Western Potash, City of Regina agree to send recycled water to Milestone potash project

Western Potash Corp. (TSE:WPX) announced Tuesday that the City of Regina has approved an agreement that will see a large portion of the city’s treated waste water routed to the company’s Milestone potash mine site.

The company’s shares jumped almost five per cent on the news, trading at $1.14 as at 11:00 am EDT.

Once up and running, Western Potash said the Milestone project will draw between 40 per cent and 70 per cent of the City of Regina‘s wastewater.

The company said the agreement, if paid out annually, is worth more than $200 million to the city over a 45 year term and will see up to 60,000 cubic metres of treated waste water diverted daily from the Regina wastewater treatment plant to the Milestone potash mine site located approximately 30 kilometres Southeast of Regina and 80 kilometres Southeast of Mosaic Co.’s (NYSE:MOS) Belle Plaine mining lease.

"Western Potash is delighted to have reached this agreement with the City of Regina and is pleased to be working together to sustainably innovate the potash solution mining process," said Western Potash's president and CEO Patricio Varas.

"There are certainly no other potash solution mines in the world utilizing treated waste water."

The junior miner said that the City of Regina will operate the pump house and pipeline and will be responsible for obtaining all necessary environmental approvals, while Western Potash will fund the capital costs associated with the construction of the pump house and pipeline.

"This innovation is a win-win for everyone," said Regina’s acting deputy mayor Louis Browne.

"Not only is the City of Regina now being compensated for treating a waste product, but we are facilitating economic growth in one of Saskatchewan’s key sectors: Potash development.

"In addition, downstream negative effects such as increased algae will also be alleviated, making this is a prime example how creative thinking and partnerships can yield a more promising future for everyone."

Western Potash is a mineral exploration company engaged in the evaluation, exploration and development of potash mineral properties in Western Canada.

Under NI 43-101 guidelines, the Milestone project holds 66.6 million tonnes of measured recoverable resource, 186.9 million tonnes of indicated recoverable resource and 708.2 million tonnes of inferred recoverable resource.

Western Potash said the Milestone project contains potash resources of sufficient size and grade to support solution mining for more than 40 years at a production rate of 2.8 million tonnes per year.