New explosives factory could be built on 1,500 acres in northern New Brunswick

New Brunswick could soon be home to a new explosives factory after the province offered a parcel of land in the northern community of Belledune to a defence company.

In a letter addressed to the CEO of the company Nalagx, Natural Resource Minister John Herron said the project represents “a potential positive development for New Brunswick’s continued economic growth.”

Nalagx has been searching for a location to build a new explosives factory that it said will “restore resilience to the defence supply chain and to secure critical capabilities for the next generation of NATO and allied forces,” according to the company’s website.

The factory would produce TNT, used in artillery and drones, as well as propellant, it said.

Nalagx said these resources can also have applications for mining, quarrying and large-scale industrial rock fragmentation.

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The letter, dated July 30, maps out 1,500 acres that Herron said are a potential lease opportunity for the energetics facility.

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The land identified is just outside the communities of Huron Bay and Belledune.

Herron said the land is favourable “due to its proximity to roads, rail infrastructure, and the Port of Belledune.”

The region has an important role to play in strengthening Canada’s defence and industrial assets, Denis Caron, president and CEO of the Belledune Port Authority told Global News in an emailed statement.

“Our location also provides strategic access to European markets and Canada’s NATO allies, creating  opportunities to support increasingly important transatlantic defence and security supply chains,” he said.

Nalagx hopes to have full production going by 2030, with environmental assessments, consultations and raw material supply beginning later this year.

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But Premier Susan Holt said in a news conference Wednesday that a deal has not been finalized.

“There is no contract, there is no commitment on our government’s part. We are exploring an opportunity in its earliest stages and we are including the communities and the First Nations leadership in and around the potential area in question,” she told reporters.

Herron said the land will be held for two years on the condition that Nalgx secures an agreement with a “credible operating partner” by Dec. 31.

When Nalagx initially announced its intentions to build an energetics factory last year, they signed a letter of intent with Eurenco, Europe’s top maker of explosives, to build somewhere in Canada.

The two companies later decided to part ways.

Nalagx also announced a partnership with the American-based Union Technologies earlier this year.