A brief ceremony March 11 in Elliot Lake, Ont., marked the end of 35 years of uranium mining by Denison Mines (TSE) in the northern Ontario community.
President Bill James presided at the mainly symbolic ceremony, capping “the lid on the last barrel of U3O8” to be produced at what the company described as the largest underground uranium mine in Canada.
About 580 employees, mainly underground workers, were officially laid off following the ceremony. The mill will continue to treat material for another month and then a small staff will undertake a site cleanup until the end of July. A skeletal staff will remain after that date performing decommissioning duties.
The mine went into production in 1957, four years after the discovery of the Big Z uranium deposit which eventually hosted 11 mines including Denison’s two. In 1953, Joseph Hirshhorn employed striking workers from Timmins to mount a mass staking campaign on the basis of a geological theory put forward by Franc Joubin.
During the staking rush, Stephen Roman managed to pick up claims staked by Art Sotellery. The mines that eventually developed on that ground were the basis of Denison Mines.
A weakened uranium market dealt a death blow to the mining operation. Denison’s competitor at Elliot Lake, Rio Algom (TSE), which purchased nine mines from Hirshhorn, continues to operate only its Stanleigh mine.
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