By Andrew de Souza

BHP Billiton wants in on province’s growth

May 13, 2011 | 6:40 AM

Saskatchewan is on the verge of an economic boom and BHP Billiton wants to be part of the action, according to the company’s vice-president of external relations, Chris Ryder.

That motive can be seen by the company’s decision to move their Canadian head office to Saskatoon from Vancouver.

“We’re building the premier potash business in the world here and we want to be close to where the resource is,” he said, at the Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon on Thursday.

“We’re going to have a significant impact on the community, so we want to be close to the communities, and we want to be close to the resource because it’s significant and we want to be there to make sure we keep our eye on the ball, run safely, and manage our risk and opportunity.”

Ryder talked to the crowd about how the company’s plans to build the largest greenfield potash mine in the world.

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He said the mine could expect to employ around 2,000 people during construction and 1,000 people during operation, with an output of as much as 8 million tonnes per year.

As the world demand for the compound increased, the province, the company and all its employees, contractors and associated communities would feel the impact.

“There are a lot of businesses that are very capable,” Ryder said. “We would rather work with our neighbours and with companies close by than have to bring those services in.”

“It makes the communities close to us healthy, makes them share in the prosperity from our projects and frankly it’s the right thing to do.”

Ryder said that the mine is waiting on the province to review the project’s environmental impact statements before it could move forward.

He said that while BHP Billiton didn’t traditionally dabble in the potash world, the time was right to make a move into the province and in the industry, especially since the company withdrew its bid for PotashCorp.

Ryder said Saskatchewan was on the upswing and he suspected great things for the province.

“We do graduate a lot of university graduates who are capable, but they go elsewhere,” he said. “Now people are starting to come back.”

“So the combination of that and the fact that we’ve got some of the best uranium, potash, oil and gas resources in the world, combined with still a robust agricultural industry means that times look good for Saskatchewan, provided we develop those resources well.”

adesouza@panow.com