The Giant Mine remediation will cover the clean-up of the entire mine site, both surface and underground aspects.
A U.S.-based firm with operations in Canada has been awarded the construction manager contract for the Giant Mine clean-up project in Yellowknife, N.W.T.
Parsons will provide construction management services over two terms.
Work completed in the first term – a cost of $32 million – will focus on site care and maintenance and emerging risks on site, as well as planning efforts for the full remediation in Term 2. This term will start immediately and will be ongoing until March 31, 2020.
The cost estimate of Term 2 will be determined following design work undertaken in Term 1. In Term 2, set to begin in 2020, Parsons will oversee the implementation of the overall remediation plan and associated activities.
“The health and safety of Northerners and the sound environmental management of contaminants are a top priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories,” said Robert C. McLeod, minister of environment and natural resources.
“I am pleased to see progress being made to remediate the Giant Mine Site in Yellowknife and satisfied that the federal government has structured the contract to allow for the fullest economic participation of Indigenous and northern businesses in supporting the work of Parsons Canada.”
Giant Mine is an abandoned gold mine that operated from 1948 to 1999. The former owner, Royal Oak Mines, entered receivership in 1999 and the Ontario Supreme Court transferred the property to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).
The Giant Mine site is one of the highest priority contaminated sites within the federal property inventory and requires ongoing management to protect human health and safety and the environment, according to INAC.
SOURCE: INAC
