New Brunswick strikes deal to explore recovering metals from old mine waste

Could the waste left behind by an old mine help pay for its own cleanup?

That’s the idea behind a new agreement between New Brunswick and a U.S.-based firm that’s looking to turn decades-old mining waste at the Nigadoo mine near Bathurst, N.B., into something valuable.

The mine once produced copper, lead, zinc and silver but has been shut down for nearly 50 years.

The province says some valuable metals may still be hiding in the waste left behind.

In an agreement announced Monday in Fredericton, Regeneration Enterprises says it wants to find out if those metals can still be recovered.

“The recovery of the metals, the critical minerals, whatever they might be, are then used to fund the restoration, as opposed to the public having to pay for it,” said Michael McPhie, Regeneration Enterprises’ managing director.

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The company says the site represents a $35 million liability for the province.

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“Part of our work is to remove that off the balance sheet for the province,” said McPhie.

“By recovering the metals, not only can we clean up the site, but we can provide a net benefit back to the people of New Brunswick by removing that liability.”

The province says no provincial money is going into exploration right now. However, future government funding hasn’t been ruled out.

“It’s two things. One: it is an opportunity for us to be able to unlock mineral wealth from a tailings facility. And two: have a proper, robust environmental remediation and reclamation of that particular site,” said Natural Resources Minister John Herron.

The Conservation Council of NB says targeting an already-damaged site could be better than disturbing untouched land.

“If the result of doing this testing and doing the mining to get the minerals out of the tailings — if the end result is that the mine will be rehabilitated, I think that’s a good thing,” said Beverly Gingras, the group’s executive director.

“There definitely seems to be some benefits. But, you know, as with everything, the devil’s in the details.”

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Gingras says there are still environmental concerns and the question of who would have to pay if things go wrong.

“So there might be, in terms of if they start trying to reprocess these tailings ponds, are they going to be disturbing some settled heavy metals that might find its way into our watersheds? I don’t know. So there might be some environmental concerns for sure,” she added.

The company, which is working with Pabineau First Nation, expects to know within a year whether the project is financially viable.

If it is and approvals come through, processing could begin within two to three years.