A Visit at Phoscan Martison Mine

By: Daniel Sigouin

Hearst, Ontario - February 7, 2008, it is 10h00 a.m. and we are preparing to leave for the Martison Mine site about 100 km Northwest of Hearst. I am travelling with Steve Dominy Chief Programs Section for Natural Resources Canada, Bertha Sutherland, Economic Development Officer for Constance Lake and Jocelyn Blais a local consultant currently conducting research for La Maison Verte of Hearst.

The Martison Phoscan Project is currently being examined for its potential as the key supplier of phosphate concentrate for a vertically integrated phosphoric acid plant to de developed near Hearst. The plant would utilize the Martison phosphate deposit as well as sulphuric acid. Phoscan is currently conducting a major 6.5 million, 80 holes drilling program focused on moving the project towards a bankable feasibility study.

At our arrival we were greeted by Janet Lowe Executive Vice President and Tim Horner Senior Project Engineer for Phoscan. After a 15 minute safety orientation session we enjoyed a nice lunch concocted by Chef Jeremy Theriault of Hearst and Sous-Chef Wayne Baxter of Constance Lake. Fabulous Italian wedding soup, supper sized hamburgers and the famous poutine are on the menu. Now I understand why weight gain is a concern for some of the workers on site.
The purpose of our trip is to investigate the possibility of conducting research in collaboration with Phoscan to potentially explore possible usage of peat considered as a waste product for Phoscan. The possible deposit of peat at the Phoscan site is significant, as much as 3 meters deep in some places. If you feel like doing the math, the proposed dimension of the excavated area is 700 meters by 1.5 kilometres. While there is a lot of peat in the north, in other regions, wetlands are smaller and there is greater pressure for their preservation as habitat and other values such as protection of water supply.

The properties of peat depend very much on its botanical origin and state of decomposition. Sphagnum peat decomposes slowly and remains quite fibrous. It is probably the material used to make the seedling pots. Peat that is more decomposed, and maybe formed more from other mosses, shrubs, and wood is darker, in smaller fragments, and probably higher in nutrients. Peats are usually acidic and are widely used as peat moss (basically sphagnum). During our visit at Phoscan samples were retrieved at different layers up to 2.5 meters deep. Clay samples were also collected.

Local construction Companies use decomposed peat (black muck) excavated as part of construction, quarrying, and road-building in topsoil mixes. The phosphate mine will provide a new source of peat.

Peat is also used as a potting mix and topsoil ingredient, or as mulch around plantations. Other possibilities to explore are production of peat pellets for fuel, and utilization of peat for Jiffy-type peat pots, possibly with added enhancements such as nutrients or humic fractions.
Although peat is generally treated as a non renewable resource because of its slow rate of renewal, mining represents an opportunity to use the peat as a carbon stock.

References;
Caroline Preston, Hearst Organics Preston revised0108.doc, January 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat
http://www.imcg.net/
http://phoscan.ca/