British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Long term post-reclamation management of the Pinchi Lake Mine Unger, Michelle; Donald, Bruce; Marsland, Rob

Abstract

The Pinchi Lake Mine was owned and operated by Cominco Ltd. (a predecessor of Teck Metals Ltd.) from 1940 to 1944, and between 1968 and 1975. The property is located approximately 25 km northwest of Fort St James, British Columbia. Between 2010 and 2012, the Pinchi Lake mine underwent decommissioning and reclamation. This paper discusses Teck’s commitment to post-reclamation management of the site. The site has waste rock dumps, a tailings impoundment area and dam, a creek diversion, an industrial landfill, residual mercury in soils. A post-reclamation risk management plan has been developed and is currently under regulatory review. The plan includes monitoring for; geotechnical stability (creek diversion, waste rock dumps, tailings dam, calcine waste dump, and tailings impoundment cover), surface and ground water quality, re-vegetation progress, and mercury uptake by aquatic and terrestrial receptors. To support the long term implementation of the monitoring plans, an environmental management system is being established. The mine site will continue to be owned and managed by Teck and the site will continue to have controlled access.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International