In April of this year, Saguenay Port Authority revealed a plan to expand its activities through the construction of a new marine terminal to serve the north shore of the Saguenay River. The marine terminal facilities will include a wharf to handle vessels of a minimum capacity of 50,000 deadweight tonnes, ship loader, silos and concentrate handling systems, as well as an access road to the wharf for operational and maintenance purposes.
The new facilities are primarily intended to provide Arianne Phosphate Inc. with deep water port access allowing it to export its planned production output of 3 million tonnes annually of phosphate concentrate efficiently and cost-effectively. Arianne is currently engaged in the environmental review process of its proposed $1.2 billion open-pit mine some 200 kilometres north of Saguenay. The area required for the project is approximately 20 hectares. Shipments originating from Arianne would create a demand for about 60 cargo-carrying bulker round trips annually.
The new terminal will be located in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, in the Municipality of Sainte-Rose-du-Nord on the north shore of the Saguenay River on land on which Arianne holds an option to purchase. The land to be owned by Arianne will eventually be transferred to Port of Saguenay.
The Port’s proposed project is currently the subject of an environmental assessment.