picture from nutrien.com
Nutrien Lanigan is recognizing an employee who’s worked there almost as long as the facility has been in operation.
Howard Lamont is the Mill Production General Foreman at the potash mine. He has been there for over four decades, and there are no signs of him slowing down.
“I have been at the Lanigan potash mine, this summer, July 28th, will be 44 years. I am not the longest working employee, but I’m pretty darn close. I think I’m pretty close to the highest for staff, but not for the union folks,” he explains.
Lamont started work at the mill just three weeks after finishing high school at the age of 17.
“My neighbor was the mill production general superintendent at that time. I loved to golf, so I met him on the golf course just by accident. He asked me if I had applied at the mine, and I said I had and I hadn’t heard anything back yet. He said ‘Well, I’m on holidays, I’m heading back to work, and we’ll see what we can do’.”
Lamont admits that he didn’t intend to stay at the mine as long as he has. He says he has always had a passion for drafting, however those plans changed, as he soon developed a love for his work at Nutrien. Lamont has held several job titles over the years including mill labourer, mill operator, mill production supervisor, and now a mill production general foreman.
He says some of the greatest milestones he has witnessed over the years include the uptick in production, as well as the level of safety the site has achieved.
“The safety aspect of our mine and company has come 10-fold to where we don’t take any chances. We preach safety, we do safety, and it’s done every day. Things take a little longer, but at the end of the day, by doing that, everybody gets to go home safe,” Lamont beamed.
This year, Nutrien’s Lanigan is celebrating 55 years of production mining, however Lamont’s connection to the mine started even before he was born.
In the 1950s and 60s, Neil Lamont, Howard’s grandfather, and the owner of Lamont Agencies, built relationships with local farmers and acquired the land and mineral rights needed for mine development. Eventually, Alwinsal Potash of Canada Ltd. reached out to him when they were looking to purchase land for its potash mine, which is now owned and operated by Nutrien.
The family involvement doesn’t stop there. Now, Howard’s son, Carter, has followed in his footsteps, and is celebrating 10 years of working at the very same mine as a maintenance supervisor, a roll Lamont previously held for 15 years.
“That’s something that I had formally done…so I guess he had seen me over the years being involved in that…and I guess he’s fallen in my footsteps, but he’s way better at it than I ever was,” Lamont admitted. “(I’m a) pretty proud dad. Last year they won the 2023 Provincial Mine Rescue Competition of all of Saskatchewan. That was a huge accomplishment on their part.”
Lamont encourages anyone interested in a job at Nutrien Lanigan to apply, as it is a great, safe place to work.
“Take it from me. I’ve been there 44 years,” he remarked.
