Humboldt mayor ‘ecstatic’ about BHP’s $6B Jansen mine investment

The mayor of Humboldt said Tuesday that he was “absolutely ecstatic” to learn that $6.4 billion will be invested by BHP into the expansion of the Jansen potash mine.

Mayor Michael Behiel expects Tuesday’s news to bring with it more jobs and families to the city by the end of the decade.

“Optimistically, we’re looking at upwards of 2,000 people moving into Humboldt,” he said. “The impact of that alone is just astronomical. Whether that be from the business end (or) the residential end, it’s going to increase our tax base and quality of life. (That would have) taken longer to do had we not had this announcement.”

The population of Humboldt right now is currently just over 6,000 people.

While there’s a lot of work to do when it comes to expanding the city to make it suitable for all those workers who might choose to make Humboldt their home, Behiel suggests the city is ready to get houses built and entice people to eventually move there.

Listen to Behind the Headlines with Humboldt Mayor Michael Behiel

“That would be a 33 per cent increase in our population. We’re optimistic. We’ve already been working with developers and potential developers to try and find solutions and get things rolling,” Behiel explained.

“We’ve worked on some housing incentives to bring those developers into the city and get them rolling. We’re trying to make sure everyone is addressed and looked after at the same time.”

Beheil noted BHP is also working closely with city officials.

“We’re expanding our lagoon to allow for that population increase and then some in a couple years. We’re exploring with BHP and the region where the gaps are in terms of infrastructure and business,” Behiel said.

“Hopefully we can get that all in there and set up to ensure everybody has all the opportunities and BHP has all their needs met without having to leave our region.”

Saskatchewan business insider Paul Martin was a guest on Saskatchewan Afternoon on Tuesday and he explained the investment shows BHP is taking potash mining seriously.

“They’ve decided that this is an industry with not just a future but a very big future,” Martin said. “It’s a vote of confidence for the industry as well — potash prices have been off and there’s some worrying a little bit — but if you take the look, they’re saying that for the next 20, 30, 40, 50 years, the future looks pretty positive.

“Once you build a mine, you never unbuild it. Saskatchewan is going to see the benefit of this capital expenditure here and this is going to put us up into $20 (billion to) $25 billion of committed capital coming into the province,” Martin added.