BHP Billiton opens Saskatoon office
By Cassandra KyleDecember 23, 2008
Walking down the second-floor hallway to Gord Graham's new office, it's easy to think there are more construction workers employed at BHP Billiton Inc.'s home base in Saskatchewan than potash mining experts.
Labourers are using the elevator to move drywall from floor to floor at the Innovation Place building and, outside, men in safety vests are discussing the day ahead. But at the far end of the second-floor corridor, a sense of quiet opportunity replaces the power tools busy at 421 Downey Rd.
This is where the world's largest diversified resource company is setting up for a long-term stay in the province and Graham, project director for potash development, is at the helm of what could be a huge new potash project in Saskatchewan.
"The mines, if there are mines that come out of this, are going to be in Saskatchewan, so we thought it would make very good sense for the office to be here," Graham said of the company's latest project base.
What the director is referring to is the Jansen project, a promising land claim that could produce between four million and 8.7 million tonnes of potash per year. The project, located just east of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan's Lanigan mine, is still in the pre-feasibility stage, a very early part of the process that could eventually lead to mining operations.
'BIG BUSINESS' POTENTIAL
Graham, who works with 14 BHP Billiton colleagues in the three-month-old office, is cautious when talking about the potential for Jansen.
The project would be located on one of the properties the multinational company acquired when it completed the purchase of Anglo Potash Ltd. -- and its potash permits covering 1.8 million acres in Saskatchewan -- in July. It's impossible to predict what could become of the project, he said.
The outlook, however, is positive enough for the company to invest in an office and spend $103 million on exploration in Saskatchewan -- mostly at Jansen -- in its 2009 fiscal year. BHP Billiton's calendar runs from July 1 to June 30.
"If things continue to work out positively for us, our view is that we hope it can become a big business for BHP Billiton," Graham said.
"As I said, lots of things have to happen in due course and due process before we get to that point, but we wouldn't have pulled people together from all over the world and brought them here and wouldn't be spending a lot of money if we didn't believe it had the potential to be a good business for us."
Despite the economic slowdown, the company is prepared to continue its studies into Jansen's potential, he added.
"At the stage we're at right now, we think it's still a good project and we're going to continue with exploration."
RESOURCE CENTRE
BHP Billiton is among a number of resource companies that have recently opened offices in Saskatoon. Potash One Inc., for example, is headquartered in Vancouver, but has opened a field and operations office in Saskatoon to support its exploration and development work for potash solution mine amenable properties in the province.
Hathor Exploration Ltd., too, has set up shop in Saskatoon. Between three and four people work out of Hathor's downtown office on any given day, said Stephen Stanley, the uranium exploration company's president and CEO.
The junior company's Midwest NorthEast discovery in the Athabasca Basin means meetings and research in Saskatoon instead of its headquarters in Vancouver.
"Saskatoon is the place to have it," Stanley said of a Saskatchewan office. "It's great for bringing people in for presentations, it's where a lot of the other uranium companies are as well and most of our guys live in Saskatoon. It's sort of the centre for the resource business."
Add to that a "proactive" provincial government and friendly business atmosphere and Saskatoon is the place to be when opening up a mining office in Saskatchewan, he said.
"The city has treated us excellently, the government of Saskatchewan has treated us unbelievably well and we are quite pleased with Saskatchewan, I must say, in general," Stanley said.
TIME WILL TELL
Back at BHP Billiton's 6,000-square-foot base on the University of Saskatchewan campus, Graham said the company's move to Saskatoon has been positive for both the corporation and his family. Moving from Yellowknife, where Graham worked at BHP Billiton's Ekati diamond mine, to Saskatchewan's largest city has been a treat for his young children, he said.
"The provincial government, the business community in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan in general has been nothing but supportive and welcoming to us. We've felt great with just about everybody we've met," he said.
For now, the tone of operations in Saskatoon -- besides the whirring of electric drills -- is positive for BHP Billiton, he said. It's just a matter of time, and a lot of analysis, until Graham learns how long his new office will play a role in Saskatchewan's mining industry.
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