De Beers Canada Inc (De Beers) and WSP Canada Inc. (WSP) are pleased to announce the successful conclusion of the contract with WSP to progress closure of the Victor diamond mine in northern Ontario, near Attawapiskat. The mine ceased production when the plant closed in 2019, and since early 2021 De Beers has worked closely with WSP who managed active closure of the mine site as prime closure contractor.
“De Beers and WSP have had a long-standing partnership, and we are pleased to have completed our Victor Mine mandate successfully while adhering to high industry standards of environmental and social responsibility for the benefit of the surrounding communities,” said Greg Herasymuik, Executive Vice-President, Earth and Environment, WSP.
“We are very proud to have been recognized for our hard work to close the mine responsibly. De Beers is committed to return the Victor mine site to a natural state for the safe use of the people and wildlife who depend on it. De Beers is grateful for the input and respectful dialogue from First Nations in the region and for the work done by the WSP team since they took on the role as prime closure contractor in early 2021,” said Avischen Moodley, Country President – Canada for De Beers.
The open pit mine was at one time 280 meters deep and has now been restored to a lake that matches the natural environment. The plant where the ore was processed was decommissioned and dismantled and hundreds of truckloads of equipment and material were removed in 2022 and 2023 on a network of winter roads in the James Bay Lowlands, for disposal or recycling at approved facilities elsewhere in Ontario.
A variety of surplus material, including fire trucks, heavy equipment, tools, sea cans and other surplus items were donated to local communities. More than 1.4 million native trees and shrubs have been planted at the site, grown from seeds collected by youth hired from the Attawapiskat community between 2014 and 2019.
While the closure of the mine is essentially complete, temporary camp accommodations, auxiliary buildings, and equipment remain at the site to support the final environmental restoration and long-term monitoring of the site.
De Beers received the 2022 Tom Peters Memorial Mine Reclamation Award for the work executed jointly with WSP. The award was presented by the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association in September 2023.
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