Stephen P. Halabura M.Sc. P.Geo. FEC (Hon.) FGC
A professional geoscientist registered in Saskatchewan, Stephen is past president of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Canada and a Fellow of Geoscientists Canada.
Born on a farm near Cudworth, SK, Stephen obtained his B.Sc. degree in Geology degree in 1980 and his M.Sc. degree in Geology in 1983 from the University of Saskatchewan. In 1984 Stephen founded North Rim Exploration Ltd. (now RESPEC), a geoscience consulting company in 1984 and was its sole owner until its sale in 2009, after which he continued to offer his services as a consulting geologist.
Stephen began his geological consulting career focusing on the oil sector of Saskatchewan. Highlights of his oil career include being a co-founder of several successful Saskatchewan-based light and heavy oil companies including North Rim Oils Ltd., Prairie Hunter Energy Corp., and Rallyemont Energy Corp., each of which was sold after achieving success. Stephen is a co-founder of DEEP Earth Energy Corp., a company building Saskatchewan’s first geothermal baseload power facility at Torquay, SK.
Since 1989 Stephen has provided geological consulting services to the Saskatchewan potash sector in various aspects of potash geology and mining. Highlights of his potash career include being part of the Anglo Potash Ltd. team that brought the Jansen potash project to BHP Billiton. He was also a co-founder of Invictus Minerals Corp., a private company that became the basis for the German K+S Fertilizer Group’s new Bethune potash solution mine. He was also responsible for defining the geology for Karnalyte’s Wynyard Project, Canada Potash’s “Kirin” Project and IMC’s K3 Esterhazy mine extension.
Presently he is a co-founder and CEO of Buffalo Potash.
Five Reasons Small Potash Mines Make Good Business Sense
Over the past five decades the “right size” to build a potash mine has evolved from about a million tonnes circa late 1960s to “Three Million Tonnes or MORE…”, which is the current design and business paradigm.
Nevertheless, I must ask: “Must potash mines be so big?” Furthermore, can one make a business case for returning to the “One Million Tonnes or LESS” paradigm?
I can think of several reasons for building “Big” mines and here are three. First, there is the cost of sinking a vertical shaft or dissolving sufficient halite and sylvinite to create tall vertical caverns. Second is a matter of scale – big corporations need big mines to have an impact on the balance sheet. Third, big production equates to big market share, which gives a leg up on one’s competitors. So, if you want to build a traditional underground mine, or a conventional solution mine using the Belle Plaine mining method, a small mine won’t work.
However, I propose an alternative paradigm that I call “Small Modular Potash” or “SMP”: new technologies, based upon selective solution mining, modular process and facility design, and using environmentally sustainable water and energy sources, allow for bringing back the “One Million Tonnes or LESS” business model.
Why would a business want to own and operate an SMP mine? It may not be attractive to a big established potash producer, but to an entrepreneurial organization seeking a piece of a very lucrative business, it works and here’s why:
1. SMP requires lower overall CAPEX so its much easier to finance (what I call overcoming the “who’s got $5 Billion laying around for a new mine?” barrier)
2. There are buyers who want choice, or, for security of supply reasons, seek their own mine
3. The Saskatchewan oilpatch has all the kit needed to build small selective solution mines
4. SMP mines can be “Nimble & Green, Fast & Furious” and
5. Potash is probably one of the best businesses out there, with Saskatchewan being the best place in the world to build such a business.
Quo Vadis Buffalo? I co-founded the company because my 30+ years of potash experience has convinced me that after Jansen is built, Saskatchewan will not see another stand-alone, greenfield conventional underground or solution mine. However, the future will be SMP - the sprouting of smaller, greener, and lucrative mines in our Province, with these, a whole new investment, service, and supply ecosystem.
