The successor of multiple historical Canadian mining and energy companies, EWL Management Limited was an

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

based corporation that owned five decommissioned mines in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, including three former uranium mines. The company was one of seven companies in Canada which managed decommissioned uranium mines and, as of 2016, held 2% of all

uranium tailings Uranium tailings are a waste byproduct (tailings) of uranium mining. In mining, raw uranium ore is brought to the surface and crushed into a fine sand. The valuable uranium-bearing minerals are then removed via heap leaching with the use of acids ...

in Canada. The company was a subsidiary of

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 ...

, and dissolved into Ovintiv in February 2022.

Corporate history

In 1996, Conwest Exploration Company Limited was acquired by

Alberta Energy Company 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 ...

, which became AEC West. AEC became Encana with legacy mines being moved into the holding of subsidiary EWL Management. The company was registered on October 17, 2007 in Alberta, originally as 356823 Alberta Ltd, changing its name to EWL Management Limited in 2009. Encanada, and EWL, became part of Ovintiv in 2019, and is now known as Ovintiv Canada ULC.

Assets

EWL Management Limited owned five decommissioned mines in Ontario:EWL Legacy Mine Properties Perpetual Management Strategy, Presentation Slides by EnCanada, Global Nuclear Safety and Security Network, Accessed 2021-10-10
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* Madawaska Uranium Mine, Bancroft, * Dyno Uranium Mine, Bancroft, * Greyhawk Uranium Mine, Bancroft, * Coldstream Copper Mine,

Burchell Lake Burchell Lake is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located behind a locked gate at the southern end of Highway 802 in the Thunder Bay District.Ron Brown, ''Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage''. Boston Mills Press, 2007. . The town exi ...

Area,

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

, and * Gordon Lake Mine, near Werner Lake in the

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it large ...

. The company managed 4,600,000 tonnes of uranium tailings at former mines, which in 2016 represented 2% of all uranium tailings in Canada.

Operations

Since two of EWL's mines contaminated local groundwater, EWL were rehabilitating mines to meet provincial water safety standards. This included rehabilitating two tailing management areas at

Madawaska Mine Madawaska Mine (previously known as Faraday Mine) is a decommissioned underground uranium mine in Faraday, near the town of Bancroft, Ontario, which produced 9 million pounds (4,082 tonnes) of U3O8 concentrate, at an average ore grade of 0.1074 ...

. The rehabilitation was managed by

Golder Associates Golder Associates Inc., branded as just Golder, is an international company that provides consulting, design, and construction services in earth, environment, and related areas of energy. The company has 7,000 employees in offices in Africa, As ...

with the aim to make the site compliant with Canada's

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 ...

and Ontario's Mining Act.

Dissolution

EWL dissolved into Ovintiv in on February 22, 2022.

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 ...

''Order Under Section 25 or Paragraph 37(2)(f) of the Nuclear Safety Control Act''
6 May 2022.
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The

obliged Ovintiv to meet the licensing requirements of the two licenses WNSL-W5-3101.1/2034 and WNSL-W5-3100.0/2036.

References

{{Canada Geography, state=collapsed

External links

''Order Under Section 35 or Paragraph 37(2)(f) Of the Nuclear Safety And Control Act''
(6 May 2022)

Uranium mining companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 2007 2007 establishments in Alberta Companies based in Alberta * Canadian companies disestablished in 2022 2022 disestablishments in Alberta Ovintiv