Victor Mine Research Articles

Solute depletion and reduced hydrological connectivity in subarctic patterned peatlands disturbed by mine dewatering

Patterned bog and fen peatlands of the Hudson Bay Lowlands, which form one of the largest continuous peatland complexes in the world, are globally significant stores of carbon and important water conveyance and storage features on the landscape. However, expansion of resource exploration and extraction combined with warmer temperatures associated with climate change may result in reduced water availability to these peatland complexes, potentially disrupting peatland hydrological connectivity and hydrogeochemical cycling. A case study on the effects of reduced water availability on peatland hydrological and geochemical function was conducted near the De Beers Victor Diamond Mine, located 90 km west of Attawapiskat. Active dewatering occurred here over a 12-year period (2007–2019) during which a 1.5 km transect was monitored within the mine impacted radius. Hydrological (streamflow and groundwater levels) and chemical (porewater and surface water samples) parameters were collected at the impacted transect and two nearby unimpacted reference sites. Results demonstrated that impacted peatlands had depleted water storage and spent an average of 50 % less time hydrologically connected than unimpacted peatlands. By the end of the study period, increasingly depleted water storage within the dewatering radius resulted in disproportionately lower flowrates in two tributaries downgradient of the mine-impacted peatlands when compared with the reference sites. Moreover, diminished water storage allowed solute-depleted precipitation to reach greater depths within the peat profile, while stronger downwards gradients suppressed upwards flow into fens, limiting the amount of solute-enriched water reaching the surface. The recovery of fen solute concentrations will be a prolonged process (i.e., decades to centuries) due to the slow rate of upwards diffusion, which may result in the transition of these systems towards ombrotrophic bogs. Further studies should focus on the susceptibility of these impacted systems to further reductions in water availability due to climate change.

Small modular reactors for green remote mining: A multi-objective optimization from a sustainability perspective

Nuclear energy sources, in particular the small modular reactor (SMR), are being recognized as low-emission clean energy sources. The development of SMRs has focused on minimizing their carbon footprint while ensuring that energy is generated in a safe and cost-competitive manner, which leads to a worldwide growing interest in SMR deployments. In addition, there is a strong demand for renewable energy sources; however, their output can be influenced significantly by weather and location. Therefore, integration of renewable energy sources with SMRs and an energy storage system, which results in a nuclear renewable hybrid energy system (NR-HES), is required to improve power generation reliability. NR-HES represents a promising energy system solution for off-grid communities and industries, especially those involving remote mining sites. In the present study, an off-grid NR-HES to meet electrical and thermal demands is considered for the Victor mine site in northern Ontario, Canada. Off-grid remote mines in Canada primarily rely on diesel generators. The proposed NR-HES is composed of SMR units with a thermal capacity of 15 MWth each, two wind turbines with a capacity of 2.3 MWe each, a two-tank molten salt thermal storage system, a hydrogen storage facility, and peaking diesel generators. To achieve a near-zero-emission mining site, electric vehicles are proposed in the mining site energy demand structure. A transient thermodynamics model is developed to simulate the NR-HES and generate hourly variation of sustainability performance parameters that include power cycle efficiency, SMR capacity factor, round-trip efficiency of the storage systems, thermal storage state of charging, and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, an economic analysis is performed to determine the additional annualized cost of the system relative to a baseline site. The simulation has a test matrix of 16 runs with various combinations of design input parameters, namely SMR thermal power, storage duration (e.g., daily, seasonally, or monthly), and thermal storage system volume. Grey relational analysis (GRA) is used as a level-based multi-objective optimization technique to determine the nearest optimal design parameter (e.g., decision variable) combination within the test matrix and thus the optimal configuration. In addition, the GRA ranks the design input parameters based on how significantly each parameter can affect the overall performance of the NR-HES. Results revealed that optimal sustainable perspectives have a significant influence on the overall system parameters and performance. For instance, the results showed that there is an opportunity to achieve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 94.8% with a minimal impact to system annualized cost if the cost and environmental effect objectives were prioritized over other sustainability performance parameters.

Aquifer depressurization and water table lowering induces landscape scale subsidence and hydrophysical change in peatlands of the Hudson Bay Lowlands

The depositional history of the Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) in Ontario, Canada has created a low relief, poorly drained landscape, favouring the formation of one of the largest peatland complexes in the world. High volume dewatering associated with resource extraction in this area, such as the De Beers Victor Diamond Mine, tests the ability of the underlying confining layer to limit water losses in the peatlands above. This research quantifies the deepening of water tables and increase in effective stress related to mine dewatering and the resulting changes to bog and fen peatland hydrophysical structure and function. Long-term implications of these impacts are discussed. One impacted and two unimpacted transects were instrumented for meteorological (precipitation and evapotranspiration) and hydrophysical (hydraulic head, hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), and surface elevation) monitoring over a 12-year period in the vicinity of the Victor Mine. Over this study period, the unimpacted peatlands operated within relative hydrological equilibrium, demonstrated through shallow water tables, negligible subsidence, and stable Ksat. Contrastingly, all impacted peatlands experienced deeper watertables, larger downwards gradients, and measurable long-term subsidence (4–15 cm). Hydrological impacts were highest in bogs with a thin underlying confining layer even if they were farther from the point of dewatering, highlighting the need for environmental monitoring programs which incorporate an assessment of aquitard thickness. Where subsidence occurred, associated decreases in Ksat deflected bog-fen-tributary flow-paths deeper, reducing the upwards transport of solute rich water to downgradient fens. The long-term effects of these landscape scale changes should be studied further, particularly since climate change in this region will potentially increase water deficits and further alter peatland connectivity. Peatland studies should be conducted in different landscapes experiencing water table lowering due to drought or depressurization in order to better understand the associated subsidence patterns and hydrophysical changes in varying geological and morphological regimes.

Indigenous social justice movements and the anti-modern: Theresa Spence, the De Beers Victor Mine, and the Indigenous body

This article looks at the events surrounding Theresa Spence’s hunger strike in 2012 in order to explore the ideological and epistemological impacts of Indigenous bodies as they are situated within both mediated and real colonial spaces. In considering the violent reactions to Indigenous social justice movements by settler Canadians, I argue that Indigenous peoples in Canada are at the forefront of radical change in Canadian politics, but that due to the legacy of colonial erasure, anthropological discourse, and media representations, Indigenous activists also risk great physical and psychological harm in placing their bodies at the forefront of environmental, social, and political movements to decolonise Turtle Island. Theresa Spence’s experience offers a window into the roots of both historical and contemporary practices of colonisation, and the ways in which the colonial narrative has shifted towards paternalistic, neoliberal, and capitalist discourses of care. Considering the connection between Spence and the Victor diamond mine, this article considers the implications of settler discourse on neocolonialism in Canada and the need to alter systemic racist structures in order to decolonise the nation.

Characterising the Distinct Crustal Protoliths of Roberts Victor Type I and II Eclogites

Abstract The origin of the eclogites that reside in cratonic mantle roots has long been debated. In the classic Roberts Victor kimberlite locality in South Africa, the strongly contrasting textural and geochemical features of two types of eclogites have led to different genetic models. We studied a new suite of 63 eclogite xenoliths from the former Roberts Victor Mine. In addition to major- and trace-element compositions for all new samples, we determined 18O/16O for garnet from 34eclogites. Based on geochemical and textural characteristics we identify a large suite of Type I eclogites (n = 53) consistent with previous interpretations that these rocks originate from metamorphosed basaltic-picritic lavas or gabbroic cumulates from oceanic crust, crystallised from melts of depleted mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) mantle. We identify a smaller set of Type II eclogites (n = 10) based on geochemical and textural similarity to eclogites in published literature. We infer their range to very low δ18O values combined with their varied, often very low zirconium-hafnium (Zr-Hf) ratios and light rare earth element-depleted nature to indicate a protolith origin via low-pressure clinopyroxene-bearing oceanic cumulates formed from melts that were more depleted in incompatible elements than N-MORB. These compositions are indicative of derivation from a residual mantle source that experienced preferential extraction of incompatible elements and fractionation of Zr/Hf during previous melting.

Silicic microinclusions in a metasomatized eclogite from Roberts Victor mine, South Africa

We report results of a systematic search for fluid/melt microinclusions (<1 μm) in “dusty” garnets from a heavily metasomatized Type-I kyanite-bearing eclogite from the Roberts Victor mine, South Africa. FTIR analyses of “dusty” zones indicate the presence of molecular water, CO2 and carbonate in the inclusions and of hydroxyl groups in the garnet. EPMA analysis of 136 microinclusions reveals the bulk composition of the microinclusions. Relative to the host garnet, they are enriched in TiO2, FeO, CaO, Na2O and K2O and depleted in SiO2, Al2O3 and MgO. Most of the elements form compositional mixing arrays of microinclusion + clear garnet. The arrays trend away from the compositions of large melt pools or secondary minerals found in the xenolith. They point, with some notable differences, towards the array of silicic to low-Mg carbonatitic high-density fluids trapped in diamonds. The main differences are the presence of molecular CO2 in addition to carbonate, the lower concentration of incompatible major constituents such as water, K2O and TiO2 and higher levels of Al2O3 and FeO. Still, the resemblance is close, indicating the role of diamond forming fluids in mantle metasomatism in general. The trapped melts are secondary and penetrated late in the history of the eclogite. They did not take part in the main metamorphic or metasomatic reactions, however they can account for introduction of Al2O3, FeO and incompatible trace elements into the ecologies.

A common parentage-low abundance trace element data of gem diamonds reveals similar fluids to fibrous diamonds

Quantitative trace element data from high-purity gem diamonds from the Victor Mine, Ontario, Canada as well as near-gem diamonds from peridotite and eclogite xenoliths from the Finsch and Newlands mines, South Africa, acquired using an off-line laser ablation method show that we see the same spectrum of fluids in both high-purity gem and near-gem diamonds that was previously documented in fibrous diamonds. “Planed” and “ribbed” trace element patterns characterize not only the high-density fluid (HDF) inclusions in fibrous diamonds but also in gem diamonds. Two diamonds from two Finsch harzburgite xenoliths show trace element patterns similar to those of saline fluids, documenting the involvement of saline fluids in the precipitation of gem diamonds, further strengthening the link between the parental fluids of both gem and fibrous diamonds. Differences in trace element characteristics are evident between Victor diamonds containing silicate inclusions compared with Victor diamonds containing sulphide inclusions. The sulphide-bearing diamonds show lower levels of inter-element fractionation and more widely varying siderophile element concentrations - indicating that the silicate and sulphide-bearing diamonds likely formed by gradations of the same processes, via melt-rock reaction or from a subtly different fluid source. The shallow negative LREEN-HREEN slopes displayed by the Victor diamonds establish a signature indicative of original derivation of the diamond forming agent during major melting (~10% melt). Consequently, this signature must have been passed on to HDFs separating from such silicate melts.

Using heat as a potential groundwater Tracer through Stratigraphically Complex Media at the Victor Diamond Mine Site

The Victor Diamond Mine site near Attawapiskat, Ontario will begin mine development in the fall of 2007. The area around the site is characterized by two to three meters thick patterned peatland, which in turn is underlain by sand and silt, variable marine clay, and a large limestone bedrock aquifer. Bioherms, which are large, fractured limestone rocks that extend upward from the bedrock, to the surface in some cases, are complicating features to consider in the mine development planning. There is concern thatdewatering the aquifer for open pit mining may lead to disruptions in the surface peatlands due to draining through the bioherms. Dewatering the aquifer could impact the hydrological and ecological balance of the peatland, but the magnitude of the effect depends on the characteristics of the connections between the peatland and the underlying materials, which are currently unknown. A five year research program has commenced at the site to gain insight to the material behaviour and to study changes at the site asdevelopment progresses. This project will analyze the potential to use heat as a tracer for groundwater movement, and to integrate the findings into the long­term monitoring plan. Heat tracing may be used to test hypotheses for water movement at the site, and to detect areas of particular concern during dewatering. It is expected that collecting ormation about the site in this way and implementing monitoring plans will prevent, or at least anticipate, significant changes in the peatland ecosystem.

Analysis of Tyrrell Sea Deposits from the Vicinity of the Victor Diamond Mine: Comparison of Three North American Clay Deposits

he De Beers Victor Mine is an open pit diamond mine, and is located in the James Bay lowlands. The lowlands are characterized by extensive peatlands overlying Tyrell Sea sediments. One of the potential impacts of open pit mining, and the focus of the current work, is the potential for differential subsistence in the Tyrell Sea sediments owing to continuous groundwater withdrawal from the underlying limestone aquifers. To fully understand the potential effects of subsistence, a better understanding of the nature and properties of the Tyrell Sea sediments is needed. This will be achieved by analyzing various properties of samples collected from the Victor Diamond Mine, and comparing those properties with values from Lake Agassiz sediments and Bearpaw Shale. Properties such as hydraulic conductivity, grain size, plastic and liquid limit, and mineralogy will be compared. It is expected that the samples from the Victor Mine are a rock flour dominated by clay fraction, composed mostly of finely ground carbonates. The sediments are expected to have high plasticity, low hydraulic conductivity, and moisture content too low for that of true clay.

Mapping Palsa and Peat Plateau Changes in the Hudson Bay Lowlands, Canada, Using Historical Aerial Photography and High-Resolution Satellite Imagery

ABSTRACTIntensified warming in northern high latitudes drives widespread permafrost loss. Applying remote sensing methods to monitor the southern portion of the discontinuous permafrost zone in northern Ontario has provided information about the dynamics of permafrost change since air photography became available. The degradation rate and spatial pattern of permafrost thaw were tracked using a 435-km2 study area located about 30 km east of Victor Diamond Mine and 55 km west of Attawapiskat First Nation, Ontario. Permafrost in this area occurs mainly in vegetated palsas and peat plateaus covered by dense black spruce. Vegetation signatures, texture, and circular-to-elongated shapes are key image interpretation elements used to detect palsas and peat plateaus. Changes over a period of 57 years were mapped using object-based image analysis on orthorectified air photos from 1954–1955 and WorldView-2 satellite imagery acquired in 2011. Field validations were conducted through aerial and ground surveys in 2014 and 2016. The resulting change map demonstrates that permafrost degradation is leading over aggradation in the area. The permafrost area decreased by 1.2%, from 4.5% in 1954 to 3.3% in 2011. The patterns of change in palsa distribution have been analyzed, and accelerated palsa degradation is linked to proximity to streams.

Fluid-induced transition from banded kyanite- to bimineralic eclogite and implications for the evolution of cratons

Heterogeneous, modally banded kyanite-bearing and bimineralic eclogites from the lithospheric mantle, collected at the Roberts Victor Diamond mine (South Africa), show a reaction texture in which kyanite is consumed. Geothermobarometric calculations using measured mineral compositions in Perple_X allowed the construction of a P-T path showing a steep, cool prograde metamorphic gradient of 2°C/km to reach peak conditions of 5.8GPa and 890°C for the kyanite eclogite. The kyanite-out reaction formed bimineralic eclogite and is probably an integral part of the mineralogical evolution of most archetypal bimineralic eclogites at Roberts Victor and potentially elsewhere. The kyanite-out reaction occured at close to peak pressure (5.3GPa) and was associated with a rise in temperature to 1380°C. Mass balance calculations show that upon breakdown, the kyanite component is fully accommodated in garnet and omphacite via a reaction system with low water fugacity that required restricted fluid influx from metasomatic sources. The δ18O values of garnets are consistently higher than normal mantle values. Each sample has its characteristic trend of δ18O variance between garnets in the kyanite-bearing sections and those in the bimineralic parts covering a range between 5.1‰ and 6.8‰. No systematic change in O-isotope signature exists across the sample population. Differences in garnet trace element signatures between differing lithologies in the eclogites are significant. Grossular-rich garnets coexisting with kyanite have strong positive Eu-anomalies and low Gd/Yb ratios, while more pyrope-rich garnets in the bimineralic sections have lost their positive Eu-anomaly, have higher Gd/Yb ratios and generally higher heavy rare earth element contents. Garnets in the original kyanite-bearing portions thus reflect the provenance of the rocks as metamorphosed gabbros/troctolites. The kyanite-out reaction was most likely triggered by a heating event in the subcratonic lithosphere. As kyanite contains around 100ppm of H2O it is suggested that the kyanite-out reaction, once initiated by heating and restricted metasomatic influx, was promoted by the release of water contained in the kyanite. The steep (high-P low-T) prograde P-T path defining rapid compression at low heating rates is atypical for subduction transport of eclogites into the lithospheric mantle. Such a trajectory is best explained in a model where strong lateral compression forces eclogites downward to higher pressures, supporting models of cratonic lithosphere formation by lateral collision and compression.

Silurian conodont biostratigraphy and carbon (δ13Ccarb) isotope stratigraphy of the Victor Mine (V-03-270-AH) core in the Moose River Basin

The Moose River Basin in Ontario, Canada, contains nearly 1 km of Silurian marine strata, and although it has been studied for more than a century, its precise correlation globally has not been constrained. Herein, a core from the Victor Mine in the Moose River Basin was examined for conodont biostratigraphy and carbonate carbon (δ13Ccarb) isotope chemostratigraphy to provide a detailed chronostratigraphic framework for the Silurian strata (Severn River, Ekwan River, and Attawapiskat formations) in the Moose River Basin. The recovery of Aspelundia expansa, Aspelundia fluegeli fluegeli, Distomodus staurognathoides, Ozarkodina polinclinata estonica, Pterospathodus eopennatus, and Aulacognathus bullatus, as well as the lower Aeronian, upper Aeronian, lower Telychian (Valgu), and ascending limb of the Sheinwoodian (Ireviken) positive carbonate carbon (δ13Ccarb) isotope excursions provide significantly improved chronostratigraphic correlation of Llandovery strata in the Moose River Basin.

Hydrological functions of a mine-impacted and natural peatland-dominated watershed, James Bay Lowland

Abstract Study region This study was conducted in Northern Ontario, Canada, in the middle of the Hudson-James Bay. Lowland: one of the world’s largest wetland complexes. Study focus Northern latitudes are expected to be the most impacted by climate change in the next century and adding to this stressor are increased mineral exploration activities, such as the De Beers Victor Mine, a large open-pit diamond mine. Because of the extremely low relief and presence of marine sediments, horizontal runoff and vertical seepages losses are minimal. As a consequence of this aquifer dewatering must occur to keep the open-pit mine dry. What is unknown is how the aquifer dewatering would impact the water balance of a peatland-dominated watershed. This study examines 3 years of aquifer dewatering from 2009 to 2011. New hydrological insights Deep seepage (groundwater recharge) varied with marine sediment thickness and represented a significant loss to the local system. Large downward fluxes were also measured in fen systems that are typically local discharge zones. Evaporation rates were also found to be lower in the bogs and fens and where impacted by lower water tables. When evaluating the water balance, with only 14.5% of the watershed impacted by the mine, the hydrological function of the entire watershed is more driven by seasonal climate variations than mine dewatering.

Analytical solution for enhanced recharge around a bedrock exposure caused by deep-aquifer dewatering through a variable thickness aquitard

In this study an analytical solution was developed to predict steady radially-symmetric percolation rates from an aquifer underlain by a variable thickness aquitard. The solutions consider an aquitard with constant thickness and with radial-symmetrically increasing thickness outward from the center. The solution was used to predict the percolation rate from a peat layer around a bedrock outcrop in the James Bay Lowland near the De Beers Victor diamond mine. In this case the marine sediment layer limited the direct connection between the peat layer and the bedrock as an aquitard. Our zero order solution with constant marine sediment thickness showed the best fit to the steady state water level data of June 2012. It was found that the enhanced recharge around bioherms (i.e., at rates greater than the regional average of 0.7mm/day) will only occur in marine sediments less than 4.3m thick, for extreme depressurization of 30m.

Peridotites from Attawapiskat, Canada: Mesoproterozoic Reworking of Palaeoarchaean Lithospheric Mantle beneath the Northern Superior Superterrane

The Jurassic Attawapiskat kimberlites allow the study of the association of a world-class primary diamond deposit (Victor Mine) with a post-Archaean rift system, the Midcontinent Rift, which affected the southern Superior Craton at ∼1·1 Ga. Peridotite xenoliths and xenocrysts from the Attawapiskat kimberlites have been analysed to understand the processes of craton formation and modification in the Superior lithospheric mantle. Chondrite-normalized platinum group element (PGEN) signatures in olivine are complex and highly variable, but correlate with Os isotopic compositions. The existence of a depleted mantle reservoir beneath the Attawapiskat area since the Palaeoarchaean is indicated by ∼3·6 Ga TRD ages preserved in peridotitic olivine. An Mg# up to 93·6 in these olivines requires that protolith formation involved high degrees of partial melting, leading to harzburgitic and dunitic residues. Cr-rich garnets with positive slopes in depleted chondrite-normalized heavy rare earth elements (HREEN) are consistent with fractional polybaric melt extraction continuing from the garnet into the spinel stability field. TRD ages of ∼2·7 Ga in olivines with residual PGEN patterns probably reflect residual PGE alloy or refractory PGE sulphide inclusions and indicate that additional melting occurred in the mantle at the time of subduction–accretion, with hydrous melts infiltrating the overlying mantle wedge leading to iridium-group PGE (I-PGE) alloy formation. Metasomatic melts related to the Midcontinent Rift (1·1 Ga) interacted with variably depleted peridotite, leading to platinum-group PGE (P-PGE) enrichment and Mesoproterozoic TRD ages. Older depleted domains are, however, preserved (e.g. sinusoidal REEN patterns in lherzolitic garnet). After the thermal impact of the rift subsided, diamond-stable conditions were extended to shallower depths in the lithosphere via cooling, and diamonds sampled by post-rift kimberlites, such as Victor (∼180 Ma), must have formed after the Midcontinent Rift. These diamonds are likely to be of mixed parageneses: high-pressure compositions indicative of diamond stability are observed in both lherzolitic and high-Mg eclogitic to pyroxenitic garnets at Victor.

Multi-stage origin of Roberts Victor eclogites: Progressive metasomatism and its isotopic effects

Xenolithic eclogites are high-pressure, high-temperature garnet–clinopyroxene rocks brought from the mantle to the surface by kimberlites and other primitive magmas. Their origins have been controversial for decades: do they represent metamorphosed subducted oceanic crust or magmatic rocks originally crystallized in the deep earth? The answer has important implications for the definition of major Earth processes.The extensive eclogite suite from the Roberts Victor kimberlite (South Africa) has previously been divided into two types (Type I and II); this study proposes five subgroups (IA, IB, IK; IIA, IIB) based on mineral assemblages and compositions. All of these eclogites were derived from depths of 170–200km, near the base of the contemporary subcontinental lithospheric mantle.The fresh, microstructurally equilibrated Type IIA eclogites are the protoliths of Type I, which were heavily metasomatized by carbonatitic–kimberlitic melts/fluids to form Types IAIBIK. All the Type I rocks show extensive textural disequilibrium, and have abundant fluid inclusions, secondary phases, and higher δ18O than Type II (IA: 5.0–8.0‰; IB: 4.1–6.8‰; IK:2.2–6.8‰; IIA=3.5‰; IIB:2.2–3.9‰). Type I are richer in LREE and LILE than Type IIA; they also are isotopically more homogeneous, with higher 87Sr/86Sr and less radiogenic Nd and Hf isotopes. Type I eclogites give gnt–cpx isochron ages (SmNd (103±10Ma); LuHf (132±16Ma)) similar to the kimberlite eruption age (128±15Ma). Type IIA and IIB eclogites have unradiogenic Sr and radiogenic Nd and Hf isotopic compositions, and give a range of Proterozoic two-mineral “ages” (SmNd: 738–1143Ma; LuHf: 1148–1544Ma), reflecting some preservation of their original isotopic compositions. Type IIB are broadly similar to Type IIA, but have lower MgO; their mutual relationships are not clear.Neither Type I nor Type II eclogites are similar to modern or Archean oceanic crust when all the chemical evidence is compared. In any case, the data from Type I eclogites cannot be used to support a “subduction model” of origin because their major- and trace-element chemistry, and radiogenic- and stable-isotope compositions, reflect the extensive metasomatism, rather than any primary characteristics.Type II eclogites are the key samples for the study of eclogite origins. Their bulk compositions and microstructures (exsolution of gnt and rutile) suggest that most or all the garnet in Type II samples might have formed by exsolution from high-Al clinopyroxenes, crystallized from mafic–ultramafic magmas in the deep mantle. Therefore, the xenolithic eclogites from Roberts Victor Mine probably were originally magmatic rocks crystallized at depth, rather than subducted oceanic crust; as a suite, they record a major metasomatic event in the deep lithospheric mantle, close to the time of kimberlite eruption.

The controversy of transferring the Class Environmental Assessment process to northern Ontario, Canada: the Victor Mine Power Supply Project

Since Canada employs a federated system of government, there are separate environmental assessment (EA) processes at the national and provincial levels. In the Province of Ontario there is a streamlined, pre-approved, self-assessed process for ‘classes’ of projects. It is assumed that Class EA protocol developed in the southern Ontarian context is directly transferable to northern Ontario. A case-based approach, using the Victor Mine transmission line project, was employed to critically examine whether the Class EA template developed in southern Ontario should be applied to the western James Bay region of northern Ontario. Specifically, the two assumptions of Class EAs of predictability and manageability were examined. Interview and document data were used to inform a themed analysis. Results indicate that the western James Bay region is significantly different to southern Ontario. Thus, the Class EA template developed in and for southern Ontario is not transferable to the northern Ontarian context and the application of ‘cookie cutter’ EAs to other sub-arctic and arctic regions must be questioned.

Getting back to basics: the Victor Diamond Mine environmental assessment scoping proce and the issue of family-based traditional land versus registered traplines

Proper scoping is essential for any environmental assessment (EA) process. This is particularly true with respect to resource development in the intercultural setting of First Nation homelands of northern Canada. Improper scoping leads to EAs that are flawed for a number of reasons. For example, potentially impacted stakeholders are excluded from the process; thus, the proper collection of baseline information is not possible resulting in inaccurate predictions of impacts and mitigation strategies. We examined whether the approved EA for the Victor Diamond Mine in northern Ontario was properly scoped using criteria identified by the Government of Canada, in their project-specific guidelines developed for the assessment. Our results from the published literature, which included oral history, clearly indicate that the Victor Diamond Mine EA scoping process was based on two erroneous assumptions: that the registered trapline system was the accepted system of land use/occupation in northern Ontario, and that land use/occupancy was based on the treaty-imposed reserve system (not the family-based traditional lands system). Implications for resource development involving indigenous people are discussed.

The Challenges of Dewatering at the Victor Diamond Mine in Northern Ontario, Canada

The costs and efficiency of dewatering are particularly important at De Beers Canada’s Victor diamond mine in northern Ontario, where the bottom of the water-bearing carbonate country rocks is near the bottom of the planned pit, which limits the available drawdown in the perimeter wells. Most of the inflow to the wells comes from a limited number of discrete zones in the carbonate rocks, resulting in low hydraulic efficiencies. The variable hydrogeologic conditions require efficient pumping over a wide range of yields and lifts, and there are logistical issues associated with the isolated setting and the extreme cold winter temperatures. The hydrogeology of the Victor mine area was characterised over three winter field seasons using packer tests, pumping tests, step-drawdown tests, and downhole logging to define the lateral and vertical variation in the hydraulic conductivity of the carbonate aquifer. Based on these data, wells were designed and submersible pumps with variable frequency drives were installed. Two 3-D numerical groundwater flow models were constructed, one a ‘sub-regional’ model to provide input to the mine feasibility study and permitting process and the other a near-pit ‘window’ model to simulate groundwater conditions in the immediate vicinity of the mine. These models are used in tandem to direct design of the dewatering system, evaluate its effectiveness, and to predict long-term environmental effects.

The Victor Diamond Mine environmental assessment process: a critical First Nation perspective

Restrictive scoping has emerged as a contentious issue in environmental assessment (EA) with developments in northern Canada on Aboriginal territorial homelands. Restrictive scoping potentially leads to the exclusion of potentially affected stakeholders, constrained impact assessment, and inadequate collection of baseline information and traditional knowledge. The First Diamond Mine in Ontario, Canada, is located on the Attawapiskat River in the western James Bay region. We examined whether the scoping applied in the EA process that led to the approval of the mine addressed the needs of First Nations located southeast of the mine, specifically Fort Albany First Nation on the Albany River. Our findings indicate that the proponent, De Beers Canada Inc., with the approval of government authorities, primarily consulted and worked with Attawapiskat First Nation through the EA process and largely excluded other First Nations in the region. Limitations of EA in the context of northern Canada are identified. The potential of emerging community-based and regional land use planning in Ontario's far north is discussed.