McIntyre Mine Site

General Project Overview

In the summer of 2000, Kinross Gold Corporation initiated progressive rehabilitation of the former Royal Oak Mines McIntyre Mine property. The 2000-2001 project was carried out as part of the rehabilitation work being done under a cooperative agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. The reclamation work undertaken by Kinross included the demolition of the surface infrastructure at the McIntyre Mine and associated town site.

The McIntyre Mine reportedly operated between 1912 and 1988 and was once one of the largest gold producers in the world. The mine consisted of an underground mining operation with several access shafts and vent raises.

In 2000, all that remained of the former mine were two headframes and associated shafts, two hoist rooms, a refinery, storage buildings and an administration building. Several of these buildings, including the mineshaft, presented serious safety hazards and required to be addressed expeditiously. A town site was also located south of the mine and had housed employees and managers.

The 2000-2001 progressive rehabilitation of the McIntyre property consisted of the removal of all buildings and infrastructure surrounding the Shaft No. 11 headframe, the demolition and capping of the Shaft No. 6 headframe, and the recapping of the Jupiter Shaft. The removal of older foundation remnants was not part of this initial reclamation work. The demolition was contracted out to Lacroix Construction of Sudbury, Ontario.

Before the demolition work began, Kinross and the contractor prepared an action plan that would see the project achieve fruition in early 2001.

In accordance with Kinross and provincial environmental requirements, maximum recycling and reuse of building materials was carried out in order to reduce material volumes transported to an on-site landfill site. All recyclable materials from the mine site were separated from the waste streams and collected by local building material recyclers. Following the removal of all wastes to the landfill site, all remaining concrete foundations at the mine site and town site were collapsed and buried in place as inert fill. All waste chemicals and petroleum products encountered at the site were gathered and removed by a licensed waste disposal company. 

During the demolition of the mine site, the existing Shaft No. 6 and Jupiter Shaft were permanently closed with engineered reinforced concrete caps anchored into the shaft collar or surrounding bedrock. The cap was constructed in accordance with rehabilitation regulations set out in the Ontario Mining Act.

Following the removal of all non-recyclable debris, concrete foundations and brick walls were collapsed into basements and covered with imported overburden. All abandoned roadway surfaces, as well as other disturbed surfaces on the mine site and within the town site were loosened, graded, and prepared for revegetation. The prepared areas were seeded with a mixture of seed and fertilizer. The landfill site was also covered with new sandy soil.

The only remaining building, following the demolition of the mine site, was the Shaft No. 11 headframe and a shed containing electrical switchgear for the headframe. The headframe and its immediate surroundings will eventually be redeveloped by the City of Timmins as a heritage monument to gold mining in the Porcupine Camp.

A report describing the progressive rehabilitation works was issued to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in October 2001.