The Crown land sales model used for oil and gas is now being adopted for other minerals, including some that may be used for batteries.
The Government of Saskatchewan released the schedule for Subsurface Mineral Rights Public Offerings on June 29, making the transition to a competitive auction process for rights to potash and brine mineral exploration and development.
The province’s first Subsurface Mineral Rights Public Offering will be held Dec. 18. The public offering process under The Subsurface Mineral Tenure Regulations is similar to that for oil and gas tenure.
Subsurface mineral dispositions allow the holder to explore for all natural mineral salts and their compounds occurring more than 60 metres below the land surface.
“The implementation of the subsurface mineral rights public offering process is a milestone in the history of Saskatchewan’s potash and brine minerals industry,” Energy and Resources Minister Bronwyn Eyre said.
“The competitive bid process was prompted by the need to modernize the province’s procedure for disposing of subsurface mineral rights and will enhance Saskatchewan’s already strong competitive position compared to other mining jurisdictions.”
Subsurface Mineral Rights Public Offerings will subsequently be held every April, August and December. The schedule for next year will be released in August.
Effective immediately, the ministry is accepting nominations for upcoming subsurface mineral rights public offerings, and additional information is posted on the ministry website.
There has been recent interest in subsurface minerals such as lithium, used in electric car batteries, which can be extracted from brine and formation waters. Natural mineral salts present in Saskatchewan include boron, calcium, lithium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.
