Bicroft Mine Explained

Bicroft Mine
Pushpin Map:CAN ON Haliburton#Canada Southern Ontario#Ontario
Pushpin Label:Bicroft Mine
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Bancroft, Ontario
Coordinates:44.9918°N -78.038°W
Place:Cardiff
Subdivision Type:Province
State/Province:Ontario
Country:Canada
Owner:Barrick Gold
Products:Uranium oxide
Amount:2,333,106 tonnes
Opening Year:1957
Closing Year:1963

Bicroft Mine is a decommissioned underground uranium mine, located in Cardiff, near Bancroft, Ontario, Canada.

It is one of fourteen former uranium mines in Ontario that is monitored by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and one of twenty in Canada.

Aside from uranium, the mine has also produced globally renowned samples of Kainosite-(Y).

Location

Bicroft Mine is a decommissioned former underground uranium mine in Cardiff, 19km (12miles) southwest of Bancroft, Ontario, Canada.[1]

It is one of four former mines near Bancroft - the others being Faraday Mine/Madawaska Mine, Dyno Mine, and Greyhawk Mine.[2]

Products

Aside from uranium, the mine has also produced globally renowned samples of Kainosite-(Y).[3]

Discovery of uranium - 1922 to 1953

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 Central Lake Uranium Mines Limited that later turned into Bicroft Mine.[4]

Mining operations - 1953 to 1960

The mine operated from 1957 to 1963 and produced 2,333,106 tonnes of uranium ore[5] at an average concentration of 19 mg of uranium per kg of ore.[6] The 2,284,421 tonnes of tailings are deposited in two impoundments near Cardiff:[7] Auger Lake and South Tailings Basin which flow into Paudash Lake.

The mine employed up to 500 people at its peak.[8]

Bicroft Mine was originally owned by Bicroft Uranium Mines Limited,[9] and is now owned by Barrick Gold.[10] [11] [12]

Closure and decommissioning - 1960 to present day

Repairs to the decommissioned site, included adding vegetation over the tailings, were completed in 1980. Subsequent upgrades of the dams were completed in the 1990s.[13] The site is now a wetland.

Water sampling completed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in 2019 confirmed that the site produces no risk to the environment or ecology.

In September 2020, Barrick Gold requested to renew their waste nuclear substance license.[14] The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission renewed the license on 24 February 2021. The license will expire on 29 February 2036.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Canada . Library and Archives . 2019-03-08 . Search - Theses Canada . 2021-11-22 . www.bac-lac.gc.ca . 2023-07-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230703052544/https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/services/services-libraries/theses/Pages/item.aspx?idNumber=1019489646 . live .
  2. Laidlow . Allison . Characterization of Uranium and Rare Earth Element Mobility and Attenuation Downstream of Decommissioned Tailings Impoundments at the Bicroft Mine near Bancroft, Ontario . 6 May 2013 . 1974/8022 . free .
  3. McDougall . Raymond . 2019-09-03 . Mineral Highlights from the Bancroft Area, Ontario, Canada . Rocks & Minerals . 94 . 5 . 408–419 . 10.1080/00357529.2019.1619134 . 201298402 . 0035-7529.
  4. Book: Reynolds, Nila. Bancroft. A Bonanza of Memories. Bancroft Centennial Committee. 1979. 192.
  5. Mohamad . Bin Daud . A Study of Uranium in Ground Water Around Greyhawk Mine, Bancroft, Ontario . June 1980 . 11375/6845 . free . 2023-07-03 . 2023-03-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230318181056/https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/6845 . live .
  6. Parsons. Michael B.. Friske. Peter W. B.. Laidlow. Allison M.. Jamieson. Heather E.. 2014. Abstract: Controls on Uranium, Rare Earth Element, and Radionuclide Mobility at the Decommissioned Bicroft Uranium Mine, Ontario. en-US. 2021-11-22. 2021-11-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20211122014223/https://archives.datapages.com/data/atlantic-geology-journal/data/050/050001/pdfs/52a.htm. live.
  7. Web site: 2020-09-21. Independent Environmental Monitoring Program: Dyno, Bicroft, and Madawaska Mines. live. 2021-11-22. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20201101012135/http://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/resources/maps-of-nuclear-facilities/iemp/dyno-bicroft-madawaska-mines.cfm . 2020-11-01 .
  8. Web site: Uranium Citizens Inquiry. 2021-11-22. www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com. 2017-04-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20170419151125/http://uraniumcitizensinquiry.com/submissions/submission125.html. live.
  9. Evans. A. M.. 1966-12-01. The development of lit-par-lit gneiss at the Bicroft uranium mine, Ontario. The Canadian Mineralogist. 8. 5. 593–609. 0008-4476. 2021-11-22. 2021-11-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20211122014221/https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/canmin/article-abstract/8/5/593/13946/The-development-of-lit-par-lit-gneiss-at-the. live.
  10. Web site: 3 decommissioned uranium mines near Bancroft, Ont. deemed protected, no health impacts: study - Peterborough Globalnews.ca. 2021-11-22. Global News. en-US. 2023-03-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180800/https://globalnews.ca/news/7366368/bancroft-uranium-mine-safety/. live.
  11. Web site: 2020-10-06. Sampling near old mine sites finds 'no expected health impacts'. 2021-11-22. Haliburton Echo. en-CA. 2023-03-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20230318180801/https://haliburtonecho.ca/sampling-near-old-mine-sites-finds-no-expected-health-impacts/. live.
  12. Web site: Smith-Millar. Trevor. 2020-10-15. Old Uranium Mines in Bancroft Area Deemed Safe. 2021-11-22. My Bancroft Now. en-CA. 2020-11-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20201126003936/https://www.mybancroftnow.com/49355/old-uranium-mines-in-bancroft-area-deemed-safe/. live.
  13. Web site: Subsurface Investigations and Condition of Dams: Bicroft Mine Site Bancroft, Ontario · U-Links Centre For Community Based Research. 2021-11-22. database.ulinks.ca. 2021-11-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20211122021623/https://database.ulinks.ca/items/show/4671. live.
  14. Regulatory Oversight Report for Uranium Mines, Mills, Historic, and Decommissioned Sites in Canada: 2020. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. 160. 2021-11-29. 2022-09-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20220915124207/https://www.nuclearsafety.gc.ca/eng/the-commission/meetings/cmd/pdf/CMD21/CMD21-M34.pdf. live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bicroft Mine".

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