The second annual Ontario Mine Reclamation symposium will take place June 9 and 10 in Timmins. The program includes technical presentations on current research in mine reclamation and discussions of best practices, along with updates on current mine rehabilitation projects in the province. There will also be a one-day field trip providing an extensive overview of rehabilitation at a number of mine sites in the Timmins area.
Approximately 100 delegates, including academics, government officials and mining company representatives are expected to attend. Among the speakers will be Michael Payne of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, who will give an address on the use of municipal biosolids for land reclamation purposes.
Also on the agenda are presentations by Dr. Danielle Fortin of the University of Ottawa on physico-chemical parameters controlling in-situ microbial sulphate reduction in mining environments, and Bryan Tisch, who will provide an update on Natural Resources Canada’s Green Mines, Green Energy Initiative, which is researching the use of biosolids from paper mills for growing biofuel crops on mine tailings.
NRCan and MIRARCO-Mining Innovation, a Sudbury-based research organization, have several test sites in Sudbury and Timmins. Last year, corn and canola crops were successfully grown on mine tailings treated with paper mill sludge and, this year, sites have been seeded with switchgrass.
The symposium is being held in the auditorium at the Porcupine Campus of Northern College, and a reception and banquet featuring the presentation of the second annual Tom Peters Memorial Mine Reclamation Award will be held at the Shania Twain Centre.
The winner of the inaugural Tom Peters Memorial Reclamation Award at last year’s symposium in Kirkland Lake was the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines for work completed at the Kam Kotia property in the Timmins area.
Sponsors of the environmental conference are the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), the Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA) and Goldcorp.
The Ontario Mining Association´s Environmental Committee will be holding a meeting in Timmins after the symposium on Thursday, June 11, 2009.
Further information about the symposium is available by contacting Bryan Tisch at 613-943-8746 or by email at [email protected]
