Mining companies welcome Sask.'s newly introduced mining development powers

Mining companies in Saskatchewan are welcoming new powers meant to provide "stability" and "certainty" for the industry.

"I think this is one of those rare instances where it's a win for everybody," said Pam Schwann, president of the Saskatchewan Mining Association.

"It's a win because we're able to mine more efficiently, which means it's more cost-effective for industry. It's a win for government because they will receive royalties as well."

Saskatchewan's Minister of Energy and Resources, Colleen Young, introduced the Mineral Resources Amendment Act 2025 in the legislature on Thursday. It quickly passed first reading.

Under the legislation, the energy and resources minister will be granted a new power to designate a "subsurface development area," giving companies the ability to apply for access to mineral resources that would otherwise remain untouched.

Young said this is important when private mineral owners can't be located, including when the owner of the subsurface mineral rights has died or there are multiple rights owners who are otherwise inaccessible.

It will also allow Young to issue a designation when reasonable efforts to negotiate an agreement over the subsurface land rights have been exhausted.

"At this current point, [companies are] having to mine either around those particularly large parcels of land or curtail their operations," Young said.

Young stressed that companies will have to do "significant work" on an "intense search" over the course of a five-year period before they can apply to the minister for a subsurface development area.

If, and when, proceeds are drawn from the mineral rights, the royalties will be put into the province's general revenue fund. If, at some point, an individual comes forward and can prove they are the mineral rights holder, they can draw on those proceeds, Young said.

Marnell Jones, director of public affairs for the Mosaic Company, said these new powers will help the company solve a problem it has encountered as it works to extract potash in the province.

Being unable to secure subsurface mineral rights has forced Mosaic to "mine in ways that are very inefficient," Jones said.

"We leave those minerals behind, stranded forever. We can't go back and mine at a later date. So really the province loses out, as do we."

Jones estimated Mosaic could access "about a half a billion dollars" worth of mineral rights through the powers granted in the new legislation.