Acid Drainage from Abandoned BC Mine Steps Closer to Cleanup
Efforts to halt acid drainage from an abandoned British Columbia mine flowing into the salmon-rich Taku River watershed in Southeast Alaska has come a step closer to resolution, with the future of the Tulsequah Chief Mine now in the hands of the provincial government.
The BC government is currently in its third season of preliminary work at the site upstream of Southeast Alaska and has committed to its environmental cleanup, but efforts were slowed because the Tulsequah Chief’s bankrupt owner, Chieftain Metals, was searching for a new owner for the copper, zinc and lead mine, which ceased operations in 1957.
In mid-August, a court-mandated deadline for that to happen ended for West Face Capital, the creditor that had hoped to find a buyer for the mine.
The conclusion of the re...