Gypsum industry news
Canada: Saint-Gobain Canada has scaled up its Kootenay West, British Columbia, gypsum mine to full production capacity of 400,000t/yr. The mine supplies gypsum wallboard subsidiary CertainTeed Canada's Calgary and Vancouver plants. It has an anticipated operational lifespan of 40 years and employs 30 people. The mine will replace the role of the Windermere gypsum mine in Saint-Gobain Canada’s gypsum wallboard operations. The Windermere mine will continue to operate for another 15 years, supplying customers in the agriculture and cement sectors. The company first broke ground on the new mine at Kootenay West in 2019.
CertainTeed Canada has initiated permitting for the construction of a rail loadout at the Kootenay West mine. When commissioned, the facility will reduce the total annual distance of gypsum transported between Kootenay West and the company’s gypsum wallboard plants by 94% from 4.5 million kilometres to 250,000km.
CEO Jean-Claude Lasserre said "It is with great pride that we officially launch full operations of our Kootenay West gypsum mine in British Columbia, a strategic expansion of our presence in Canada, strengthening our operations to continue meeting the construction market demand.”
Australia: Gypsum supplier Gypsum Resources Australia has joined 24 other organisations in calling on the state government of New South Wales to reconsider a planned relocation of Sydney Harbour’s last working port from Glebe Island in Sydney Harbour to the city of Newcastle, 150km away. The company said that such a move might have ‘severe’ economic repercussions due to increased freight costs and supply chain delays for the Sydney market.
Gypsum Resources Australia General Manager Alistair Kelsh said “We need clarity and certainty for the future, so that we can continue to support Sydney’s construction needs. Shifting Glebe Island port facilities will not just see building projects cost more for consumers and the government, but lead to thousands of extra truck movements on Sydney’s roads.”
