THREE 80 MILLION LITRE ETHANOL PLANTS TO BE BUILT

Saskatchewan will soon be the number one producer of ethanol in Canada

Premier Lorne Calvert said today. He was speaking at the sod-turning for a

$55 million ethanol plant to be built near Belle Plaine. Two similar

plants will follow in the Tisdale and Melville-Yorkton areas.



"For decades Saskatchewan people have shared a dream that one day our

agricultural products will no longer have to be shipped out of the province

to be processed," Calvert said. "Today Saskatchewan people have taken

another important step toward making our value-added dream the economic

reality."



Dwight Johnson of the Broe Companies said the Belle Plaine plant is

expected to open in the spring of 2004 and announcements on the other two

plants can be expected early in the new year.



"We are investing in Saskatchewan because your government has taken the

lead in Canada in the aggressive development of an expanded ethanol

industry," Johnson said. "You have the raw materials and sit at the

crossroads of the North American marketplace. Together we are going to

build a world-class industry."



The Broe Companies will be the majority owner of each of the plants. Broe

will have 60 per cent of the equity in the Belle Plaine plant and Crown

Investments Corporation (CIC) 40 per cent. Community-based groups are also

expected to invest in this plant and the other two plants. That additional

investment would decrease CIC's equity and/or debt position.



Calvert said each 80 million litre plant will employ 130 construction

workers and up to 35 permanent employees; use 8 million bushels of wheat a

year; and produce enough distillers grain to feed 120,000 head of cattle.



"What greater gift could we give our children than to build a renewable

energy industry that creates jobs and opportunities today and helps protect

our environment for the generations yet to come."



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For more information, contact:



Karen Schmidt Bob Ellis

Crown Investments Corporation Industry and Resources

Regina Regina

Phone: (306) 787-5889 Phone: (306) 787-1691



Dwight Johnson

Broe Companies

Regina

Phone: (306) 586-2000