Watch this video about Kettle River-Buckhorn’s reclamation planning process.
Although the mine is expected to close at the end of 2016, the site has been planning for post-closure land use for many years.
“We want to be as successful during closure as we were during operation,” said Gina Myers, Environmental Manager, Kettle River-Buckhorn.
Kinross has already had successes reclaiming former mining lands in the area. “At the K2 underground mine, the slopes were bare sand and gravel and we re-contoured the site so that it looks natural and blends in with its surroundings. A lot of hunters like it – it’s a deer habitat,” said Gary Johnson, Senior Environmental Engineer, Kettle River-Buckhorn. “When it’s green, it looks like it’s a park.”
The K2 mine borrow pit from 1996-2005
The K2 mine now
“It doesn’t look like there was a mine there,” said Randy Sage, Economic Co-Chair, Buckhorn Community Advisory Association.
The mine closure is not looked at as an ending, but rather as the start of a new chapter for the use of this land.
