Giant Mine

The Giant Mine was a large gold mine located at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Gold was discovered on the property in 1935 by Johnny Baker, but the true extent of the gold deposits were not known until 1944 when a massive gold-bearing shear zone was uncovered beneath the drift-filled Baker Creek Valley. The discovery led to a massive post-war staking boom in Yellowknife. Giant Mine entered production in 1948 and ceased operations in 2004. It produced over convert|7000000|ozt|kg|abbr=on|lk=in of gold.

On September 18, 1992, at the height of a labour dispute, an explosion in a drift of the mine, convert|750|ft|abbr=on underground, killed nine strikebreakers and replacement workers riding in a man-car. Mine employee Roger Warren was later convicted of placing the bomb. The strike/lockout ended in 1993, pursuant to an order by the (then) Canada Labour Relations Board.

Owners of the mine have included Falconbridge (1948-1986 through subsidiary Giant Yellowknife Mines Limited), Pamour of Australia (1986-1990 through subsidiary Giant Yellowknife Mines Limited), Royal Oak Mines (1990-1999), and Miramar Mining Corporation (1999-2004).

The Northwest Territories' first mining museum is to be built on the old property. The N.W.T. Mining Heritage Society is in charge of the work.

Giant Mine is within the Kam Group, which is part of the Yellowknife Volcanic Belt.

Contamination

Mining operations over four decades created a massive environmental liability, a problem which the mine's previous owners left to the Canadian and Northwest Territories governments to sort out. The Giant Mine contains convert|237000|t|abbr=on of arsenic trioxide dust produced during the gold roasting process. This dust is water soluble and contains approximately 60% arsenic. The site's convert|950|ha|abbr=on footprint includes 8 open pits, 4 tailing ponds, convert|325000|m3|abbr=on of contaminated soils, and approximately 100 buildings including a roaster/bag house complex that is highly contaminated with arsenic and fibrous asbestos. ["Disaster brewing at Giant mine site". (July 10, 2006) "news/north" p.1] A $200 million taxpayer-funded remediation project is underway. A main aspect of the successful proposed solution, known as the "Frozen Block Alternative," is to permanently freeze the arsenic trioxide storage chambers to keep groundwater seepage out. [cite web | url=http://nwt-tno.inac-ainc.gc.ca/giant/index_e.html | title=Giant Mine Remediation Project | accessdate=2006-07-15]

Film

The events and aftermath of the Giant Mine labour dispute and explosion were dramatized in the 1996 CBC television movie "Giant Mine".

References

External links

* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012312/ Giant Mine 10 Years Later]
* [http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/431535/ Court overturns award to Giant Mine widows]