Deadline extended for companies interested in Man. potash deposit

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This article was published 16/04/2015 (3853 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A PROVINCIAL search for companies interested in developing a potash deposit near the Saskatchewan border was extended to give more companies a crack at the underground fertilizer stash.

In 2014, Manitoba amalgamated 2,247 square kilometres worth of potash deposits — previously held by several interests — near the town of Russell. An expression-of-interest document for what’s officially known as the Russell-McAuley potash deposit was issued in January, with a closing date of March 13. The province extended the deadline another two weeks at the behest of unnamed entities, said Gabrielle Giroday, a spokeswoman for Manitoba Mineral Resources.

“The deadline to provide an initial expression of interest was extended to March 27, 2015 at the request of several companies,” she said in a statement.

“We can confirm we have received a number of expressions of interest, which are under review, but we cannot comment further until the conclusion of the process to protect third-party confidentiality.”

As part of a regular bid process, it is customary to seek permission from existing bidders to extend a bid period.

Potash prices have collapsed in recent years. It’s not known whether anyone responded to the expression-of-interest document prior to March 13.

The province did not respond to followup questions about the extension and denied a request for an interview with mineral-resources officials.

Slightly more than one billion tonnes of potash are estimated to lie 800 metres to one kilometre below ground in the Russell-McAuley deposit, which the province claims is comparable in quality and mining conditions to similar deposits across the Saskatchewan border, where Agrium, Mosaic and Potash Corp. operate mines.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca