WSP Golder has been awarded a contract for Regulatory Support Services for the Faro Mine Remediation Project by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC).
When it was in operation, the Faro Mine was one of the largest open pit lead-zinc mines in the world. When the mine was abandoned in 1998, 70 million tonnes of tailings and 320 million tonnes of waste rock were left behind. The project has a physical footprint of approximately 25 square kilometres, or roughly the same size as the city of Victoria, British Columbia.
In 2018, the Government of Canada took over the responsibility for the care and maintenance of the site. Since then, several actions have been taken to mitigate the risk that the site presents to the surrounding environment, including the re-alignment of the North Fork of Rose Creek.