Gov’t to spend millions at Kam Kotia

The Ontario government will spend $3 million to clean up the former Kam Kotia mine, a copper-zinc producer near Timmins, Ont., that operated in the 1940s and 1960s.

The work is part of a $27-million plan by the Progressive Conservatives to rehabilitate 31 abandoned mine sites across Ontario over the next four years. The rehabilitation of Kam Kotia will be a joint effort by the ministries of mines, natural resources and the environment.

Work at the site will focus on stopping acid drainage from reaching nearby creeks and rivers, says the mines ministry. Acid runoff at the mine is generated by sulphide tailings and waste rock.

A review of the open-pit site will be undertaken with an eye toward applying knowledge or techniques gained through the Mine Environmental Neutral Drainage (MEND) program, a joint government-industry partnership that seeks to reduce acid drainage at mines.

Kam Kotia started up in 1943, initially providing copper and zinc to the war effort. It was mined until the 1960s but reverted to the government in the early 1970s, when the operator went bankrupt.

Additionally, the government will spend nearly $500,000 this year to rehabilitate the former Hollinger mine, also near Timmins. Work there will include capping, fencing, backfilling and a study to determine long-term rehabilitation options.