![]() The mine in 1956 | |
Location | |
---|---|
Location | Cardiff |
Province | Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Coordinates | 44°59′30.39″N78°2′16.83″W / 44.9917750°N 78.0380083°W |
Production | |
Products | Uranium oxide |
Production | 2,333,106 tonnes |
History | |
Opened | 1957 |
Closed | 1963 |
Owner | |
Company | Barrick Gold |
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).
Bicroft Mine is a decommissioned former underground uranium mine in Cardiff, 19 kilometres (12 mi) 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]
Aside from uranium, the mine has also produced globally renowned samples of Kainosite-(Y). [3]
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]
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: [2] [7] Auger Lake and South Tailings Basin which flow into Paudash Lake. [1]
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]
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. [11] [7] [13] The site is now a wetland. [1]
Water sampling completed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in 2019 confirmed that the site produces no risk to the environment or ecology. [11]
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. [14] The license will expire on 29 February 2036. [14]
Ovintiv Inc. is an American independent petroleum company. The company was formed in 2020 through a restructuring of its Canadian predecessor, Encana. Ovintiv is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Highlands East is a township municipality located in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada.
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.
Faraday is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within Hastings County adjacent to the town of Bancroft.
Consolidated Denison Mine, or the Denison Mine is an abandoned uranium mine located approximately 12.5 km north of Elliot Lake, Ontario. The site is bordered north by Quirke Mine and New Quirke Mine; on the east by Panel Mine and Can-Met Mine; and south by Spanish American Mine and Stanrock Mine.
Canada is the world's second-largest producer of uranium, behind Kazakhstan. In 2009, 20% of the world's primary uranium production came from mines in Canada. 14.5% of the world production came from one mine, McArthur River. Currently, the only producing area in Canada is northern Saskatchewan, although other areas have had active mines in the past.
The Beaverlodge Mine sometimes referred to as the Eldorado Mine or the Beaverlodge Operation was a uranium mine in the community of Eldorado, northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Eldorado was a small community 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east of the community of Uranium City, Saskatchewan in the Beaverlodge Uranium District built by Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited to house the workforce and families of the mine.
Kainosite is a silicate mineral that has the formula of Ca2(Y,Ce) SiO4O12(CO3)•(H2O). Kainosite was first discovered in Norway on the island of Hitterø and was named by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) in allusion to the Greek word for "unusual" for its rarity and exotic composition.
The successor of multiple historical Canadian mining and energy companies, EWL Management Limited was an Alberta based corporation that owned five decommissioned mines in Ontario, including three former uranium mines.
Dyno Mine is a decommissioned underground uranium mine located at Cardiff, near Farrel Lake, approximately 30km southwest of Bancroft, Ontario. It operated from 1958 to 1960.
Greyhawk Mine is a decommissioned underground uranium mine located in Faraday Township near Bancroft, Ontario. It operated from 1954 to 1959 and from 1976 to 1982. The mine produced 80,247 tons of uranium ore, of which 0.069% was U3O8 worth $834,899.
Uranium mining around Bancroft, Ontario, was conducted at four sites, beginning in the early 1950s and concluding by 1982. Bancroft was one of two major uranium-producing areas in Ontario, and one of seven in Canada, all located along the edge of the Canadian Shield. In the context of mining, the "Bancroft area" includes Haliburton, Hastings, and Renfrew counties, and all areas between Minden and Lake Clear. Activity in the mid-1950s was described by engineer A. S. Bayne in a 1977 report as the "greatest uranium prospecting rush in the world".
Henry Joseph Maloney was a Canadian priest, a school and college governor, and community leader based in Bancroft, Ontario.
Arthur Herbert Shore was a mineral prospector and the first person set up a uranium mine in Faraday Township, Ontario. He co-founded and managed the Reeves feldspar Mine and founded the Faraday Uranium Mine. His uranium prospecting, according to Bayne in 1977, led to the "greatest uranium prospecting rush in the world."
Uranium mining in the Elliot Lake area represents one of two major uranium-producing areas in Ontario, and one of seven in Canada.
Quirke Lake is body of water located in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Quirke Lake basin, a geological basin the northern part of the Huronian Supergroup. The lake is proximate to five decommissioned uranium mines.
Cardiff is a community in Highlands East, Ontario. It was incorporated in 1862, and became a uranium mining town during the late 1950s.
Bow Lake is a lake in Faraday township, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada.
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