Sio-Silica

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Updates

[2026-07-21] Over the past five years, the Manitoba Eco-Network has been working to support concerned community members from the RM of Springfield and the surrounding area who are worried about the potentially irreversible impacts to the environment and human health that Sio Silica’s proposed silica sand extraction activities could cause.
 
We are extremely troubled that in the years since Sio Silica’s application for their proposed silica sand extraction project was first rejected, they have not made meaningful progress on any of the recommendations made by the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) in the June 2023 Hearing Report for the first iteration of this project. We question the motives of a company that has failed to produce credible data and address the significant risks posed by Project SiMbA that have already been identified through Manitoba’s impact assessment process. We fear that this project is not being developed with the best interests of Manitobans in mind. These fears have been echoed by the thousands of Manitobans who shared their concerns about Project SiMbA with the Government of Manitoba in December 2025.
 
We continue to recommend that the Environment Act Proposal for the SiMbA Silica Extraction Project be rejected by the Department of Environment and Climate Change now, without wasting more taxpayer time and money to re-review a project that remains substantially the same as the Vivian Sand Extraction Project, including the potential for irreversible harm to the Winnipeg Sandstone and Red River Carbonate aquifers.

MbEN also has serious concerns about the unethical behaviour of the Sio Silica Corporation and have voiced our concerns to the Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Manitoba Legislature about their ongoing advertising campaign and other inappropriate attempts to influence the impact assessment and licensing process at the provincial level.

We encourage you to read our public comments on the proposed Sio Silica project, available on our website:

Overview

The Sio Silica Corporation wants to extract silica sand in a mining operation near Vivian, Manitoba.
The project threatens the pristine groundwater in southeastern Manitoba, which supplies drinking water for approximately 100,000 Manitobans.

In December 2021, Sio Silica was granted an environmental licence for the Vivian Sand Processing Facility. Sio Silica continues to seek approval for their proposed silica sand mining activities.

Sio Silica’s first application for an Environment Act Licence for their silica sand mining activities was rejected by the Manitoba Government in February 2024. This followed a review of the project by Manitoba’s Clean Environment Commission (CEC), who recommended that a licence not be granted due to serious environmental concerns about this project. 

Independent engineering experts hired by the Manitoba Eco-Network (MbEN) and Our Line in the Sand (OLS) as part of the CEC hearings highlighted serious concerns about the potential environmental impacts of the project, especially the potential impacts on the Winnipeg Sandstone and Red River Carbonate aquifers. These concerns about the proposed drilling method and other problems with Sio Silica’s proposal were validated by the CEC in their final report and through the Minister of Environment and Climate Change’s ultimate decision to not grant a licence.

Matrix Solutions Inc. Diagram of Indirect Effects

Indirect Effects of the Proposed Drilling Process - Graphic by Matrix Solutions Inc. (2023)

Despite already being rejected once, Sio Silica has submitted another application for an environmental license for essentially the same silica sand extraction project, but with a new name: the SiMbA Sand Extraction Project. This means that Sio Silica has another opportunity to get their problematic silica sand extraction activities approved.

In the application for their “new” project, Sio Silica has not addressed concerns shared by the public and the CEC about their proposed silica sand extraction activities:

  • Sio Silica still intends to use the same novel extraction method that was shown in the CEC hearings to risk destroying important barriers between separate aquifers, potentially creating sinkholes at the surface, and increasing the risk of contaminants entering the ground water.
  • Although Sio Silica’s updated application indicates they will be proceeding with a “step-wise phased approach” that involves drilling less wells and extracting less sand in the first-five years, ultimately the risks to ground water still remain, and longer term the company still plans to develop the original project in its entirety over the anticipated 24 year life span of the project.
  • Sio Silica’s request for an Environment Act license for only the first 5 years of a 24 year project is an example of “project splitting,” as it limits the review of the extraction project to only the first five years of activities. Key risk assessments, including a cumulative effects assessment, need to consider the project in its entirety.
  • The CEC recommended Sio Silica do a cumulative effects assessment for the full 24-year life of the project, but in their updated application Sio Silica still refuses to do a cumulative effects assessment.
  • The CEC recommended Sio Silica complete and distribute for public comments 10 individual management/mitigation plans, but Sio Silica has only included 3 of these plans in its updated application. Claiming “others will be prepared prior to commencing project activities.” The CEC clearly recommended that all plans be available for the public to comment on. By not including 7 of the 10 plans recommended by the CEC the proponent is shielding these plans from public review.
    • Want to learn more about post-approval practices, read our Fact Sheet on "After Approval, What Happens?" For more, read our memo on Post Approval Practices in IA.

Take Action

The EAP Project SiMbA is currently being considered by the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

The EAP for Project SiMbA is currently being considered by the Department of Environment and Climate Change. In March 2026, the Department requested more information from Sio Silica about the project after reviewing the comments from the public and the Technical Advisory Committee. This information must be provided to the Department before September 30, 2026.

We have not yet heard back from the Department about:

  • Whether or not the project will undergo an environmental assessment, and what the timeline of this process may be.
  • The Class of Development the project will be assigned.
  • If there will be a public hearing held by the Clean Environment Commission for the project and if such a public hearing would include financial support for intervenors

Speak to your local Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly (MLA) and/or the Minister of Environment and Climate Change about your concerns with Project SiMbA.

Ask them to protect our pristine ground water and encourage the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to:

  1. Reject the project now. Sio Silica has not addressed the reasons that led to the original licence rejection. There is no need to move any further with the licensing and assessment process. The application can simply be rejected at this stage.
    2. However, in the event this project is allowed to continue further through the impact assessment and licensing process, the Department should:
    1. Designate the Project a Class 3 development – the Minister, not the Director, should ultimately make this decision.
    2. Require a cumulative effects assessment report before proceeding further – this was a CEC recommendation and key concern of intervenors like MbEN and OLS – no approval should be given until a proper cumulative effects assessment is undertaken.
    3. Require public post approval practices and plans (i.e. monitoring, follow-up and adaptive management) before proceeding further – the public needs to see all of Sio Silica’s plans and provide our feedback prior to any decision, they should not be kept secret until after a licence is granted.
    4. Request the CEC hold public hearings with full participant funding. Project SiMbA should be rejected outright. However, should this project proceed through Manitoba’s impact assessment process, then a public CEC hearing must be held again. And this time participants should be provided participant funding.

Help Support Our Work

Consider making a donation to help support our advocacy on this campaign.

Further Background Information

Manitoba Environment Act Public Registry File 6275.00 – Simba Sand Extraction Project, Sio Silica 
https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/eal/registries/6275/index.html
 
Manitoba Environment Act Public Registry File 6119.00 – Silica Sand Extraction Project, Sio Silica Corporation (formerly CanWhite Sands)
https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/eal/registries/6119/index.html

Manitoba Environment Act Public Registry File 6057.00 – Vivian Sand Processing Facility, Sio Silica Corporation (formerly CanWhite Sands)
https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/eal/registries/6057canwhite/index.html

Manitoba Press Release (February 16, 2024) – Manitoba Government Announces Vivian Sand Proposal Will Not Move Forward — Serious Environmental Concerns Outweigh Uncertain Economic Benefit: Kinew
https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=62000&posted=2024-02-16

Manitoba Clean Environment Commission – Silica Sand Extraction Project Hearing Index
https://www.cecmanitoba.ca/hearings/silica-sand-extraction-project/index.html

Manitoba Clean Environment Commission (June 22, 2023), Report on the Vivian Sand Extraction Project
https://www.cecmanitoba.ca/hearings/silica-sand-extraction-project/doc/cec_vivian_sands_extraction_project_report.pdf

Manitoba Eco-Network (March 15, 2023), Too Many Unanswered Questions: CEC must say no to Vivian Silica Sand Extraction Project
https://mbeconetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/2023-03-15-Sio-Silica-Vivian-Sands-media-release.pdf

Manitoba Eco-Network (February 16, 2024), An Important Victory For Safe Drinking Water, Science And Common Sense: Manitoba Eco-Network And Our Line In The Sand Commend The Decision Not To Approve Licence For The Vivian Silica Sand Extraction Project 
https://mbeconetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/24-02-08-Federal-Consultation-Comments_Crit-Minerals_Final-Draft.pdf

Bartley Kives, CBC News (October 28, 2025), Sio Silica plans to drill fewer wells, remove less sand as part of new request for environmental licence: Alberta sand mining company files new application following rejection in 2024
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/sio-silica-new-license-9.6957195

Julia Simone-Rutgers, The Narwhal (December 27, 2024), Sio Silica is staging a comeback — with a push for First Nations support: A recording of a closed-door meeting shows Sio Silica’s latest tack: numerous promises to Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, including millions in equity. Now the community faces ‘a great divide’
https://thenarwhal.ca/manitoba-sio-silica-brokenhead-recording/

Posts Archive

Submit Your Comments Now (Deadline December 1, 2025):
Sio Silica, Simba Sand Extraction Project (File No. 6275.00)

The Department of Environment and Climate Change was accepting comments on the project proposal during November 2025, up until Dec 1st, 2025. To assist with drafting your comments we have set out a template letter that can be adapted, as well as links to further information. 

Our friends over at the Wilderness Committee have also created a letter writing tool regarding the Sio Silica Simba Sand Extraction Project on their website.

Template Response - Public Comment Form

(Comments closed on Dec 1st, 2025 - this has been left up for archival purposes)
If you aren't sure what to write - use our template below:

"These comments are in response to the Environment Act Proposal (EAP) for the Sio Silica Corporations proposed Simba Sand Extraction Project (formerly known as the Vivian Sand Extraction Project). Based on the information provided by Sio Silica in the EAP and their behaviour over the past few years, I think the Simba silica sand extraction project should be rejected now and not be allowed to move forward in the assessment and licensing process.

The ongoing concerns about the potential impacts of silica sand extraction on environment and human health have not been alleviated by the information in the EAP for the proposed Simba Project. Sio Silica’s failure to address the main concerns and recommendations of the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) and produce credible data to support their novel extraction process is a major red flag and an indication that this project is not being developed with the best interests of Manitobans in mind.

As noted by our Premier Wab Kinew when Sio Silica’s extraction project was rejected for the first time: “In order for Manitobans to be healthy now and for generations into the future, we have to protect a clean, safe and healthy environment.” This will require a high standard of impact assessment and meaningful public participation, including participant funding, to ensure the full scope of concerns and potential impacts are properly understood before irreversible harm occurs to the Winnipeg Sandstone and Red River Carbonate aquifers.

I agree with Premier Wab Kinew that Manitoba’s resources should be developed “with higher labour standards, higher environmental standards and greater respect for human rights compared to any other jurisdiction in the world.” So, I think that if this project is allowed to continue through the impact assessment and licensing process under The Environment Act, the Minister/Director should take the following actions:

1) Designate the Simba Silica Sand Project as a Class 3 development due to the potential significant and irreversible harm to the drinking water source of 100,000 Manitobans. A Class 3 designation will also ensure the Minister is the decision-maker for the impact assessment and licensing process.

2) Require Sio Silica to produce and publicly publish a cumulative effects assessment report before proceeding any further in the licensing process.

3) Require Sio Silica to produce and publicly publish their plans for post-approval practices (monitoring, follow-up and adaptive management) and emergencies in the public registry so they can be independently reviewed prior to the licensing decision.

4) Request the CEC to hold a public hearing to review Project Simba, with full participant funding.

Thank-you for considering my comments on Sio Silica’s proposed Simba extraction project."