(Reuters) – The Manitoba government said on Friday it will not issue an environmental license for the proposed Vivian sand extraction project, citing potential risks to the ground water supply in the region.
“This proposal failed to adequately consider long-term impacts, including potential aquifer collapse,” Manitoba’s environment and climate change minister Tracy Schmidt said on Friday.
Calgary-based Sio Silica had proposed mining ultra-pure silica sand in the rural municipality of Springfield in Southeastern Manitoba.
Sio Silica, established in 2016, first proposed to extract silica sand from the Canadian province in April 2019.
Provincial Premier Wab Kinew said that the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) identified several environmental concerns about this project, “which would have extracted sand through aquifers that provide drinking water to 100,000 Manitobans”.
Silica is used to build solar panels, computer chips, batteries, fibre optics, and special medical glass.
(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
