Construction firm to reopen Kapuskasing, Ont. phosphate mine

British Columbia-based Infracon Construction, Inc., announced today it has purchased the shuttered Agrium phosphate mine in Kapuskasing, Ontario.

It plans to invest “substantial capital” to bring the mine back into production, the company said in a statement.

The acquisition includes a processing plant in Matheson, Ontario, and various other mineral properties in the province. Infracon chief executive officer Geoff Hampson will head the operation through a subsidiary company called KAP Minerals.

Agrium closed the open-pit mine around 2013, according to a report in Northern Ontario Business. At the time, Agrium said the mine would be nearing depletion.

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Infracon Construction said KAP Minerals plans to commercialize the Apatite deposit, a high-quality phosphate deposit in the Cargill Township Carbonatite Complex.

The company said it plans to work with Taykwa Tagamou Nation to establish a benefits agreement to provide employment and contracting opportunities for First Nation-owned businesses in the region.

Earlier this year, Fox River Resources Corp proposed the Martison Phosphate Project northeast of Hearst, Ontario.

Canada depends on imports of phosphorus to meet domestic need. Western Canada consumes about 892,000 tonnes of actual phosphorus per year, while Eastern Canada consumes about 202,000 tones of actual phosphorus, according to a 2022 report from the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI).

In that report, CAPI said the limited supplies and suppliers of phosphate fertilizers are “increasingly perceived as a source of vulnerability in a more volatile world.”