Bicroft Mine is a decommissioned underground

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

mine, located near

Bancroft, Ontario Bancroft () is a town located on the York River in Hastings County in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was first settled in the 1850s by United Empire Loyalists and Irish immigrants. From the mid-1950s to about 1982, mining was the primary ...

, Canada. It is one of fourteen former uranium mines in Ontario that is monitored by the

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC; french: Commission Canadienne de sûreté nucléaire) is the federal regulator of nuclear power and materials in Canada. Mandate and history Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission was established under t ...

, and one of twenty in Canada. Aside from uranium, the mine has also produced globally renowned samples of Kainosite-(Y).

Location

Bicroft Mine is a decommissioned former underground

mine located near Highlands East (previously known as Cardiff), southwest of

, Canada. It is one of four former mines near Bancroft - the others being Faraday Mine/Madawaska Mine,

Dyno Mine Dyno Mine is a decommissioned underground uranium mine located at Cardiff, near Farrel Lake, approximately 30km southwest of Bancroft, Ontario. It operated from 1958 to 1960. Uranium discovery - 1922 to 1956 Uranium was first discovered in th ...

, and Greyhawk Mine). It is also one of fourteen former uranium mines in Ontario that is monitored by the

, and one of twenty of such in Canada.

Products

Aside from uranium, the mine has also produced globally renowned samples of Kainosite-(Y).

Discovery of uranium - 1922 to 1953

Uranium was first discovered in the area of Cardiff in 1922 by W. M. Richardson. Between 1953 and 1956, one hundred area prospects were opened, including one by Central Lake Uranium Mines Limited that later turned into Bicroft Mine.

Mining operations - 1953 to 1960

The mine operated from 1957 to 1963 and produced approximately 2,470,000 tonnes of uranium ore at an average concentration of 19 mg uranium per kg of ore. The 2,284,421 tonnes of tailings are deposited in two impoundments near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

: Auger Lake and South Tailings Basin which flow into

Paudash Lake Paudash Lake is a lake in south central Ontario southwest of Bancroft along Highway 28. The lake is located just north of Silent Lake Provincial Park in Haliburton County, south of the panhandle of Algonquin Provincial Park. The nearest communit ...

. The mine employed up to 500 people at its peak. Bicroft Mine was originally owned by Bicroft Uranium Mines Limited, and is now owned by Barrick Gold.

Closure and decommissioning - 1960 to present day

Repairs to the decommissioned site, included adding vegetation over the tailings, were completed in 1980. Subsequent upgrades of the dams were completed in the 1990s. The site is now a wetland. Water sampling completed by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in 2019 confirmed that the site produces no risk to the environment or ecology. In September 2020, Barrick Gold requested to renew their waste nuclear substance license. The

renewed the license on 24 February2021. The license will expire on 29 February 2036.

References