Two long-defunct Saskatchewan mine sites near Flin Flon may soon be the site of provincially funded remediation work.
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment is planning to move forward remediation work at six abandoned former mines, including two near Creighton - the Western Nuclear and Newcor sites.
More funding for remediation of the six sites, including the two near Creighton, was approved by the province earlier this year.
Both of the mine sites are included in Saskatchewan’s Flin Flon mining district. The Western Nuclear mine site - which, despite the name, was mostly a zinc mine owned by Western Nuclear and operated until the mid-1960s - is located south of Highway 106 near Hanson Lake, roughly halfway between Amisk Lake and Deschambault Lake. The former Newcor mine, a gold mine, is located near Douglas Lake, not far south of Creighton - mine work at the Newcor site ended by 1950.
Some clean-up efforts have taken place at the two mines, but none since the 1980s - contaminated soil and material containing arsenic trioxide was removed from the Newcor site in 1987 and all existing infrastructure for the site was demolished, while surface buildings at Western Nuclear were demolished around the same time. Tailings are still present at the Western Nuclear site.
Both sites still have some environmental problems, according to a provincial environment ministry spokesperson, that require more work.
“There are still some residual mine wastes at the Newcor site that contain arsenic and lead contamination. The ministry has prioritized cleanup of this site first due to its proximity to Douglas Lake and potential risks to users of the lake and surrounding areas,” reads a statement from the spokesperson.
“There are fine tailings and waste rock at the Western Nuclear site that contain arsenic, cadmium and lead, which pose risks to the environment and human health. Health risks were significantly reduced when the province closed the recreation site that used to occupy the site, but more work is needed to fully address remaining issues at the site.”
The Saskatchewan government has hired SNC-Lavalin to complete site assessments and corrective actions for all six mine sites, with work going on at the sites starting around 2018. With the Western Nuclear and Newcor sites, the provincial ministry of environment tasked SNC-Lavalin with finding out how contaminated the mine sites are, with that information being used to move the plans further ahead. At the Newcor mine site, a temporary cover was installed over the mine shaft, with fencing installed around it - a permanent cap of the shaft will be part of the remediation plans.
More cleaning-up will take place in the near future, with plans for both mines being formulated. At Newcor, a preliminary corrective action plan has been developed which involves plans to either remove any more contaminated soil and rock and dispose of it off-site or to keep the materials on site and cap them off, preventing any spillage into Douglas Lake. The plan for Newcor also includes a permanent concrete cap of the mine shaft and demolishing any remaining structures at the site, including building foundations.
“Final plans will be executed in the coming years by a qualified contractor, selected through a public request for tenders,” said the spokesperson.
At Western Nuclear, a preliminary plan is still being made and is expected to be finished later this year. That plan will need to include a way to dispose of the tailings and waste rock still at the site.
“Final plans will be established in the coming years and eventually executed by a qualified contractor, selected through a public request for tenders,” said the spokesperson.
Each of the six mine sites is meant to be prioritized by overall risk to the public - both the Newcor and Western Nuclear sites are near the top of the list. Western Nuclear was once considered to be the highest risk of the six sites needing remediation, according to the spokesperson, “due to the presence of a provincial recreation site on the property,” but was moved down the list once that site was closed.
Now, the top spot belongs to the Newcor mine, according to the spokesperson, “due to its proximity to the Town of Creighton and Douglas Lake.”
Other mines being looked at for remediation include the Rottenhouse and Anglo-Rouyn mines north of La Ronge, the Box gold mine near Uranium City and the Vista mine, located near Bootleg Lake not far from the Newcor mine site.
“The six sites identified through the risk assessment, in order of priority, are Newcor, Western Nuclear, Vista, Rottenstone, Anglo Rouyn and Box mine sites. The ministry plans to complete assessment and corrective actions at each of these sites in the coming years,” said the provincial spokesperson.
The estimated cost to the government, as of May 1, to remediate the Newcor site is around $850,000, with a $2.55 million price tag currently attached to the Western Nuclear project. Those estimates may change once the projects are tendered and once remediation and demolition work gets underway at the two mine sites.
