Sio Silica submits revamped silica sand mining proposal in eastern Manitoba

WINNIPEG — A Calgary-based mining firm has submitted a second application to extract silica sand from eastern Manitoba, after being rebuffed last year in its initial attempt.

Sio Silica, in a filing with Manitoba’s Clean Environment Commission, said it has taken into account concerns raised previously, and is now planning to drill fewer wells in a much smaller area.

“This new project has been revised in consideration of the questions and concerns raised by the public, various Manitoba government departments and the CEC,” said company documents posted Tuesday by the agency.

Sio Silica initially sought to create more than 7,000 wells over 24 years across a large swath of southeastern Manitoba, extracting more than 30 million tonnes of high-purity quartz silica. The material is used in semiconductors, solar panels, fibre optics and other goods.

The idea ran into stiff opposition from some area residents and was rejected by the NDP government in 2024, partly because of concerns over the potential impact on drinking water in the area east of Winnipeg.

The project was also at the centre of a political scandal in which Manitoba’s ethics commissioner ruled that former premier Heather Stefanson and two of her cabinet ministers in the Progressive Conservative government unsuccessfully tried to push the project’s approval after losing the 2023 election and before the new NDP government could be sworn in.

The ethics commissioner did not find fault with Sio Silica. He said the three politicians broke the conflict of interest law in trying to get the project approved after being ousted by voters.

This time around, the company is submitting plans for a smaller project with more measures to protect water.

Extraction would be phased in, reaching up to 500,000 tonnes annually by the fourth year, and water brought to the surface would undergo filtration and UV treatment before being returned down the wells, the company’s submission said.

“Effects on groundwater quality will be minor and, in some cases, positive,” the documents say.

Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, the closest First Nation in the region, recently voted against partnering on the new project.

Premier Wab Kinew said Monday the proposal will go through the assessment process. The Clean Environment Commission has started accepting public comments online.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2025.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press