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Kootenay West Gypsum Mine nearing production
EAO seeks public comments on proposed move of rail loadout facility to Canal Flats
After about six years of construction, a new gypsum mine is heading toward production near Canal Flats.
Saint-Gobain Canada’s CertainTeed Kootenay West Gypsum Mine completed the final phase of construction on Oct. 14 and nears full production capacity with the installation and commissioning of permanent equipment on site.
The Kootenay West Gypsum Mine is a strategic expansion investment by Saint-Gobain to ensure a quality supply chain of raw material for its Western Canadian operations, the company website outlined.
This new mine, which began its first construction phase in November 2019, will supply CertainTeed’s Vancouver and Calgary gypsum wallboard plants with 400,000 tons of high-quality gypsum rock annually.
Employing 30 people across the mine and related operations, the Kootenay West Gypsum Mine has an anticipated operational life expectancy of over 40 years. This overall project represents a nearly $50 million CAD investment in the Group’s western operations.
“It is with great pride that we officially launch full operations of our Kootenay West Gypsum Mine in British Columbia, a strategic expansion of our presence in Canada, strengthening our operations to continue meeting the construction market demand,” stated Jean-Claude Lasserre, CEO, Canada, Saint-Gobain. “With this new mine, we reinforce our commitment to supply Western Canada with our high-quality CertainTeed products and solutions for decades to come.”
Next up for the company is to move its rail load out facility from Invermere to Canal Flats.
CertainTeed Canada initiated a permitting phase for a future rail loadout project which will significantly reduce trucking distances from 4.5 million kilometres to 250,000 kilometres annually. This project would support Saint-Gobain’s sustainability goals by significantly reducing Scope 3 carbon emissions due to transportation of raw material.
As a result, The B.C. Environment Assessment Office (EAO) has launched a comment period on the proposed changes to the project, seeking public feedback to understand potential impacts specifically related to the changes.
The EAO is seeking public feedback on the proposed changes from Nov. 19 to Dec. 22.
The Kootenay West Gypsum Mine project was initiated to replace the Windermere Mine operations to meet gypsum rock quality requirements for wallboard production.
The Windermere mine will continue its operations to supply external clients in the agriculture industry and cement industry, extending the anticipated operational lifetime of the Windermere Mine for an additional 15 years.
Saint-Gobain Canada photo
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