Cheryl Sinclair has been here before. Not this room, exactly — a conference room at Winnipeg’s Club Regent hotel — but it’s not the first time the Tyndall, Man., resident has shown up to a Sio Silica information session looking for answers.

“My concern is drilling into the aquifer, taking out sand and putting filtered water back in,” she says in an interview. “Can Sio Silica guarantee that the ground, the aquifer, will not be contaminated?”

On a Monday evening in mid-November, Sinclair is among the dozens of guests milling around at an open house hosted by the Alberta-based mining company that has spent the last decade devising a plan to extract silica sand from a southern Manitoba aquifer that serves more than 120,000 households.

The company has set up a trove of polished material: glossy handouts touting the economic benefits of the mine, posterboards outlining technical details about the proposed — and as yet unproven — airlift extraction method and its potential impacts on the aquifer, disposable water bottles wrapped in Sio Silica branding. A handful of engineers are stationed throughout the room to answer questions; some attendees hold hand-painted signs declaring their support for the project and the “#Jobs” it hopes to create; Churchill, the polar bear mascot for Winnipeg’s professional basketball team, the Sea Bears, mingles with attendees, helping promote an entry draw for game tickets.

Citizens attended an open house in November 2025 to learn about Sio Silica’s updated proposals for its sand mine southeast of Winnipeg. The company was denied an environmental licence to operate the mine in 2024. Now, it is applying again, this time with a revised plan that the company says will have a lower environmental impact. Photos: Svjetlana Mlinarevic / The Carillon

“From my perspective, there’s an overwhelming amount of support,” Sio Silica president and East St. Paul Mayor Carla Devlin says, sitting in a small room across the hall from the event, with her private security guard at the door.

“I think that a lot of people that had questions got answers, and I think that we probably changed some minds and corrected some misinformation.” 

This is Sio Silica’s second crack at convincing the government, and the community, to approve its controversy-laden mine. 

The company believes it’s found a uniquely high-quality sand deposit that’s already low in iron — a characteristic needed for technical and industrial applications like touch-screen glass, solar panels and aerospace technology. That trait makes the sand easier and cheaper to process without the need for chemical treatments, the company says. Once purified, Sio Silica says the sand can be used to make lithium-ion batteries, fibre optics, medical glass and other advanced technologies.

“It’s like Frank’s hot sauce,” Devlin says.

Sio Silica is staging a comeback — with a push for First Nations support

The proposal has been shot down once before, when a newly elected NDP government axed the company’s environmental licence application in February 2024. The decision was one of the first major acts for the government, and bucked a years-long trend wherein Manitoba’s environmental licensing process was all but a formality. For residents of Springfield, Anola, Vivian and other communities served by the aquifer, that rejection was a hard-fought victory after years of protests, petitions, environmental hearings and local council debates.

Sio Silica has remained convinced its project has merit. In late October, more than a year and a half after the first environmental licence was denied, the company submitted a modified application — starting the licensing process from scratch. 

“I was angry,” Sinclair says of the new application. “It’s like we’ve got to go back to the battlefield and start protesting again.”

Carla Devlin, who is both the president of Sio Silica and the mayor of a rural community near the company’s proposed mine, poses with a basketball mascot during a November 2025 open house regarding Sio Silica’s updated plans. Devlin says there’s “an overwhelming amount of support” for the mine. Photo: Svjetlana Mlinarevic / The Carillon

Devlin says the revised application was designed to show Sio Silica is listening to the community’s concerns. The biggest change is a significant reduction in the amount of sand the company plans to extract.

The original Vivian Sands project proposed extracting 1.36 million tonnes from more than 460 wells each year, with the wells arranged in clusters of seven. 

The new application, for the project now called “SiMBA,” proposes taking 100,000 tonnes in the first year and ramping up to a maximum of 500,000 tonnes by the fourth year. The company is now proposing to drill just 25 wells in Year 1 and scale up to 167 wells annually, this time in clusters of up to five. 

The overall footprint of the mine is projected to shrink, too. Sio Silica has access to more than 90,000 hectares of mineral claims across southern Manitoba, but plans to mine about 350 hectares in its first four years (a 45 per cent reduction from the original proposal) and 2,764 hectares over the lifetime of the project (a 66 per cent reduction). 

“We needed to show a gradual approach to build the trust and confidence,” Devlin says.

Sio Silica has more than 400 mineral claims totalling over 1,000 square kilometres in central and southern Manitoba — more than twice the area of Winnipeg. Map: Julia-Simone Rutgers / The Narwhal & Winnipeg Free Press

The company also plans to add filtering to its water treatment plan, to test its groundwater treatment process to “ensure compliance with provisions in an Environment Act licence,” and to draft plans to handle resident complaints and respond to any groundwater changes.

Not everyone is convinced. Katharina Stieffenhofer, a Winnipeg resident who has followed the company’s plans for years, says she still has “grave concerns” about the proposal.

“I’m concerned about the very likely injury — damage — to the aquifer, the drinking water, the landscape, the air, the roadways, and how it will impact the well-being and quality of life of Manitobans,” Stieffenhofer says.

“I’m also really concerned about their, shall we call it, public relations.”

Stieffenhofer says Sio Silica has been “greenwashing” its proposal.

“Initially they were going to use the silica sand for fracking. Then all of a sudden, we’re not doing that anymore, now it’s going to be all wonderful green economy, we’re going to make solar panels. Now this latest version is going to be for fibre optics for data because that’s the newest thing,” she says, referring to the way the company has marketed the aquifer sand.

“Who is really going to profit from this? I would say it’s not the people of Manitoba.”

‘A bad nightmare’: fear, fighting and the future of green energy in rural Manitoba

In its final report, the Clean Environment Commission noted Sio Silica’s open houses and community consultation efforts were “hampered” by a lack of detail about the mining plan. The commission recommended “more effective two-way communication” with affected communities and suggested the province require Sio Silica to strike a local advisory committee where residents can weigh in on the project. 

Devlin acknowledges Sio Silica’s community engagement hasn’t been perfect, but going forward the company wants to be “an open book,” including “having community involved in [environmental oversight] committees.”  

Stieffenhofer wants to see government-funded, independent analysis of the proposed extraction method to mitigate the risks to the drinking water source.

“The silica sand acts as the kidneys and the liver. It filters our water, it has a function, and you take that away — what are we going to be left with, with 15 billion tonnes of silica sand missing?”

Devlin says the company has conducted four years of environmental monitoring that shows “no adverse effect to the aquifer, no ground movement.” 

The company has partnered with Aquatic Life, a Manitoba tech company developing groundwater monitoring tools, to provide realtime data about the Sandilands aquifer straight to community members and government.

It also plans to work with a University of Manitoba hydrology professor and PhD students to research and monitor the aquifer. Devlin says Sio Silica plans to be a “big contributor to the university” by committing research and development funding. 

Manitoba has shown it’s not completely opposed to silica sand mining. The same week it denied Sio Silica’s Environment Act licence, it approved another mining company’s plan to dig for sand in the Wapinigow region on the eastern side of the province.

In November, a third company, Silex Resources, submitted an application to mine for sand in a saline portion of the aquifer west of the Red River.

Former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson was found to have violated the province’s ethics laws when she attempted to push through an environmental licence for the Sio Silica sand mine in the days after her Progressive Conservatives lost the 2023 provincial election. Photo: Malak Abas / Winnipeg Free Press

But Sio Silica’s project has been mired by political scandal: municipal council debates in Springfield unravelled to the point RCMP were called and the company’s lawyers threatened action against councillors; allegations that members of the former Progressive Conservative government pressured politicians to approve the project during the post-election transition period sparked a first-of-its-kind ethics investigation that ended with fines for the former premier and two MLAs. Two communities — Brokenhead Ojibway Nation and Springfield — have voted to reject the mine in referendums. 

Premier Wab Kinew has said the backroom political manoeuvring has left an air “of stink” around Sio Silica’s proposal, which needs clearing up before any further steps can be taken.

After nearly a decade in the province, Sio Silica isn’t ready to back away. In fact, Devlin is more optimistic than ever the project meets Manitoba’s needs.

“We check off all the boxes of a national interest project,” Devlin says, referring to the Carney government’s economic buzzword. “Everything written in [Manitoba’s] critical mineral strategy is Sio Silica. Everything the province is saying is everything that we offer, so I’m very optimistic we can move this province forward, build out our economy and boom like other provinces have.”

For residents, it means their years-long fight to protect the aquifer isn’t over either. 

The fate of Sio Silica’s mine is yet to be decided. Public comments closed Dec. 1, and the technical advisory committee will review the application and pose questions to the company before a final licensing decision is made. 

While the environment department weighs the risks and rewards of the sand mine, The Narwhal and the Winnipeg Free Press look back on Sio Silica’s tumultuous time in Manitoba. 

Sio Silica: the first 10 years

2015

• Oct. 26, 2015 — 1993502 Alberta Ltd. stakes its first claims in southern Manitoba Feisal Somji, Sio Silica’s CEO, began looking for sand deposits, hoping to find a source of proppant — a gritty material used to hold open fractures in the ground for oil extraction — to sell to the oil and gas industry for fracking, when he arrived in Manitoba. Under the banner of three numbered Alberta companies, the Calgarian mining executive started staking claims.“A friend of mine here in Steinbach said to me: ‘There is sand underground,’ ” Somji would later say. “That was the start of our hunt for the sand here.”

2016

• Sept. 29 — Drilling begins Drilling work continued until November 2018. In 2016, the company staked more than 400 claims across 98,000 hectares.

2017

• ‘Mystery’ mineral makes headlines Miners continued to scour the region, and residents began to take notice. Local headlines swirled with speculation about the “mystery” mineral deep in the rural farmland. It was rumoured to be gold, diamonds or lithium.The numbered companies were renamed HD Minerals and CanWhite Sands.

2018

• Drill, baby, drill With communications support from Winnipeg-based land-use planning firm Landmark Planning & Design, HD Minerals began working with landowners to conduct exploratory drilling. Between 2016 and 2019, the company shelled out a total of $45,000 to landowners who allowed boreholes to be drilled on their properties.Representatives for Landmark refused to say what they were looking for.Somji later told the Canadian Mining Journal, the company sought to secure the mineral rights to the entire Carman sand deposit.By 2019, the company had staked more than 500 mining claims covering more than 117,000 hectares.

2019

• April 9–11 — The big reveal HD Minerals held its first series of public information sessions in La Broquerie, Anola and Richer, where it revealed it planned to mine silica sand from an aquifer 60 metres below ground.
• April–December — A change of plans Chief operating officer Brent Bullen joined the project in April and began assessing the quality and potential of the sand. He noticed the sand is higher purity than expected, and shifted focus to high-tech applications. Meanwhile, the company’s engineers began working on a method to extract sand from the aquifer.

2020

• May 1 — Patent-pending CanWhite submitted a patent application for its unique airlift mining method, which it said would effectively vacuum sand and water out of the aquifer through wells. 
• June — The pushback begins A group of residents, concerned the plan could damage their source of drinking water, formed an organization called Our Line in the Sand to oppose the project, starting with a protest by one of CanWhite’s properties near Anola. The group called for an in-person open house and for the province to hold Clean Environment Commission hearings to review the project.
• June 17 — A pitch to council Winnipeg based urban-planning firm Richard + Wintrup, on behalf of CanWhite Sands, made a conditional use application to Springfield’s municipal council to build a sand processing facility near Vivian.
• July 2 — CanWhite applies for an Environment Act licence for its sand processing facility The company split its proposal in two: one licence for the processing facility, and another for the mining. Residents criticized this approach, arguing it failed to consider the cumulative impacts of the mine.

Manitoba Liberal MLA and health critic Jon Gerrard speaks to media outside the provincial legislature in August 2020. Gerrard called for more review and oversight of the Sio Silica sand mining project. Photo: Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press

Dennis LeNeveu, a concerned resident, shows a sample of shale to media outside the Manitoba legislature during an event calling for increased oversight of the sand mine. Photo: Jesse Boily / Winnipeg Free Press

• Aug. 18–Sept. 28 — An appeal to Ottawa Community groups and First Nations, including Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, the Manitoba Métis Federation and citizen group What the Frack Manitoba, wrote to Canada’s impact assessment agency seeking a federal review of the mine.
• Oct. 8 — Petitioning against the project Our Line in the Sand presented a petition with more than 1,400 signatures to the Manitoba legislature, calling for a more independent and comprehensive environmental review.

2021

• Consultation and more consultation CanWhite Sands spent the year focused on community consultations. The company held meetings with representatives for the municipalities of Tache, Beausejour, Hanover, Ste. Anne, La Broquerie, Reynolds, Brokenhead and Springfield. On June 14, CanWhite presented the project to a “small group of leaders” from Brokenhead, with provincial representatives present.
• July 23 — CanWhite applied for an Environment Act licence for the sand extraction process.
• Nov. 15 — Manitoba’s environment minister directed the Clean Environment Commission to conduct a review of CanWhite’s mining proposal In her letter to Somji, then-environment minister Sarah Guillemard cited both “significant public interest” in the project and “the need for a thorough technical review” as reasons. 
• Dec. 7 — Ottawa says no The Impact Assessment Agency declined to conduct a review, deferring to the provincial licensing process.
• Dec. 16 — CanWhite granted an environmental licence for its sand processing facility, to be built near Vivian Opponents raised concern over the licence being granted while the mining process has been referred to the Clean Environment Commission for review. 

2022

• Jan. 1 — The rebrand CanWhite Sands rebranded as Sio Silica after the original name performed poorly in brand testing.
• May 20 — The municipality is asked to change its rules Richard + Wintrup, on behalf of Sio Silica, asked Springfield council to amend its bylaws to make it easier for the company to build its processing facility.
• June 23–29 — The municipality says no Springfield council voted against amending its bylaws.Richard + Wintrup appealed the decision to the Municipal Board, a quasi-judicial provincial body that settles disputes over property assessment and planning decisions.
• June 24 — Manitoba heavyweight joins the board David Filmon, a prominent Manitoba lawyer and son of former Progressive Conservative premier Gary Filmon, was appointed to Sio Silica’s board of directors.
• Oct. 5–22 — Provincial lobbying kicks off Jeremy Sawatzy, a consulting lobbyist, registered to arrange meetings with government representatives in the economic development, natural resources and environment branches on behalf of Sio Silica. 
• Oct. 19, 20, 28 — The bylaw debacle heats up Springfield council and Sio Silica appeared before the Municipal Board for a hearing about Richard + Wintrup’s proposed zoning amendment.Legislative changes meant the board had the power to overrule Springfield council and force the municipality to enter a deal with Sio Silica.

An organizer with Our Line in the Sand points to a photo of uncovered sand piles in Anola, Man. The group has protested Sio Silica’s proposed sand mine, citing concerns the project could damage their source of drinking water. Photo: Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press

2023

• Jan. 17 — The solar panel pitch Somji and Peter Fath, CEO of German solar panel company RCT Solutions, met with Manitoba cabinet members to propose a $3-billion solar panel plant. Fath said Manitoba’s silica deposit and low-cost hydroelectricity make it “a really good place for solar manufacturing.” Fath said the plant could create 8,000 jobs when built. He noted he had investors with “deep pockets” ready to support the project, but “they won’t wait forever” for regulatory approval.
• February — Deal made Sio Silica and RCT Solutions signed an agreement to partner on the development of a solar panel manufacturing plant, which would exclusively use sand from Sio Silica’s mine.
• Feb. 27–March 15 — The Clean Environment Commission hearings Hearings took place over 12 days in Steinbach, Anola and Beausejour. The panel heard testimony from more than 70 people, including experts, representatives for Sio Silica and members of the public. The panel also received nearly 300 written submissions. The hearings focused on technical aspects of the project, including its potential impacts on the integrity of the aquifer and risks to water quality.

Sio Silica CEO Feisal Somji, centre, attends a Clean Environment Commission hearing in Steinbach, Man., on March 6, 2023. The hearings extended over 12 days and visited Anola and Beausejour in addition to Steinbach. Photo: John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press

Jay Doering, then-commissioner of the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission, speaks during a Sio Silica sand mine hearing on March 6, 2023, in Steinbach, Man. Photo: John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press

• March 8 — Council overruled The Municipal Board decided in favour of Richard + Wintrup and Sio Silica, ordering Springfield’s municipal council to amend its zoning bylaws and enter into a development agreement with the company.
• May 8 — New sponsorship deal Sio Silica announced it would sponsor the upcoming Winnipeg Blue Bombers training camp.
• June 13–19 — Debate takes chaotic turn Springfield council held several off-the-record meetings to debate the development agreement. Residents protested, arguing the municipality should have followed the normal procedure of public hearings and council debate. At one meeting, the mayor called RCMP to the community hall; in the next, more than 100 residents were locked out of the building. Councillors Andy Kuczynski and Mark Miller voted against the proposed development agreement, resulting in a tie. The agreement was referred back to the municipal board.

Councillors Mark Miller and Andy Kuczynski voted against approving a development agreement for Sio Silica’s sand mine at a Springfield council meeting in June 2023. Photo: Jura McIlraith / The Carillon

• June 20 — More economic muscle on board Michael Pyle, CEO of the Exchange Income Corporation and then-chair of the Winnipeg Football Club, the Manitoba First Fund and the Business Council of Manitoba, was appointed to Sio Silica’s board of directors. 
• June 23 — The Clean Environment Commission releases its final report The commission’s report showed concern the novel mining practice of airlifting sand from the aquifer could pose a risk to the region’s groundwater. The report made eight recommendations to the province aimed at gaining a better scientific understanding of the mine’s risks and strengthening project oversight before a licence is issued.Kevin Klein, Progressive Conservative environment minister at the time, presented the report to the public, pledging his office would review the proposal in light of the recommendations, adding “the process will take as long as the process needs to take.”
• July 26 — Manitoba makes a deal for solar panel production Manitoba’s mining minister at the time, Jeff Wharton, signed a memorandum of understanding with RCT Solutions, agreeing to support Fath in developing the solar glass manufacturing facility. 
• Aug. 11 — A letter from the company lawyers Springfield councillors Kuczynski and Miller received a letter from lawyers at MLT Aikins on behalf of Sio Silica, stating the company is “considering an action for misfeasance in public office.”“But for Councillors’ Miller and Kuczynski’s deliberate and bad-faith attempt to disrupt the land-use planning process, the development agreement would undoubtedly have been approved months ago,” the letter said.
• Aug. 13–Sept. 18 — Springfield residents vote no to Sio Kuczynski and Miller commissioned a phone-in referendum regarding the proposed mine. The survey received approximately 5,000 responses, with about 95 per cent voting “no.” 
• Sept. 15 — Manitoba environmental approvals branch shares a draft environmental licence with Sio Silica In the months following the environment commission hearing, Sio Silica and the environment department continued working toward licensing the mining proposal. In response to the commission’s recommendations, the draft licence is said to have included a staged approach that would “address any remaining environmental and technical concerns the government may have had with the commercial extraction process, before any commercial extraction actually occurred.”
• Oct. 3 — Election day New Democratic Party Leader Wab Kinew was elected premier, ending seven years of Progressive Conservative governance in the province.The government entered a caretaker period to allow for the changeover.
• Oct. 4–5 — Licensing pressure David Filmon contacted Cliff Cullen, then-Progressive Conservative deputy premier and head of the economic development, investment and trade department under the previous government, to follow up on the status of Sio Silica’s mining licence. Texts showed Filmon and Sio Silica were expecting a licence to be signed in the coming days.

Text messages sent by proponents of Sio Silica’s mine in the days following the NDP’s election victory reveal an urgent desire for an environmental licence to be finalized. “Obviously a lot of anxiety on our end,” Sio Silica board member David Filmon wrote to the outgoing Progressive Conservative deputy premier. Illustration: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

• Oct. 6 — Talks ramp up during the transition Department staff and representatives from both parties held multiple meetings to discuss the project.An ethics commission investigation found some provincial staff claimed the licence had already been signed, while members of the Sio Silica team appeared to expect a licensing decision that day.Department staff discussed options to move forward with the licence during the transition period.

Writing to a Sio Silica board member three days after Manitoba’s provincial election, outgoing Progressive Conservative deputy premier Cliff Cullen wrote that he felt “sick” after learning the NDP’s election victory might result in a different outcome for Sio Silica’s environmental licence. Illustration: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

Incoming political staff were also targeted with a lobbying effort on behalf of Sio Silica immediately following the provincial election. Illustration: Shawn Parkinson / The Narwhal

• Oct. 12 — Wharton urges the outgoing environment minister and deputy minister to approve Sio Silica’s Environment Act licence. Both refuse.
• Oct. 13 — Sio Silica reaches out to Peguis First Nation Sio Silica signed a memorandum of understanding with Peguis First Nation to conduct environmental monitoring of its mining. The status of that agreement is currently uncertain.
• Oct. 18 — Premier Wab Kinew and his cabinet are sworn in, marking the end of the caretaker period
• In the following months, several interdepartmental meetings took place to brief ministers on the project and plan next steps in licensing. Departmental staff calendars obtained through freedom of information requests showed at least a dozen such meetings between Oct. 24, 2023 and Feb.16, 2024.
• Nov. 13 — Sio Silica goes public through a merger with Pyrophyte Acquisitions, a shell company headquartered in the Cayman Islands Through the public offering, valued at $780 million, details about the company’s financial position and business deals — including signed agreements to sell sand to two semiconductor manufacturers in China — came to light.
• Nov. 20 — Pitching to the new government Sio Silica representatives presented the mine project to Ian Bushie, then-minister of municipal and northern relations and Indigenous economic development, and Jamie Moses, then-minister of economic development, investment, trade and natural resources

2024

• Jan. 12 — MLA requests an ethics investigation MLA Mike Moyes, a legislative assistant in the Environment department, formally requested Manitoba’s ethics commissioner investigate the former government’s efforts to approve Sio Silica’s environment licence during the caretaker period.

Flanked by fellow MLAs, Manitoba NDP caucus chair Mike Moyes announces he has filed two formal ethics complaints over Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson’s and MLA Jeff Wharton’s attempts to push through the Sio Silica project after losing the 2023 provincial election. Photo: Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press

• Feb. 16 — Sio Silica’s extraction licence rejected “We have a responsibility to ensure we are not endangering Manitobans’ drinking water,” then-environment minister Tracy Schmidt said. “This proposal failed to adequately consider long-term impacts including potential aquifer collapse. That’s why we made the decision to not issue a licence for the Vivian sand extraction project.”In a statement, Sio Silica claimed the company was “working with Peguis Special Projects and Consultation to conduct environmental monitoring” and had “entered into discussions with Broken Head Ojibway Nation for the location of advanced manufacturing facilities on their lands.”

Premier Wab Kinew shakes hands on Feb. 16, 2024, after announcing that his government would not issue an environmental licence for Sio Silica’s sand mine. Photo: Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press

Community members applaud after hearing Manitoba’s NDP government announce that the province has decided not to issue an environmental licence for the Vivian sand extraction project. Photo: Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press

• Feb. 16 — Alberta lobbyist approaches the province Hal Danchilla, a conservative lobbyist from Alberta, registered to lobby Wab Kinew and Tracy Schmidt on behalf of Sio Silica.
• May 21 — Sio sponsors mining lobby day The Manitoba Prospectors and Developers Association hosted its Lobby Day at the legislature. Sio Silica was a premium sponsor of the event. Each MLA was presented with a “custom-made silica sand vial.”
• May 27 — From councillor to a lobbyist Shandy Walls formally registered as a lobbyist for Sio Silica. According to the lobbying registry, she had been lobbying on behalf of the company since May 2021, though no details of her lobbying were recorded. Walls is founder of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, where Sio Silica is a member, and served on council from 2014 to 2018.
• June — Silicon makes the critical mineral list Canada released an updated critical mineral list with three new minerals, one of which is silicon metal, a potential application of silica sand. According to emails obtained through a freedom of information request, the Manitoba Prospectors and Developers Association had requested the federal government add silica sand to the list.
• June 29 — East St. Paul Mayor Carla Devlin is appointed vice-president of Sio Silica.
• July 21 — Sio approaches Brokenhead Sio Silica held a “major project meeting” with the newly elected chief and council.
• November–December — Company looks for First Nations’ support Sio Silica held consultations with several First Nations, focusing in particular on Brokenhead. At a series of roundtable sessions in November, members of the First Nation were presented an equity-sharing opportunity that would be valued at approximately $10 million per year.Sio Silica also held meetings with other Treaty One Nations, a council made up of leadership from seven southern Manitoba First Nations, including Brokenhead, Peguis, Roseau River Anishinabe and Long Plain First Nations.

2025

• Feb. 3 — Devlin is appointed president of Sio Silica
• March — Sio seizes ‘Elbows Up’ moment In the lead up to Canada’s federal election on March 9, sovereignty and economic security became dominant themes.Sio Silica, in the meantime, continued to meet with local officials, including Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, the mayors of Rockwood municipality and Steinbach and with Arctic Gateway Group, the consortium that owns the Port of Churchill. The company discussed the possibility of shipping sand through the port. 
• May 7 — Sio Silica goes stateside Sio Silica registered as a lobbyist in North Dakota. In a November interview, Devlin said the company is considering building a beneficiation facility stateside.
• May 13–14 — National security a new market Sio Silica CEO Feisal Somji spoke at the Critical Minerals Institute Summit IV in Toronto. His talk was titled “The Important Role of Silica in North American National Security and How Canada Can Take a Leading Role.”
• May 21 — Premier, MLAs found guilty of ethics law breach Then-ethics commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor released a 100-page report recommending fines totalling $40,000 for former premier Heather Stefanson and MLAs Cliff Cullen and Jeff Wharton, finding they acted improperly in attempting to secure a licence for Sio Silica during the caretaker period.

NDP Premier Wab Kinew speaks in Manitoba’s legislative chamber on May 22, 2025 — the day after the province’s ethics commissioner released a ruling that Progressive Conservative MLAs and the former premier acted improperly when they tried to advance Sio Silica’s mining proposal. Photo: Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press

Manitoba Progressive Conservative MLA Jeff Wharton apologizes after being found to have violated the province’s ethics rules in his efforts to support the Sio Silica sand mine. Photo: Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press

• May 28 — A new marketing campaign Sio launched a new marketing campaign — including radio advertisements, billboards and newspaper advertising — with the slogan “15 billion tonnes of opportunity. Stay in Manitoba. Build the Future.”
• Aug. 1–8 — Brokenhead votes ‘no’ Brokenhead, thought to be the “closest First Nation” to the project, held a referendum to decide whether to enter a revenue-sharing deal with Sio Silica. The community rejected Sio’s proposal by a vote of 181-129.
• Aug. 25 — Meetings in North Dakota Carla Devlin met with North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer, who serves on the senate environment and public works committee, as well as the armed services committee.
• Aug. 28 — Reinforcing national security narrative Somji spoke as a part of a panel from the Critical Minerals Institute Masterclass series titled: “Silicon’s Strategic Trajectory — From High-Purity Silica to Semiconductors & National Security.”
• Oct. 7 — Fines issued The Manitoba government voted to impose fines on Heather Stefanson ($18,000), Cliff Cullen ($12,000) and Jeff Wharton ($10,000), as per the recommendations in the ethics commissioner’s report. Fines were fully paid by Nov. 4.
• Oct. 28 — A new licence application Sio Silica filed a second Environment Act licence application for its mining process. It was originally filed Aug. 18, but only made publicly available in late October. The revised project proposed reductions in the number of wells drilled, the quantity of sand extracted each year and overall footprint of the mine, starting with 25 wells and 100,000 tonnes removed across about 0.65 square kilometres in the first year.
• Oct. 31 — Long Plain First Nation enters scene Sio Silica signed a memorandum of understanding with Long Plain First Nation to conduct an environmental review of the project.The review is not an endorsement of the project, Chief David Meeches told the CBC, adding “if it is such that it is negative, we will walk away.”
• Nov. 24 — New-look SiMBA project unveiled Sio Silica hosted an open house in Winnipeg for its revised project application.
• Dec. 1 — Licence application in provincial hands The public comment period for the new environment licence application closed.

Julia-Simone Rutgers is a reporter covering environmental issues in Manitoba. Her position is part of a partnership between The Narwhal and the Winnipeg Free Press.

Updated Dec. 12, 2025 at 4:50 p.m. CT: This article originally stated consulting lobbyist Jeremy Sawatzy met with government officials on behalf of Sio Silica. While he did register to arrange meetings with those officials on behalf of the company, no meetings ultimately took place. It was also updated to correct a line describing Aquatic Life as a startup company.

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