Glencore’s Kidd Operations in Timmins has received the 2014 Tom Peters Memorial Reclamation Award.
The award was presented during the seventh annual Ontario Mine Reclamation Symposium and Field Trip, held June 17 and 18 in Peterborough. The event is sponsored by the Canadian Land Reclamation Association and the Ontario Mining Association.
The accolades were given for Kidd’s closure plan design and reclamation of its jarosite pond area and Three Nations Creek. The jarosite (iron sulphate mud produced from zinc refining) pond, or landfill facility, was built in 1971 and operated from 1972 until 2010. Rehabilitation activities included the removal of soils, re-vegetation and a remedial action plan for the aquatic ecosystem in Three Nations Creek.
The Tom Peters award also includes a $5,000 scholarship presented to a graduate student who must deliver a presentation on their research topic. This year, Christina Mol from Lakehead University won the academic prize for her work on plants stabilizing metals in soils at closed mine sites. Autumn Wilkinson from Laurentian University was awarded $500 for her work on developing manufactured soils for successional re-vegetation of mined lands.
This year’s symposium included presentations on geology and mining in southern Ontario, innovative approaches to mine closure, and reclamation and re-vegetation using native species, along with site visits to the CBM Lakefield aggregate property; Dyno, a decommissioned uranium mine; the Bancroft Museum; the Conley talc mine, which has been closed; and the old Marmoraton iron mine.
