said Regina’s acting deputy Mayor Louis Browne.
“In addition, downstream negative effects such as increased algae will also be alleviated, making this is a prime example of how creative thinking and partnerships can yield a more promising future for everyone.”
