Jansen Project update and BHP’s COVID-19 response

In line with BHP’s core value commitment to health and safety, the team at the Jansen Project site has done everything possible to ensure the people who live and work there continue to stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The BHP Jansen Potash Project has seen many changes over the past year, mainly due to new controls being implemented on site to keep our people and communities safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2020, in response to the provincial and federal governments’ emergency measures, activity was reduced on site to focus on one shaft at a time with reduced crews. This reduced the number of contractors and the need for out-of-province workers on site. Once the response to COVID-19 stabilized and COVID-19 controls were developed and implemented, activity was ramped back up to full crews operating in both shafts. The temporary slow-down of work on the shafts did not materially affect the timeline of the final liner scope, which consists of lining the two shafts with a final waterproof liner from the bottom (-1,000 metres) up.

In line with BHP’s core value commitment to health and safety, the team at the Jansen Project site has done everything possible to ensure the people who live and work there continue to stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. This past December, we implemented Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) screening on site, which helped us to identify those individuals who may have been asymptomatic. More than 7,600 screening tests have been performed, proactively identifying 11 COVID-19 positive workers. The screening has enabled us to relocate individuals from the site to a safe location for isolation while they recover from or wait until symptoms pass. In late March 2021, we also implemented rapid testing on site, an additional measure to ensure we are stopping anyone who may be contagious with the COVID-19 virus from entering the site. All workers now take a PCR and rapid test as soon as they enter the site at the start of their rotation. If the workers do not work in close proximity to others and their rapid test result is negative, they are free to go about their day. If the worker works in close proximity with others, they are required to wait in an isolation room for approximately two to three hours until their PCR results are returned negative. Testing has enabled us to ensure that close-proximity workers (ex. shaft workers) are not infected with COVID-19 before going to work. Since our testing commenced, there has been no workplace transmitting of COVID-19 on the Jansen site. In addition to PCR and rapid testing, temperature checks, mandatory masks in public areas, reduced bus capacity, Bluetooth contact tracing cards – which are critical in on-site close contact tracing if a COVID-19 positive test does occur – and increased deep cleaning, including using a Clorox360 machine, contribute to our thorough safeguards against the virus.

Off-site, BHP has been proud to offer support to the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities which surround the site. In March 2020, we implemented an accelerated payment program, which delivered approximately $3 million more quickly into the hands of our small business partners through a reduction of payment terms and an immediate payment of outstanding invoices for Indigenous and local community business partners. BHP was also proud to donate over $100,000 to various food banks throughout the province of Saskatchewan in support of COVID-19 relief efforts. The BHP corporate affairs team was also able to support the supply of hygiene products and safety supplies to local community stakeholders, including hand sanitizer and traffic cones for managing access to communities under stricter lockdowns.

Vice-president, operations for BHP Potash, Giles Hellyer said, “The health, safety, and wellbeing of our personnel and the communities around the Jansen Potash Project are our primary concern and we have been implementing measures to reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19 in our office, on site, and in nearby communities.”

In spite of COVID-19-related changes, the Jansen Project has been progressing, prepping the site for a potential construction period, and focusing on the final liner scope. The Jansen Project is expected to be brought to the BHP Board of Directors sometime in the middle of the 2021 calendar year for a sanction decision.

We want to thank everyone on site for continuing to ensure that our site is a safe and healthy place to work, including the Jansen Health Centre team and the Lanigan and District Ambulance Association (LADAA), who have gone above and beyond over the last year. l

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