The chief of a Saskatchewan First Nation located near BHP Billiton Ltd.'s Jansen potash project is calling on the province to consult aboriginal communities in the region about the potential mine.
Because the project is on private land, located 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon near Lanigan, Saskatchewan, Environment considers there to be no potential impact on treaty, aboriginal and traditional rights.
The department gave environmental approval to BHP for Jansen earlier this month.
But Chief Darin Poorman of the Kawacatoose First Nation believes what would be the world's largest potash mine will have an impact on the surrounding area.
Kawacatoose is located near Raymore, about 200 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.
"It is inconceivable that one of the largest potash mines in the world would not have an impact on the First Nations who continue to exercise aboriginal and treaty rights in the area," Poorman said in a news release.
"Our community is just 55 kilometres from the mine site. Of course it's going to have an impact on Kawacatoose."