Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals Inc. (SMMI) has secured funding from four different federal and Saskatchewan government programs to help with construction costs of the $300-million sulphate of potash (SOP) fertilizer upgrade facility at our Chaplin plant.
The SMMI project qualified for a 15% royalty credit from Saskatchewan’s Oil and Gas Processing Investment Incentive (OGPII), which has expanded to include transferable oil and gas royalty/freehold production tax credits for chemical fertilizer projects.
The upgrade also received help from the Saskatchewan Chemical Fertilizer Incentive (SCFI) in the form of a non-refundable, non-transferable 15% tax credit on capital expenditures valued at $10 million or more for newly constructed or expanded eligible chemical fertilizer production facilities in the province. The credits from both of these programs will be received when operations commence.
Grants also came courtesy of the Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund (SAIF) and the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).
SAIF awards projects with an eye towards commercial advancement of research in the province.
“The assistance of the Saskatchewan Government through the Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund allowed us to complete important process testing at the Saskatchewan Research Council, testing that was essential to optimizing our process. The added assistance from IRAP permitted us to hire an engineer to oversee this testing and ensure that the results of this testing were incorporated into our final design. This new technical resource will be instrumental to the ultimate success of the project,” says Brent Avery, General Manager of the Chaplin plant.
IRAP, a federal initiative, offers funding for employees to do research on commercial development projects.