Company behind proposed sand mining project partnering with U of Manitoba on groundwater monitoring research

An Alberta company that has proposed mining silica sand in Manitoba is partnering with the province's biggest university on the experimental design of a groundwater monitoring network, using technology experts say is growing in importance for global groundwater research.

Sio Silica president Carla Devlin says the mining company will work with the University of Manitoba on a feasibility study and to design a "scientifically vigorous, non-invasive system" that can track aquifer health in real time.

"It's not just for our project, but as a broader tool for responsible resource management in the province," Devlin told CBC News on Tuesday.

The partnership comes as Sio Silica has renewed its efforts to extract sand from the sandstone aquifer that sits below the Rural Municipality of Springfield in southeastern Manitoba.

In 2024, the NDP government rejected Sio Silica's request for a licence to extract sand from the aquifer, citing concerns about the potential effects on drinking water quality and possible subsurface collapses.

Sio's original plan proposed drilling 7,200 wells east and southeast of Winnipeg over 25 years and piping out highly sought after silica sand, which is used in solar panel production, hydraulic fracking for natural gas, glass manufacturing, construction and more.

The plan was met with community opposition over environmental concerns, and fears the wells could leech into and contaminate drinking water.

Sio Silica then proposed drilling fewer wells, proceeding more gradually and extracting less sand in a renewed effort to obtain a licence last year.

Devlin says the partnership with the university is separate from the company's second attempt for an environmental licence, but represents a "level of transparency" that can be added to the project moving forward.

When asked whether she believes the partnership will help quell past concerns about the licence request, Devlin said the research project is about understanding the aquifer as a whole.

"By supporting advanced monitoring and open data, we're helping ensure decisions are informed by science, transparency, and long-term stewardship — not assumptions of fear."

Sio Silica's technology team calls the research project a "game changer," according to Devlin.

"For the first time, the southern Manitoba aquifer will be studied as a complete system, generating a comprehensive groundwater database that would cost the government tens of millions of dollars to replicate."

Ricardo Mantilla, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba's civil engineering department who is leading the research project, says it will use quantum gravimetry — which can determine the acceleration of gravity — to measure changes in the ground's gravitational field as groundwater moves.