Graymont gains approval for Rexton Project

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has approved the recently updated Graymont Land Transaction Application, which involves the sale and exchange of lands within Mackinac and Luce Counties.

DNR Director Keith Creagh approved the land transaction application during a meeting of the Natural Resources Committee on 19 March.

Graymont is North America’s second largest supplier of lime and lime-based products with facilities across the United States and Canada. With the Rexton Project, a multiphase initiative that will involve limestone quarrying and, eventually, limestone processing operations, Graymont is committed to playing a key role in the economic development of the region while safeguarding the environment, continuing public land uses in non-active areas and maintaining ongoing engagement with agency staff and the community.

When the project was discussed last June, Graymont specified its intentions to resume quarry operations at the previously mined Hendricks Quarry site in Garfield Township. Limestone from the quarry will be hauled by truck to the Sand Products Dock on Lake Michigan.

This initial phase of the project is expected to create up to 50 direct jobs in local mining and transportation operations, plus up to 100 indirect jobs in the region. Graymont began the Rexton Project with an application to the DNR in November 2013 for the purchase of State land.

At that time, Graymont CEO Stéphane Godin stated: “We are already a member of the Upper Peninsula business community with our Port Inland plant, near Gulliver, and we are looking forward to expanding our Michigan operations, thereby creating new jobs and generating additional economic spinoffs in the region.”

After the transaction had been approved, Paul Stoll Jr., Plant Manager at Graymont’s Port Inland, MI site, commented: “We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with the DNR and are satisfied that the process properly balanced the economic needs of the residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP), environmental considerations and the use of the state’s natural resources.”

“This approval recognises our company’s commitment to unlocking value in the UP region, while respecting the interests of the public and the DNR,” Stoll added. “Through the DNR and the public consultation process, we were able to incorporate solutions into the Land Transaction Application that effectively addressed DNR and community focus areas.”

Both the DNR and community representatives played pivotal roles in consultations with the Company, which led to, among other things, Graymont’s announcement that it intends to support the creation of a new Community Development Fund.

Adapted from press releases by Katherine Guenioui

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/01042015/graymont-gains-approval-for-rexton-project-624/