The proposed development plan for a Burnco aggregate mine 5 km west of Cochrane on Hwy. 1A was adjusted after the first open house, two years ago.

On Mar. 9, a second open house is being held by the company to provide the results of their environmental assessment and additional details on the development plan.

Burnco is seeking approval from Rocky View County for the appropriate zoning for 452 hectares of land along the highway corridor. It is estimated 15 million tonnes of sand and gravel will be extracted during its 30-plus years of life.

The company currently has zoning for a quarter-section roughly in the middle of the proposed area. Of that, the current operation is about 16 hectares in size.

Travis Coates, Burnco land and resource manager for Alberta and Saskatchewan, says a much more detailed plan has been developed since the initial open house.

"Since that time, we've been doing a bunch of more detailed planning, and various assessments. That's the purpose of this second open house coming up on Mar. 9, to provide that more detailed information, more detailed mine plans and again seek input from the local community."

He says the first open house did change the way they propose to phase the operation. It will be developed predominantly east to west, as opposed to west to east. That way, the operation will move in the opposite direction of growth in Cochrane, he explains.

"That was a really good comment that we received in our first open house and we've incorporated that into our planning," says Coates.

The physical size of the operation will not change much from its current size, he says.

"It's not an increase in intensity, it's securing the future for that site where it can progress for many years and operate smoothly. We are projected at least 30 years of operation."

The existing operation is well hidden behind berms along Hwy. 1A. That practice will continue, he says. As a pit is closed, it will be reclaimed.

"When the operations move, the berms will follow us and that practice will continue."

There's no firm timeline to submit the zoning application to Rocky View County, says Coates, but it could occur this year, depending upon the input received at the open house.