CREATING A FUNCTIONAL SOIL USING KIMBERLITE TAILINGS FROM THE DE BEERS CANADA VICTOR DIAMOND MINE

摘要

The De Beers Canada Victor mine is Ontario's first diamond mine. It is located in the middle of the Hudson Bay Lowland, a vast expanse of peatland or muskeg that extends from the Ontario-Quebec border all the way past Churchill, Manitoba. This region covers 325,000 km2 and comprises the third largest wetland in the world. The Victor mine is the first mine in this entire region, but intense exploration in the region, especially in the 'Ring of Fire' to the west, means that more mining in the Hudson Bay Lowland is likely. The natural rarity of drained uplands in this region, the subarctic climate and the novelty of the mine all present challenges for mine closure. Current research aims to develop protocols for the rehabilitation of disturbed peatlands and the reclamation of new uplands created from the mine that will hopefully generalize to future mines in the region. This article presents the background of a study on how to create a functional soil from kimberlite tailings and other deposits mined at the site.