Dyno 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 at

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 ...

, near Farrel Lake, approximately 30km southwest of

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 ...

. It operated from 1958 to 1960.

Uranium discovery - 1922 to 1956

Uranium was first discovered in the area of Cardiff (now known as Highlands East) in 1922 by W. M. Richardson. Between 1953 and 1956, one hundred area prospects were opened, including one by Paul Mulliette of Toronto who discovered uranium in 1953, which was developed into Dyno Mine.

Mine operations - 1956 to 1960

In 1956, brush was cleared to create 200 houses in Cardiff, some for executives of nearby

Bicroft Mine Bicroft Mine is a decommissioned underground uranium mine, located near Bancroft, Ontario, Canada. It is one of fourteen former uranium mines in Ontario that is monitored by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and one of twenty in Canada. ...

and a settlement called ''Dyno Estates'' was built near

Ontario Highway 28 King's Highway 28, commonly referred to as Highway 28, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The southwest–northeast route extends from Highway 7 east of Peterborough, to Highway 41 in Denbigh. T ...

for executives of Dyno Mine. Other construction quickly followed, including, two single-men's bunkhouses, a canteen, an eleven-room school, an ice-curling rink, and a recreation center. In 1957, a swimming pool was started. Mining commenced in 1958 via a 525 meter deep shaft. There was a mill on site. The mine produced to 363,758 kg of U₃0₈ before closing in 1960 when ore supplies were depleted.

Post mining - 1960 to present day

After the closure, the tailing site attracted mineral collectors, especially to the annual Bancroft Rockbound Gemboree in which tourists travelled to Bancroft in search of gems and minerals. In 1981, ownership transferred to International Mogul Mines Limited. Rehabilitation work was undertaken by AEC West Consultants in 2006. In 2022,

EWL Management Limited The successor of multiple historical Canadian mining and energy companies, EWL Management Limited was an Alberta based corporation that owned five decommissioned mines in Ontario, including three former uranium mines. The company was one of seven ...

dissolved into its parent company Ovintiv Canada ULC, and ownership therefore shifted to Ovintiv. Environmental monitoring 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 ...

found no safety risks. On May 6, 2002, CNSC took regulatory action against

Ovintiv Ovintiv Inc. is a hydrocarbon exploration and production company organized in Delaware and headquartered in Denver, United States. It was founded and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, under its previous name Encana. It was the largest energy co ...

. Ovintiv absorbed

on February 22, 2022 and assumed responsibilities for the mine, but not updated any of the licensing documentation to reflect the change. Using powers of the

Nuclear Safety and Control Act The ''Nuclear Safety and Control Act'' (the ''Act'') of Canada replaced the ''Atomic Energy Control Act'' of 1946 with new, more effective and explicit legislation to regulate the activities of the Nuclear industry in Canada, Canadian nuclear indu ...

, CNSC issued an order for Ovintiv to comply with the licensing requirements previously issued to EWL Management Limited.
Order under section 35 or Paragraph 37(2)(f) of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act
', 6 May 2022,

References

{{Canada Geography, state=collapsed Uranium mines in Ontario Underground mines in Canada Former mines in Ontario History of Haliburton County

Uranium discovery - 1922 to 1956

Mine operations - 1956 to 1960

Post mining - 1960 to present day

See also

References