A southern Ontario based mining company is looking at redeveloping the former phosphate mine west of Kapuskasing. Avalon Advanced Materials wants to pick-up where Agrium now Nutrien left off when the mine was closed in 2013. President and CEO Don Bubar says the site was just used for phosphate leaving other rare minerals behind.
“But now they represent an opportunity to recover them because they are there in quite significant concentrations,” he said. “You don’t have to develop a new mine just pick up the sand and the tailings and reprocess it.”
Bubar says they are working with the province to find a quick solution to the letter of credit process.
“Because there is no real risk associated with it anymore, the site is actually almost remediated now, revegetated and there is no significant environmental liabilities there,” he said. “And what’s left is assets that have value.”
Bubar says his company would like to get started this summer because there is interest in the tailings by companies in western Canada. Approximately 100 jobs could be created at the onset of the project with those numbers growing in the future.
