The Alberta government is making it much easier to strip mine silica on public lands. The oil and gas industry uses this sandy mineral for hydraulic fracking and for well cement and filtration processes.
In August Todd Louwen, Minister of Forestry and Parks, issued a ministerial directive that greatly expands opportunities to mine silica, which is usually found along rivers and streams.
Under the old rules, companies could get a surface mineral exploration (SME) approval for a maximum 320 acre site. Surface mines could not exceed 80 acres.
The new regulations allow a single company to now hold two SMEs of 5,700 acres each, and the maximum size of a surface mine has more than doubled to 200 acres.
In 2024, Alberta’s oil and gas industry used 8.3 million tonnes of silica. Demand is expected to grow to 12 million tonnes by 2035.
A government press release said the new rules “are making it easier for silica sand producers to conduct exploration and extraction by reducing red tape, shortening decision times and enhancing accessibility on public lands.”
“Streamlining regulations while maintaining high environmental standards means more investment, more jobs and more long-term value staying right here in Alberta,” said Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, in the October media release.
However, conservation groups are saying Alberta’s waterways are at risk under the new rules. Provincial government officials provided no details on how it arrived at the much larger allowable exploration and mine sites.
Red tape reduction is a red flag for water and habitat
Kennedy Halvorson, a conservation specialist with the Alberta Wilderness Association, fears the loosening rules will endanger Alberta’s waterways.
“Allowing exploration to happen at such a larger scale, without many boundaries, is not forward thinking, especially considering if these deposits are primarily near our major waterways and our tributaries,” she said in an interview with the Investigative Journalism Foundation.
“I think the red tape language is always a bit of a red flag, because we want to make sure there is good oversight into these processes,” she said. “If you’re mining near or in a river, you can deepen or widen channels. You can create bank and slope instability. You can increase erosion. You can change the hydrology that can lead to habitat loss and fragmentation. You can increase turbidity and the suspended solids in the water, which then can reduce the ability of aquatic species to breathe or for the plants to go through photosynthesis.”
Industry lobbyists got what they asked for – slacker mining rules
Industry representatives had been lobbying the government for months to ease regulations on silica mining and reduce Alberta’s reliance on American imports, the Edmonton Journal reported earlier this year.
Peaskie Minerals Inc. is one of the biggest players in Alberta’s silica mining sector. Doug Horner, a former government cabinet minister and deputy premier, sits on Peaskie’s board of directors. According to the Edmonton Journal, he was one of the lobbyists “working the phones” and pressuring forestry and environment ministry officials for slacker rules and larger mines.
The lobbying efforts worked.
Without adequate oversight, the AWA’s Kennedy Halvorson said large scale surface mining for silica will result in habitat damage on public hands. This commonly found mineral is also known to pose a serious risk to oil and gas workers on fracking and drilling operations. Inhaling airborne silica dust can cause silicosis, an incurable lung disease that results in chronic breathing difficulties, coughing and fatigue.
