Athabasca Minerals Inc. is reporting record revenue and its second highest-ever quarterly net income, mostly from the company’s aggregates operations. The company also reported that it has received approval for the right to work and remove sand from Phase One of the Firebag Frac Sand Project from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
Athabasca is developing the Firebag frac sand deposit in order to supply frac sand to oil and gas customers in Western Canada. This deposit is strategically located north of Fort McMurray and is accessible by Highway 63.
On Aug. 25, 2014, the corporation received permit approval from ESRD to develop Phase One of the Firebag Project. The corporation will continue to work on approvals for Phase Two of the Project consisting of a 420-acre parcel of adjacent land.
On Sept. 23, 2014, Athabasca filed a National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) technical report advising of a 45-million ton inferred resource estimate covering Phase One and Phase Two of the Firebag Project to a depth of 15 m. The corporation has retained Norwest Corp. to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment with completion expected prior to the end of Q4 2014.
President and CEO Dom Kriangkum stated, “We are pleased to see the demand for aggregates in the Fort McMurray region increase during Q3 2014, and anticipate continuing strength during Q4 2014, when demand for aggregates is traditionally highest during the second half of the year. We have realized some significant recent success from implementing a number of cost reduction opportunities in extraction and processing that we targeted in the first half of 2014. Having received the Firebag Phase One permit approval presents a great opportunity for the development of our frac sand for use by Western Canadian pressure pumpers. We await Firebag’s Preliminary Economic Assessment that we expect in Q4 2014, which will further validate the viability of the project.”