Ontario pledges millions for reclamation

The Ontario government will spend $500,000 this year, and millions in the next three, to address safety concerns at abandoned mine sites across the province.

Over four years, the government will spend $27 million to rehabilitate 31 former mine sites deemed hazardous to the public or the environment. The rehabilitation programs are being conducted on abandoned sites that have since reverted to the Crown but were not decommissioned according to today’s standards.

For the first year, nine work contracts worth a total of $516,000 have been given to private firms.

Most of the sites to be reclaimed are in northwestern Ontario, where numerous gold mines operated throughout the 1900s. Contracts awarded by the government for work in the area total $350,000.

LTL Contracting will work at the Buffalo Beardmore and Roche Long Lac sites in the Beardmore-Geraldton area and at the Elwood, McKenna-McCann and Schreiber-Pyramid sites in the Schreiber-Hemlo area.

Around Sioux Lookout, Golder Associates will work at the Davidson Carr, Iron Duke, North Couture Lake, Ouillette Lake and Powell sites.

Shewchuk Enterprises will reclaim the Sol d’Or site, near Red Lake, and the Emmons, Grassy Portage, Homestead, King mine, Princess, Three Friends and Triumph sites, near Kenora.

About $70,000 will be spent in northeastern Ontario. Alex MacIntyre & Associates will work at the Dickson Creek, Kirk Budd, Pat 1153, Silver Leaf and Sutherland sites, near Cobalt, whereas Denison Environmental will work at the McMillan mine, near Sudbury.

In southern Ontario, about $100,000 will be spent to reclaim the Dorset site in Lount Twp. and the Gawley No. 1 and Maloney sites, near Tweed. Work at those sites will be done by LaCroix Construction and Geo-Logic, respectively.

The government will also spend nearly $1 million on the demolition of buildings and revegetation at the former Coldstream mine, near Thunder Bay, and for rehabilitation of sites at the former Hollinger mine, near Timmins. Work at Hollinger will include capping, fencing, backfilling and a study to determine long-term rehabilitation options.

In the second year of the program, the government will spend $4 million on rehabilitation and another $1 million in assessments of 3,000 sites throughout the province.