British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Dominion (Gurney) Minesite Rehabilitation Baker, Frederick A.; Bertram, Michael; Humbert, Brad

Abstract

The Dominion (Gurney) Mine Site is located in the Grass River Provincial Park in the mid-western portion of Manitoba, approximately 560 km northwest of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The site is accessible by air or ATV/snowmobile trail. A private railway provides access to a staging area approximately 5 km from the site. Between 1933 and 1939, The Dominion (Gurney) Mine extracted and processed 94,650 tonnes of ore until reserves were exhausted. The mine was closed in 1939 and little exploration has occurred at the site since that time. At the time of assessment, the Mine Site consisted of several remnant building structures, metal and wood debris, a waste rock pile, an acid generating tailings area and five mine openings. The engineering team and construction contractor had to address and overcome several challenges largely driven by the location of the site. The challenges affecting the Dominion rehabilitation program included northern climatic conditions, limited access, its location in a Provincial Park, First Nation concerns and requirements for their involvement in the rehabilitation, the necessity of addressing local concerns and providing local economic benefits. This paper presents a summary of the site investigation, hazard classification, design of the remedial measures, construction challenges and design modifications to address changing conditions. Rehabilitation included construction of an access road, consolidation of wood and metal debris, concrete rubble, tailings and waste rock under a composite soil and geomembrane cover and sealing of the mine openings.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International