Atlantic Potash Advances Millstream Toward Production
By Keith Attoe, CEO and Director, Atlantic Potash Millstream Corporation
For most people, potash means Saskatchewan. New Brunswick rarely enters the picture – yet the geology around Sussex has been quietly supplying fertilizer to farmers across the eastern seaboard and beyond since 1983. The next chapter of that story is now taking shape.
The Millstream Potash Project sits in Kings County, 10 kilometres southwest of Sussex, within the same Moncton sub-basin geology that has proven productive for decades. APMC was awarded the mineral lease in 2011 and has invested more than $17 million since then, advancing the project through systematic exploration, independent technical review, and early environmental work.
A deposit with strong fundamentals
The Millstream deposit contains a measured mineral resource of 158 million tonnes grading 32.6 per cent KCl, with indicated and inferred resources adding further scale. The estimate is documented in a 2022 NI 43-101 technical report prepared by ERCOSPLAN, a German engineering consultancy whose principals bring over 70 years of combined potash experience across four continents.
The ore body consists of up to five stacked sylvinite horizons. The highest-grade among them grades between 41.78 per cent and 45.74 per cent KCl – premium quality by any global benchmark. Insoluble content across the deposit runs below three per cent, which simplifies processing and reduces operating costs. ERCOSPLAN has identified conventional flotation as the preferred processing route, a well-understood technology with a proven track record in similar deposits.
A 2024 scoping study confirmed the project’s potential to produce two million tonnes of muriate of potash per year over a 25-year mine life, at an estimated capital cost of US$1.5 billion and annual operating cost of US$191.7 million.
The advantage of location
Millstream sits approximately 70 kilometres from the Port of Saint John, a deep-water, ice-free terminal with direct access to Atlantic shipping lanes. The region is well-served by existing rail and road connections to the port. Compared with producers moving product by rail to West Coast ports, that proximity translates to an estimated US$75 per tonne freight advantage – a structural edge that holds regardless of where potash prices move.
Indigenous and community engagement
APMC recognizes that meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities is fundamental to responsible project development. The company will begin formal consultation with First Nations, coordinated by Stantec, with the goal of ensuring Indigenous voices inform the project from an early stage. Dialogue has also been opened with both municipalities in the project area to surface community priorities and shape development accordingly.
Environmental assessment progress
In June 2026, APMC presented baseline environmental assessments to New Brunswick’s Department of Environment and local government, and its technical review committee – a formal step toward an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) registration. Four field-based surveys have been completed, covering aquatics, wetlands and vegetation, wildlife, and archaeology. The archeological assessment, filed with the province in spring 2026, identified no issues. A gap analysis has identified outstanding studies still required – including water supply, brine and tailings management, and groundwater baseline surveys – to be addressed as engineering and design advance.
Technical work and next steps
A summer 2026 drill program of two boreholes to approximately 1,100-metres depth will soon be underway with Logan Drilling, gathering the rock mechanical and processing data required for mine design. The company’s schedule targets a pre-feasibility study by mid-2027 and a bankable feasibility study by 2028, with construction and ramp-up projected for the early 2030s – timelines that align with New Brunswick’s new Mineral Resources Act and its expectation that licence holders actively advance their resources.
Millstream is advancing on exactly that basis: steadily and deliberately, with the geology, logistics, and groundwork in place to become Atlantic Canada’s next potash mine.
For more information, visit www.apmcpotash.ca.
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