After nearly 75 years in operation, the sodium sulphate plant near Chaplin is getting a $220-million facelift
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After nearly 75 years in operation, the sodium sulphate plant near Chaplin is getting a $220-million facelift.
The plant, owned by Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals Inc. (SMMI), is being refurbished to produce 150,000 metric tonnes of sulphate of potash (SOP), a high-quality fertilizer and plant nutrient. The new product will be sold to North American and international markets.
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General manager Brent Avery said the company’s expansion into this new venture was a strategic decision made over several years as the market for laundry detergent, for which sodium sulphate is a key ingredient, began to erode. Powdered detergents are being replaced by liquid detergents leaving the company to research new market opportunities.
“We’ve been looking at diversification for a number of years and realized that we needed to go in a different direction,” said Avery. “We began researching and developing new concepts and SOP came up, which looked very promising. We went through a pre-feasibility study with an engineering firm and everything looked good.”
The project is currently in the design phase with demolition of the existing facility likely taking place sometime next year. The design is being undertaken jointly by Veolia Water Technologies and Engcomp and will feature the latest in leading edge design and technology. This will be a first-of-its-kind technology in Canada and promises to be up to 35 per cent more energy efficient than the technology currently being used to produce SOP.
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After the construction phase has been completed, the new facility should be operational early in 2024. This project is expected to result in a 50 per cent increase in jobs at the facility and more than 360 construction jobs will be supported.
After the design has been approved, Avery said the site preparation will be a significant undertaking as the current facility will have to be demolished and removed from the area. The new facility is expected to have a similar footprint to the existing facility.
Avery added that the project will not only maintain and create jobs at the facility, but it will also be a boon to the local construction industry. There will be new opportunities for local residents to find employment and stay in the area.
The new plant will combine potash and sulphate into a superior fertilizer product that is desirable among high-value crops, especially in the U.S. The new process will also lead to a new market for local potash mines.
“This is unique to Saskatchewan because there are no other places where potash and sulphate are so close together,” explained Avery. “We’ll be using potash from one of the major Saskatchewan potash players and combining it with sulphate. We almost think of ourselves as an in-line processing facility for potash. It’s really a win-win for both the potash industry and SMMI.”
SMMI began as a crown corporation in 1947 and remained under government ownership until 1988 when it was sold to private investors. Over the years, the company has also operated plants in nearby Mossbank and Ingebright. Those locations were eventually shut down as the market for sodium sulphate changed into a greater demand for higher purity than could be produced at those locations.
The company remains one of the largest producers of anhydrous sodium sulphate in North America and has provided product, not only for detergent, but also for pulp and paper, glass, starch, industrial enzymes, water treatment and livestock mineral feeds.
Despite the amount of production at the facility over the years, Avery said recent surveys indicate that the volume of sodium sulphate in the deposit remains high.
“This is an interesting deposit because, after all these years, you would expect there would be a lot less than what exists there now but it seems to keep coming back. It appears to regenerate itself somehow and nobody can really describe why that is happening. It’s a large alkali flat that’s maybe six feet deep and it percolates up — the water is drawing it out. The most recent survey shows that it has well over 20 years left and that’s not taking into account this regeneration.”
The project has been conditionally approved for the provincial government’s Sodium Sulphate Incentive, which provides a 10 per cent credit for capital projects that diversify products or improve operating efficiency. The provincial government has also reduced the royalty rate for sodium sulphate production to support the sector through the transition.
In addition, the project has received conditional approval under the province’s Saskatchewan Chemical Fertilizer Incentive, which provides a non-refundable, non-transferable 15 per cent tax credit on capital expenditures valued at $10 million or more for newly constructed or expanded eligible chemical fertilizer production facilities in Saskatchewan. The project has also received the support of the federal government through funds from the NRC-IRAP program.
“We’re going to be creating jobs across the spectrum from entry-level positions right through to technical and management positions. We’re going to be able to create careers for people who are interested in mining or who want to live in the area,” said Avery.
The Chaplin site is situated on the TransCanada Highway and the Canadian Pacific main east-west line.
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