Xstrata Copper Canada announce that consulting engineering firm Genivar won the prestigious 2011 Schreyer Award at this year's Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards for its role in the decommissioning of our former Gaspe copper mining and smelting site located in Murdochville, Quebec.
On awarding Genivar the event's most coveted recognition, the jury noted that the rehabilitation of the 50 year old Gaspe site had set a benchmark for future mine decommissioning projects.
The decommissioning of the former Gaspe copper mining and smelting site, the largest project of its kind in Canada took four years and was completed in 2010 at a total cost of CAD 130 million. In accordance with Xstrata's commitment to sustainable development, the project aimed to return healthy and safe land to local stakeholders, enabling them to pursue new opportunities for development.
The mine and smelting site housed around 40 buildings including two concentrators, the copper smelter, a sulphuric acid plant, conveyors, garages, storage facilities and administrative offices. As such, the project involved the rehabilitation of 650,000 square meters of land the removal of 7 kilometers of electrical transmission lines and the construction of 240 meters of channels for water management.
The project also included the rehabilitation of surface soils at 736 properties in the town of Murdochville and in the port area of Gaspe where copper concentrate was transloaded and stored before treatment.
Mr Jacques Moulins GM of Environment, Site Rehabilitation and Resources Conservation for Xstrata Copper Canada said that "Even though the numbers tell the technical story, the decommissioning was first and foremost a human experience. We were committed to ensuring that the communities involved in the project understood the work we were undertaking and we maintained regular contact with both residents and local authorities."
Mr Moulins said that "Throughout the decommissioning process we held open house sessions for local stakeholders; published regular community bulletins; and implemented a dedicated community telephone line. We also met with each individual property owner to plan remediation work and ensure they were satisfied with the end result."
He said that with such a large and complex program to execute, the health and safety of the 250 workers involved remained a top priority for both companies. A comprehensive health, safety and emergency response program resulted in an exemplary safety performance with no lost time injuries for the duration of the project which totalled over 670,400 person hours.
He added that at the end of our journey, I believe our success was the result of Xstrata's clear commitment to sustainable practices the dedication of the Xstrata Copper and Genivar teams to find sustainable solutions and liaise with local stakeholders, and the continued support of the local communities and authorities.
