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BHP Billiton said it has received notice from the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environmental that ministerial approval has been granted for the development of the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan.
On June 23, BHP announced that it had approved US$488 million of further investment to support the development of Jansen in its feasibility stage. The company has invested US$1.2 billion in the project thus far. It is anticipated that final approval to proceed with the project will be sought from the BHP board in 2012. The current scheduled plans for Jansen to start production of saleable potash in 2015. Jansen is designed to ultimately yield 8 million tonnes of agricultural grade potash from its 3.37 million tonne in situ mineral resources with an estimated 70-year mine life. BHP Billiton Diamonds and Specialty Products President Tim Cutt said, "As we seek to build a world-class potash business based in Saskatchewan we believe we can create sustainable opportunities that benefit the communities that host our projects, as well as the Province of Saskatchewan." "We look forward to increasing our presence in Saskatchewan as we relocate our Canadian headquarters to Saskatoon, our project pipeline matures and as we develop a significant and scalable potash business," he stressed in a news release. BHP expects to pay C$90 million in royalties and taxes to the municipal, provincial and federal governments over the decades of Jansen's mine life. The project will employ 1,000 people at full capacity. Last year BHP Billiton made a US$39 billion hostile bid for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan. However, BHP withdrew the bid on Nov. 14, 2010, because it could not satisfy the requirements of a net benefit determination by Canada's Ministry of Industry under the Investment Canada Act. At the time BHP CEO Marius Kloppers stressed the company remained committed to Canada and would develop a significant presence in Saskatchewan's potash industry. Three Saskatchewan fertilizers companies-PotashCorp, Agrium and Mosaic-now dominate the global potash market. PotashCorp alone controls 20% of the world's potash capacity. |
