By Bryan Eneas

Gunnar mine clean-up project continues on for another year

Apr 21, 2017 | 5:00 PM

In the far north, the town of Uranium City is surrounded by numerous mining projects including the Gunnar Uranium Mine and Mill site which was decommissioned in 1963, and closed in 1964.

The government of Canada operated the mine and mill site to Eldorado Nuclear Limited to fulfill “yellowcake” contracts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The site was opened and shuttered prior to the creation of the department of environment – meaning no laws were in place surrounding the decommissioning and closing of the project. For years buildings stood on the site unused and falling into disrepair until just recently when clean-up projects began to return the site to its natural state.

The Gunnar Mine clean-up project is being headed by the Saskatchewan Research Council through their Clean-up of Abandoned Northern Sites, or CLEANS. The program is funded by the federal and provincial governments.

Ian Wilson, the business unit manager for the environmental remediation team of the Saskatchewan Research Council said last year the joint venture with Fond du Lac Nuna was selected as a contractor with the project.  

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“They were selected mid to late summer, and they started some preliminary mobilization in the fall of 2016 and a little bit of prep work,” Wilson said. “They got about five weeks of work in last year before the weather chased them out.”

This year the CLEANS project at Gunnar will begin to chip at some of the tasks remaining at the shuttered mine site.

“They’re doing some grading of the tailings, some dewatering,” Wilson said. “We’re using local sand and gravel for the engineer cover system; so being able to get access to that, building hull roads, doing borrow area development and doing some waste rock [removal].”

Dewatering is a controlled removal of water making the tailings a bit drier and safer to operate heavy equipment around according to Wilson.

He added the three tailings ponds will be covered by a roof-like structure designed to keep moisture away from the pools.

The CLEANS team will also include a few youth from the Athabasca region. Through their Student Environmental Program, the Saskatchewan Resource Council hopes to find youth who have a desire to work in what Wilson called the STEM, or Science Technology Engineering and Maths fields.

The students participate in data collection to contribute to the studying and understanding of the site.

 “Part of doing any of these type of old mine remediation… you have to get enough information to allow as much as you can, an understanding of how the site is functioning,” Wilson said.

Last year students from Fond du Lac, Hatchet Lake and Black Lake all had the opportunity to participate in the Student Environmental Program.

Clean-up costs disputed between province and feds

The province of Saskatchewan and the government of Canada signed a memorandum of understanding in 2006 relating to the remediation of the Gunnar mine. The agreement states the province would cover $12.3 million, or half of the estimated costs associated to the cleanup of the site.

Since the initial agreement was made the costs associated with adequately dealing with the Gunnar project have gotten as high as nearly $270 million.

Cory Hughes from the Ministry of Economy said the province has so far paid $60 million of the associated costs. An estimated $208.5 million remains after a 2011 liability study.

“To date the province has paid the far majority of those costs,” Hughes, the executive director of the mineral policy branch said. “Our discussions continue with the federal government on securing additional funds.”

Part of some of the cost increases come from removing the buildings, which were laced with asbestos.

“The estimates have gone up, but all the work that is being done is tendered,” Hughes said. “Multiple companies have submitted applications to do the work… we’re choosing the most cost efficient methods to remediate the site.”

Financial debates aside, Hughes said the ministry is “very pleased” with the progress at the decommissioned mine site. He said all of the appropriate permits have been distributed to make 2017 one of the most productive years at the old mine. 

“I guess you can say we’re beginning the key components of the remediation even though a lot work has taken place prior,” Hughes said.

In an email to paNOW, representatives from Natural Resources Canada said so far the federal government has contributed $1.13 million in funding to the province, and will provide an additional $11.17 million in funding once final approvals have been granted by the Canadian Nuclear Saftey Commission and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment to allow remediation to continue.

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas