Weyburn Area Focus Of Subsurface Mineral Public Offering
Saskatchewan’s Subsurface Mineral Crown Disposition Public Offering held on Tuesday raised $45,000 in revenue, bringing the total for the 2019-20 fiscal year to $55,000.
Five subsurface mineral permit blocks totalling 7,630.44 hectares were posted. Sun Valley Land Ltd. picked up three permit blocks totalling 5,038.99 hectares for $29,001.00. Prairie Lithium Corporation bid $16,123.00 for the two remaining permit blocks totalling 2,591.45 hectares.
The highest bid received in this offering was $19,001.00 from Sun Valley Land Ltd. This 2,133.58 hectare permit block is located 30 kilometres southeast of Weyburn and is prospective for brine minerals, such as lithium.
The subsurface mineral public offering is a competitive bidding process that allows for the fair, orderly, and transparent dispositioning of subsurface mineral rights in Saskatchewan. The Crown subsurface mineral rights posted in each public offering are requested by interested parties in the potash and brine minerals industry; if approved for posting, the rights are included in the next scheduled public offering.
“Subsurface minerals” are defined as all natural mineral salts—boron, calcium, lithium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, bromine, chlorine, fluorine, iodine, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur, and their compounds, occurring more than 60 metres below the land surface. Potash is a potassium compound, and subsurface minerals dissolved in subsurface geological formation waters are commonly referred to as “brine minerals”.
The next subsurface mineral public offering in Saskatchewan is scheduled for April 20, 2020.