Progressive Reclamation at Mount Milligan

At Mount Milligan, the end land use objective is to restore the area to be capable of supporting wildlife, recreation and traditional uses by First Nations.

During 2020, Mount Milligan Mine continued with reclamation research trials and operational reclamation along sections of the TSF designed to foster establishment of native plant cover and to inform future operational reclamation strategies. Mount Milligan placed a growing order with a local nursery in the Peace River area for 880 willow seedlings that were grown from cuttings collected during the 2019 willow staking program on the TSF. Mount Milligan also placed a growing order with a native plant nursery in West Moberly for 5,040 Sitka alder and 2,000 fireweed seedlings for planting in the spring of 2020. Mount Milligan hired a crew of three tree planters to plant both the reclamation research trials and a portion of the dam under the supervision of a reclamation specialist. A total of four hectares (ha) of dam slope were planted in 2020.

An additional tree planting campaign took place consisting of planting 6,000 conifers at several locations around the mine site. These locations had previously received topsoil placement and surface preparation. These areas included sections along the Rainbow Forest Service Road and along disturbed areas along the waterline corridor and Lower Rainbow Valley Well Field.

Mount Milligan will continue to assess the survivorship and growth rates of the plants in the reclamation research trials and assess the site for additional opportunities for progressive reclamation.