Madawaska Mine

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Madawaska Mine (Faraday Mine)
Madawaks Mine 1962.jpg
Madawaska Mine in 1962
Location
Madawaska Mine is located in Hastings County
Madawaska Mine
Madawaska Mine
Location near Bancroft, Ontario
LocationFaraday, Ontario
ProvinceOntario
CountryCanada
Coordinates45°01′21.5″N 77°55′15.2″W / 45.022639°N 77.920889°W / 45.022639; -77.920889Coordinates: 45°01′21.5″N 77°55′15.2″W / 45.022639°N 77.920889°W / 45.022639; -77.920889
Production
ProductsUranium oxide
Production9,000,000 lbs (4,082 tonnes)
History
Opened1954
Active1954-1964; 1975-1982
Closed1982
Owner
CompanyEWL Management Limited (Ovintiv)
Websitehttp://www.madawaskamine.com/

Madawaska Mine (previously known as Faraday Mine) is a decommissioned underground uranium mine in Faraday, near the town of Bancroft, Ontario, which produced 9 million pounds (4,082 tonnes) of U3O8 concentrate, at an average ore grade of 0.1074%, during its two periods of production.[1][2]

Madawaska Mine produced uranium for the longest period out of the four nearby mines (the three others being Bicroft Mine, Greyhawk Mine, and Dyno Mine).[3]

Main article: Uranium mining in the Bancroft area

Aside from uranium, the mine is also a renowned source of calcite crystals, ilmenite crystals, kainosite-(Y), Molybdenite, and uranophane crystals.[4]

Discovery of uranium (1922 to 1954)[]

Uranium was first discovered in the area of Cardiff in 1922 by W. M. Richardson. Between 1953 and 1956, one hundred area prospects were opened, including one by Bancroft prospector Arthur H. Shore, whose discovery of uranium was first confirmed in 1949. He purchased the land on 22 June 1949 and founded Faraday Uranium Mines Limited. Mr. Shore sold control of the company to Augustus Exploration Limited, who started full development of the site in 1952.[3]

Mining operations as Faraday Mine (1954 to 1964)[]

Mining operations occurred from 1954 to 1964 by Faraday Uranium Mines Limited with the mine being known as the Faraday Mine.[5]

In January 1956, a contract was agreed with Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited to buy the uranium, triggering an economic boom in the area, with houses for company executives being built at nearby Bow Lake and 40 houses for workers being built on the company's land in Bancroft.[3]

On 4 April 1957, the first ore reached the concentrator and on 14 April the first uranium precipitate was produced. Production was initially 1,000 tons per day, later increasing to 1,600 tons per day.[3]

The workers unionized in 1957, forming Local 1006 Bancroft Mine and Mill Worker's Union.[3]

The decline of global demand for uranium shut the mine down in 1964 destroying the local economy. By that time 5.8 million pounds of uranium oxide had been produced. Local Catholic priest Rev. Henry Maloney, the brother of former Ontario Ombudsman Arthur Maloney, led the community to demand support from the Government of Ontario and Government of Canada to extend the contracts buying uranium. Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, relying on an old agreement with the United Kingdom to buy uranium from Canada, was able to prolong the life of the mine by eighteen months, giving the community enough time to plan for the closure.[3] At this time, the mine was 51% owned by Federal Resource Corporation of Salt Lake City and 49% owned by Consolidated Canadian Faraday Limited, who spent $2 million from 1966 to 1975 on site maintenance and exploration.[3]

Mining operations as Madawaska Mine (1975 to 1982)[]

After $7 million was invested to rehabilitate the mine,[3] it reopened as the Madawaska Mine in 1975 and production continued until 1982,[6] when the buyer of uranium Italian energy company, Agip cancelled the contract.[7] The shaft into the uranium-bearing pegmatite reached a depth of 473 metres (1,552 ft).[6] During this period, the mine was producing 1,500 ton of ore per day.[3]

4,000,000 tonnes of waste remain on site.[8]

Decommissioning and rehabilitation (1982 to present)[]

After the closure, the tailing site attracted mineral collectors, especially to an annual "gemboree" in which tourists travelled to Bancroft in search of gems and minerals.[3]

After the dissolution of owners Madawaska Mines Limited in 2005, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission revoked the operating license for the mine in 2011.[9] Ownership shifted to Conwest Explorations Limited, later to Alberta Energy Corporation[1] which then became EnCana, which in 2020 became Ovintiv, who placed the ownership under subsidiary company[10] EWL Management Limited.[11]

Since inspections found improper surface protection of tailing in 2015, the mine has been undergoing rehabilitation by EWL, who contracted Golder Associates as the main contractor.[12][13][11]

In 2019, water quality monitoring requested by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission found radioactive and hazardous contamination in two of several water samples in the nearby Bentley Lake.[14] Subsequent inspections in 2020 from nearby locations reported no contamination.[12]

Accidents[]

  • On 10th April 1959 21-year-old miner George Edwin Heinze was killed then a 10-ton rock fell on him at the 600 foot level.[15]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Proulx, Michèle (1997). The Uranium Mining Industry of the Bancroft Area, an Environmental History and Heritage Assessment (PDF). Peterborough, Ontario: Trent University. p. 50. ISBN 0-612-21696-9. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Madawaska Mine (Faraday Mine), Faraday Township, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Reynolds, Nila (1979). Bancroft. A Bonanza of Memories. The Centennial Committee. p. 192.
  4. ^ McDougall, Raymond (2019-09-03). "Mineral Highlights from the Bancroft Area, Ontario, Canada". Rocks & Minerals. 94 (5): 408–419. doi:10.1080/00357529.2019.1619134. ISSN 0035-7529.
  5. ^ "Mindat.org". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  6. ^ a b http://www.mindat.org/loc.php?loc=542&ob=4 data from Geological Survey of Canada Miscellaneous Report 39 -- mindat.org
  7. ^ "Mineral Deposit Inventory Record MDI31F04SW00037: Faraday, Madawaska". www.geologyontario.mndm.gov.on.ca. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  8. ^ "Canadian National Report for the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management" (PDF). Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission: 49. October 2017.
  9. ^ "Record of Proceedings" (PDF). Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2021-10-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "12-Month Lobbying Summary - Ovintiv Canada ULC / Brendan McCracken, President & CEO". lobbycanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-11-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ a b Safety Commission, Canadian Nuclear (2020-09-21). "Independent Environmental Monitoring Program: Dyno, Bicroft, and Madawaska Mines". nuclearsafety.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  12. ^ a b Davis, Greg (29 September 2020). "3 decommissioned uranium mines near Bancroft, Ont. deemed protected, no health impacts: study". Global News. Vancouver, British Columbia. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Sampling near old mine sites finds 'no expected health impacts'". Haliburton Echo. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2021-10-09.
  14. ^ "Independent Environmental Monitoring Program: Dyno, Bicroft, and Madawaska Mines". Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  15. ^ 10-Ton Rock Kills Uranium Miner, 21. Barrier Examiner, April 11 1959.
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