Athabasca Minerals Inc. (AMI) announced that mining and delivery of premium domestic sand from its Firebag resource north of Ft. McMurray has commenced. This product is in support of AMI’s partnership with Métis North Sand & Gravel and the contract announced on Dec. 20, 2021, with a major industry operator requiring approximately 1 million tonnes of filter sand.
Robert Beekhuizen, chief executive officer of Athabasca Minerals, said, “AMI has patiently held on to its Firebag resource for more than a decade. The time has come for this high-quality sand deposit to fulfil the demand of regional industry. We are excited to be supplying Métis North Sand & Gravel with an excellent product in support of their customer’s need for large volumes of filter sand.
“This past December and January, our subsidiary, TerraShift Engineering, implemented the mining plan and initiated their site testing program to validate the quality of Firebag sand throughout the resource. Our operations team moved in quickly and efficiently thereafter to bring in equipment, set the scale-house and open-up work fronts. In February, our subsidiary AMI RockChain mobilized its trucking solutions using its proprietary RockChain platform and product delivery is underway.
“Currently, the Firebag site is seasonally accessible by its own winter road until the end of March. Thereafter, our team will transition to AMI’s Kearl resource, which has been operational since 2014, to continue the delivery of filter sand to Métis North Sand & Gravel. The corporation is taking steps to convert the seasonal access road at Firebag into year-round access pending regulatory approvals,” Beekhuizen concluded.