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Events/Closure · 1999

Giant Mine passes to the federal government

Closure, 1999, Canada.

What happened

Royal Oak Mines went into receivership in 1999 and Giant Mine was transferred to the federal department INAC. Over about 50 years of operation the mine produced 237,000 t of arsenic trioxide waste.1,2,3

Why it matters

The stored arsenic dust is the reason for the long-running remediation project.1,2,3

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Nixon ends dollar convertibility into gold

    Gold ceased to have a fixed dollar price.4,5

  2. Panguna mine: inception

    Panguna mine: inception.6

  3. Panguna mine halted

    The closure became tied to the Bougainville conflict.7,8

  4. Summitville mine environmental crisis

    It became a test case for cleanup law.9,10

  5. Giant Mine passes to the federal government

    The stored arsenic dust is the reason for the long-running remediation project.1,2,3

  6. Baia Mare cyanide spill

    A UNEP and OCHA mission reviewed it in February and March 2000.11,12

  7. Copiapo mining accident (33 miners trapped)

    Copiapo mining accident (33 miners trapped). Wikidata records 0 deaths.13

  8. Tr'ondek-Klondike inscribed

    UNESCO World Heritage listing event.14

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

Located inGiant MineOver about 50 years the mine left 237,000 t of arsenic trioxide.1

Places

Located inYellowknifeSee the nearby place: Yellowknife.1

Sources

  1. Giant Mine Historical Timeline Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
  2. History of Giant Mine Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada
  3. Giant Mine (item Q1423887), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  4. Nixon and the End of the Bretton Woods System, 1971-1973 US Department of State, Office of the Historian
  5. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  6. Wikidata item Q17060798 (Panguna mine: inception)
  7. History: Panguna Mine Bougainville Copper Limited
  8. Panguna mine (item Q17060798), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. The Summitville Mine and its downstream effects (OFR 95-23) US Geological Survey
  10. Summitville mine (item Q7637913), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  11. Cyanide Spill at Baia Mare, Romania: UNEP/OCHA Assessment Mission report UNEP / UN OCHA via ReliefWeb
  12. Baia Mare (item Q185280), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  13. Wikidata item Q214790 (Copiapo mining accident (33 miners trapped))
  14. Tr'ondek-Klondike UNESCO World Heritage Centre

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0).