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British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium
Reclamation of abandoned tailings at a northern minesite Baker, Fred A.; Letient, Henri; Madill, H.
Abstract
In the past, the long-term environmental impacts of mining operations were not as well understood as they are today. Some of the practices that were generally accepted throughout Canada would probably not meet today's standards for environmental protection. The implementation of Canada's Green Plan allowed the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) to access funds to investigate remedial options for some of these sites. One of the components of the Green Plan is the Arctic Environmental Strategy (AES) which is being implemented by DIAND. The abandoned Discovery Mine site near Yellowknife, N.W.T., includes tailings that are acid generating and contaminated with mercury. Studies conducted at the Discovery site between 1976 and 1986 concluded that continuing erosion of the tailings is resulting in ongoing mercury contamination of the adjacent Giauque Lake sediments and that the fish in Giauque Lake are sufficiently contaminated with mercury to render them unsafe for human consumption. In August 1991, DIAND commissioned a study to develop reclamation options and to estimate the implementation costs to physically stabilize the tailings, minimize acid rock drainage, and prevent further contamination of the lake sediments. This paper describes the federal programs leading to the classification of contaminated sites and the allocation of funds for rehabilitation. The reclamation options developed for the Discovery site are presented with their engineering and environmental implications.
Item Metadata
Title |
Reclamation of abandoned tailings at a northern minesite
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Creator | |
Contributor | |
Date Issued |
1992
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Description |
In the past, the long-term environmental impacts of mining
operations were not as well understood as they are today. Some of
the practices that were generally accepted throughout Canada would
probably not meet today's standards for environmental protection.
The implementation of Canada's Green Plan allowed the Department of
Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) to access funds to
investigate remedial options for some of these sites. One of the
components of the Green Plan is the Arctic Environmental Strategy
(AES) which is being implemented by DIAND.
The abandoned Discovery Mine site near Yellowknife, N.W.T.,
includes tailings that are acid generating and contaminated with
mercury. Studies conducted at the Discovery site between 1976 and
1986 concluded that continuing erosion of the tailings is resulting
in ongoing mercury contamination of the adjacent Giauque Lake
sediments and that the fish in Giauque Lake are sufficiently
contaminated with mercury to render them unsafe for human
consumption.
In August 1991, DIAND commissioned a study to develop reclamation
options and to estimate the implementation costs to physically
stabilize the tailings, minimize acid rock drainage, and prevent
further contamination of the lake sediments.
This paper describes the federal programs leading to the
classification of contaminated sites and the allocation of funds
for rehabilitation. The reclamation options developed for the
Discovery site are presented with their engineering and
environmental implications.
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Extent |
267274 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-10-27
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0042210
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URI | |
Affiliation | |
Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
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Scholarly Level |
Other
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Copyright Holder |
British Columbia Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International