Victor Diamond Mine Receives 2022 Tom Peters Memorial Mine Reclamation Award
The De Beers Group Victor Mine closure project is the 2022 recipient of the Tom Peters Memorial Mine Reclamation Award.
The Victor Mine is in the James Bay lowlands, situated within the second largest wetland complex in the world, an area that is both ecologically sensitive and largely undisturbed. It operated between 2008-2019.
Constructed mine rock pads had to be built to facilitate a full-scale 24/7 mining operation. To reclaim these features, a mirrored approach to Mother Nature in terms of shaping and deposition sequence to ensure long-term stability and allow passive sustainable function was implemented. Nearly a decade of university-led research programs to examine a multitude of aspects for mine closure have been completed.
By the end of 2023, the De Beers Group Victor Mine is expected to be the first diamond mine in Canada to complete active closure, opening a new chapter of mining in Canada that will continue for at least the next two decades.
The closure and reclamation for Victor mine was the result of ongoing collaboration between De Beers, the Attawapiskat First Nation (AttFN), other communities in the region, and regulators. The ultimate goal was to ensure closure focused on sustainable practices for all aspects of land rehabilitation, revegetation, waste management, habitat restoration, and partnerships for thriving communities.
“Our goal in closing Victor mine has always been to return the site to a natural state that is safe for people and animals,” says Erik Madsen, Lead – Corporate Affairs for De Beers Group Managed Operations, Canada. “We’re grateful for this award because it recognizes the long history of work and collaboration with Indigenous communities and regulators to develop a closure and reclamation plan that enables the responsible closure of Ontario’s first and only diamond mine.”
Following the end of active closure, long-term monitoring will continue until at least 2039.
Tom Peters was a founding member of the Canadian Land Reclamation Association CLRA and was a pioneer in Canadian mine reclamation. Following his death in 2007, the (CLRA) in cooperation with the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), the Ontario Ministry of Mines (MINES) and Vale established the Tom Peters Memorial Mine Reclamation Award to recognize outstanding achievement in the practice of mine reclamation in Ontario. The award encourages the pursuit of excellence in mine reclamation and recognizes and promotes outstanding achievement in the practice of mine reclamation in Ontario to the mining industry and environmental community at large.