Old copper mine is for the birds — Miner, conservation group join to create wetlands

The past-producing Solbec mine, near Stratford, Que., will become a nature preserve under a partnership between owner Cambior and conservation group Ducks Unlimited.

Cambior will spend $120,000 over three years to turn the former base metal mine into a nesting area for waterfowl, complete with nature trails and a series of information stations for visitors. Rehabilitation of the mine stretches back more than a decade, when Cambior acquired the property. Since then, the company has spent $5 million on reclamation at the site.

The plan to create a habitat for ducks and other waterfowl is the final phase in the closure of the copper mine. For six years following the 1987 acquisition of the mine, Cambior and several partners, including the federal and provincial governments and two universities, studied options for the closure of the site and control of its acid-generating tailings. In 1994, the site was flooded to form a lake 1 km long and several metres deep.