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Potash One Inc. ("Potash One" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that on February 28th, 2010, the Company submitted to the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment ("MOE" or the "Ministry") an environmental impact statement ("EIS") for its Legacy Potash Solution Mine in southern Saskatchewan.
Following the submission of the Project Proposal to the MOE in September 2009, the Ministry developed and published Project Specific Guidelines for the Legacy Project ("Project"). These guidelines provided the basis for the EIS and defined the key items or issues that the Ministry required to be addressed in the EIS. The submission of the EIS culminates a 2-year effort in environmental baseline data collection, environmental design work, impact assessment analysis and also provides a comprehensive view of the Legacy Project's expected impact on the local and regional environments. The EIS provides Project information and data upon which the MOE will consider granting environmental approval ("Environmental Approval") for the Project. Approval from the Minister of Environment is required under the Saskatchewan Environmental Assessment Act before the proponent of a development (in this case, Potash One) may apply for and receive detailed construction and operating permits under other legislation. It is expected that the technical review of the EIS and subsequent MOE advice with respect to public consultations and requests for specific additional information will require several months. On that basis, the Company expects the final decision on Environmental Approval before the end of 2010. Paul F. Matysek, President and Chief Executive Officer of Potash One, stated: "We are very pleased to have achieved another key milestone in the development of the Legacy Project. Our initial decision to conduct a comprehensive two year study gives us great confidence that we fully understand the environmental impact of the Legacy Project and we can successfully address any concerns in our final development plan. We have always adopted a thorough, cooperative and transparent approach to regulatory and environmental matters and that is why we selected an experienced firm like Golder Associates Ltd. of Saskatoon, to be our lead consultant on our EIS study. We look forward to a positive outcome which will launch Legacy into its final stage of development." |
