Athabasca Minerals Inc. (AMI) signed a 10-year Aggregates Management Agreement with Montana First Nation (MFN) for the processing and sale of aggregates from MFN’s 185-acre Colchester Property located near Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
The scope of the agreement includes exploration, permitting, production management, marketing and progressive reclamation of the Colchester Property to supply sand and gravel materials to industry and municipalities in central Alberta as well as to Edmonton markets. It is anticipated that the Colchester Property will commence operations in the third quarter of 2019, pending regulatory approvals.
AMI’s Chief Executive Officer Robert Beekhuizen said, “We are excited and honored to provide our services for Montana First Nation, and about embarking on a journey together to establish a new aggregate production operation that will bring economic and community benefits. This is an important strategic objective for AMI where our corporate expertise in managing large-scale contracts for the Province’s Susan Lake and upcoming Coffey Lake aggregate operations can be meaningfully re-applied for the First Nations as well.”
Dana Archibald, AMI’s chief operating officer, added, “We are 100% committed to Montana First Nation’s values and principles of sustainability, which also align with AMI’s. We look forward to creating meaningful employment opportunities for members of the Montana First Nation and bringing this new venture to the attention of companies who are seeking high-quality products that are produced in a socially responsible manner.”
The Colchester Property is in MFN’s traditional territory, with close proximity to major roadways and rail, and situated in a regional belt of aggregate operations with promising industrial mineral resource of this nature.
The corporation will be assessing the extent of the resource from field tests in the coming weeks. The location enables cost-effective logistics with excellent access to regional infrastructure, oil and gas, petrochemical maintenance and capital projects, the company stated.