Nutrien says no imminent path to reopen Sussex potash mine despite government desires

The potash mine in Sussex, N.B., has been closed for a decade.

The province of New Brunswick would like to see a mine just outside Sussex reopen for potash mining operations, but the prairie-based company that owns the site says there are no plans on that happening anytime soon.

The Picadilly mine, owned by Nutrien, ceased operations in 2016 after the company (then known as the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan) said a weakened fertilizer market forced them to focus on operations in Saskatchewan. But in the wake of a trade war with the U.S. over the past year, conversations about reopening the mine have reignited.

In a statement sent to CTV News Atlantic, the company says it values its long-standing relationship with the provincial government, but mining for potash out of the site won’t resume anytime soon.

“We are committed to supporting more than 80 jobs, contributing over $40 million annually to the local economy, and ensuring winter road safety in the province through our operations producing and supplying essential de-icing salt,” said the company in a statement. “Currently, there is no near-term path to safely and competitively mine potash at the Picadilly facility. This will remain under long-term review.”

This is not the news New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt wants to hear.

Speaking with reporters at the Port of Saint John Tuesday, Holt says the province cannot have a valuable asset like potash available within the province that is not being used to benefit New Brunswickers.

“We talked to Nutrien about the conditions and what it would take to get that going again and if they were prepared to make those steps,” Holt says. “And if they weren’t, were they prepared that we were going to come in and take the steps ourselves to make sure that New Brunswick resources are being used to the benefit of New Brunswickers.”

New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister John Herron flew to Saskatchewan in October to meet with Nutrien officials and get a better understanding of what it would take to see the mine reopen for potash operations.

During those talks the minister told Nutrien he understands, while it may be cheaper for the company to produce the resource in Saskatchewan, he has a duty to his province to make sure the Picadilly site is being used for its full value.

“Help me understand more about what metrics have to change,” Minister Herron says he asked Nutrien officials during those meetings. “What market conditions have to change, what opportunities might exist from a mining technology perspective for them to recommence activity in mining potash in Sussex?”

Herron is more than aware restarting operations won’t happen overnight.

In March, Herron will unveil the province’s full comprehensive minerals strategy after releasing framework for the document late last year. A part of that strategy could include a “use it or lose it” piece of legislation that wouldn’t allow for economic opportunities in the provinces mining sector to be left stranded.

He says the legislation itself wouldn’t be so crass, but suggests there needs to be a process where it is not OK for a company to have a lease on a site without the desire to use it for its full potential.

“When a claim, or a mining licence, or an operation becomes dormant and the entity just wants to hold it and do the bare minimum to maintain their lease, I’m going to suggest that a process would commence,” Herron says. “We need to have a detailed understanding about what market conditions have to change for them to advance a particular geological asset.

“If there isn’t common ground or common understanding in that process, I could envision a regulatory framework that would call upon that company to begin a process of either handing over, if it’s in the form of a claim, or be commencing a process where they would sell that geological asset. If they’re unable to do that, then the province may actually take up the responsibility in doing that for them.”

Herron had initially set a deadline for the end of 2025 for Nutrien to detail what it would take to reopen the Picadilly mine, but as the new year came and went, the company had not gotten back to the province. That prompted the minister to send Nutrien another letter.

“You will recall that it was agreed that the Nutrien team would provide the Government of New Brunswick details to help the Province understand what parameters, market conditions and other metrics would have to change for Nutrien to advance the economic potential of the Piccadilly mine. It was agreed that Nutrien would provide this information by the end of 2025,” the letter reads in part.

“To be clear, it is not the desire of the province to allow the province’s geological assets that have economic potential to remain dormant in perpetuity. Nutrien is a world class company that knows this asset, is best positioned to advance this site. The Government of New Brunswick wants to work with you, we want Nutrien to work with us.”

The minister says Nutrien responded to his letter earlier this week, but did not detail its contents out of respect for the company.

When he was an MP in Ottawa 25 years ago, Herron says about 7 per cent of New Brunswick GDP came from the mining sector, but today that number is less than half a per cent. He says Premier Holt is very impatient as it relates to unlocking and growing the province’s vast mining opportunities.

New Brunswick isn’t the only level of government that would like to see more from Nutrien.

At a luncheon earlier this week at the Port of Saint John, Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon expressed his frustration with the Saskatchewan company for its plans to open a new ocean terminal in Washington State, as opposed to Canada.

“They did it for their own reasons,” MacKinnon told a full room Tuesday at the Port in Saint John. “We will never question people’s business decisions, but I am going to keep using them as an example of a business opportunity that we lost, that the country lost because of not fixing some of the things that I said needed fixing. Port capacity, better development of our transportation infrastructure, and better certainty around serving people in and around port facilities and a better labour relations regime.”

MacKinnon says he isn’t sure to what extent these factors played, but says they all played a role in the company’s decision to look to build a $1-billion export facility south of the border.

“In the current context, I don’t like that,” MacKinnon says. “We got to stop that from happening when we can. We’re going to try and convince Nutrien to change their mind but if they don’t, I’m sorry Nutrien, we’re going to keep using you as an example of something that can’t happen again.”

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