Ministry of Mines - Minister's directions to ministry employees and agents to rehabilitate a mine hazard in an emergency

The instrument is a proposal under Section 12 (20) of Ontario Regulation 681/94, a proposal to issue a direction under subsection 148 (5) of the Mining Act.

Pursuant to subsections 148 (3),(4) and (5) of the Mining Act, the Minister of Mines (the Minister) may direct the employees and agents of the Ministry of Mines to do everything practicable, or to do such work and take such action as may be specified in the directions, in respect of the prevention, elimination and amelioration of the adverse effect where the Minister has reasonable grounds for believing that a mine hazard is causing or is likely to cause an immediate and dangerous adverse effect. Pursuant to subsection 148(4)(b) of the Mining Act, the Minister may order such work when he or she is of the opinion that the proponent will not carry out promptly the work required to prevent, eliminate, and ameliorate the adverse effect.

The former Gopher Mine (AMIS 08605) is located approximately 57 kilometres west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The mine features numerous hazards, including a vertical shaft that was previously covered. Logging roads near the mine workings were recently upgraded resulting in increased use of the land by both forestry operations and recreational users. On July 5, 2023, the Ministry of Mines was advised by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) that the shaft was open to surface immediately adjacent to the road. Given the unstable conditions of the shaft and proximity to the road, Minster’s Directions were issued to prevent, eliminate, and ameliorate the adverse effect. The rehabilitation activities were completed on November 7, 2023, and consisted of backfilling the shaft with aggregate material.