Cleaning up Nunavik's abandoned mineral exploration sites
20 juillet 2022
During the 30 years between 1950 and 1980 many exploration campaigns were conducted in Northern Quebec by companies who were not subject to any regulations concerning the cleanup of drilling sites. Several of these sites were abandoned, leaving behind camps, barrels of fuel, machinery and other toxic products. These abandoned exploration sites extend over 300 kilometres of land throughout the territory of Nunavik.
In 2001 and 2002, the Kativik Regional Government (KRG) conducted an inventory of the abandoned mineral exploration sites on the territory of Nunavik. During the inventory operation, 193 potential sites were visited, including 90 which were confirmed as being abandoned mining exploration sites. Another 300 potential sites were estimated to be scattered throughout the territory and are in the process of being identified.
In 2007, an agreement was signed, called the Fonds Restor-Action-Nunavik (FRAN/Restor-Action Nunavik Fund), by the KRG, the Makivik Corporation, the Ministère de l’Énergie et des Ressources Naturelles (MERN) and several Quebec mining companies, including Canadian Royalties Inc. Several cleanup operations were conducted by Canadian Royalties between 2009 and 2014 on several sites identified by the FRAN, near the facilities of the Nunavik Nickel Project. In 2019, two former mineral exploration sites near the Expo camp, newly identified by the FRAN, have been cleaned up and reclaimed by the Exploration Department of Canadian Royalties. Cleaning of the Méquillon exploration camp started in August and finished in October 2021. Some have been undergoing cleanup since 2009, while others will be cleaned up in the years to come.