There is enough arsenic buried underground at Giant Mine in the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories (NWT) to kill every human on earth..Yellowknife is currently sitting on 237,000 tons of arsenic, which is being frozen in holding chambers underground..On average, large dump trucks can carry roughly 28,000 pounds or about 14 tons. There's almost 17,000 dump truck loads in 237,000 tons..The gold mine operated outside of Yellowknife from 1948 until 2004. Giant Mine, over the course of the next 50 years, removed approximately 7 million ounces of gold..When operations ceased, the Government of Canada became the site custodian, meaning the feds are responsible for any clean up to the site..During operation, to release the gold found in minerals called arsenopyrite ore, Giant Mine and other legacy mining operations around Yellowknife had to roast the ore at extremely high temperatures. Unfortunately, this roasting process also released arsenic rich gas, a highly toxic by-product. In the early days, much of that arsenic was pumped directly into the environment. As a result, most areas in the Yellowknife area contain increased levels of arsenic and there are warning signs posted at most of the lakes..Much of the contamination and pollution in Yellowknife dates back to the dirty beginnings of mining in the city when critics say the feds simply didn't care about the environment. .During the time, the feds knew the mine would be emitting toxic arsenic trioxide dust, However money talks and the feds allowed Giant Mine, Con Mine and some smaller gold mines in the Yellowknife area to open in the 1930s and '40s without pollution controls..The smelter at Giant alone pumped 10,000 kgs. of arsenic trioxide into the air every day for the first three years of operations..In April 1951, people on Latham Island, a part of Yellowknife just a few kilometres across the bay from Giant Mine, got sick. A Dene child died after eating snow laden with arsenic..The feds paid the child's parents $750 in compensation and quickly assembled an arsenic committee..The mining activities continued and so did the pollution which ruined lakes, streams, wildlife and their habitat..The company handed the depleted mine back to the feds along with loads of arsenic trioxide and washed their hands clean of the problem..The Giant Mine Remediation Project was created to address the long-term containment and management of the arsenic trioxide waste..This includes the demolition and removal of all buildings on the surface, and the remediation of surface areas including the tailings ponds. It also includes water management and treatment options..According to the NWT government, there are five stopes and 11 chambers at Giant Mine that contain arsenic trioxide dust.."Between 2001-2003 extensive scientific and technical research, and community consultation took place to determine the safest way to manage arsenic trioxide underground. The Project team considered 56 options for managing the arsenic," the NWT government stated.."Freezing the arsenic trioxide in place was determined to be the best strategy for managing the arsenic for the long-term to protect people and the environment. However, this is not a permanent solution for managing arsenic trioxide. The Giant Mine Oversight Board is tasked with supporting research into technical approaches that could serve as a permanent solution.".The feds said Giant Mine’s remediation is expected to take approximately ten years, however the project has now been extended to 2038. ."The project itself has a defined life of 100 years, with some components that will require operation and maintenance into perpetuity." the NWT government stated..The site is one of Canada’s most contaminated places, and the feds said it will cost at least about $900 million dollars to fix. However, since the project has been extended it is unclear how much the project will actually cost Canadian taxpayers..The impact on the Dene.Giant Mine is located in the heart of the traditional territory of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN).."Giant Mine created a decades-long toxic legacy of broken promises, displacement, arsenic contamination, and ongoing social, environmental, and economic harm to the Yellowknives Dene people," YKDFN stated..In December 2020, YKDFN brought together community leaders and Giant Mine survivors to formally call on Canada to provide an apology and compensation for the damage and long-lasting impact to their lands and people caused by Giant Mine’s operations..The YKDFN said Canada has no idea how to get rid of this poison and no plan for its disposal..“Giant Mine was established within the Yellowknife Preserve, which Canada promised to protect for the exclusive use of indigenous hunters and trappers. Canada failed to honour that promise," Dettah Chief of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Edward Sangris said.."It allowed the Yellowknife Preserve to be summarily abolished 1955, and it permitted the operators of Giant Mine to take the gold, and create a toxic legacy of contamination of the land and interference with our rights to hunt, trap and gather food and medicine, without any compensation or consultation with us. We are calling on Canada to sit at a table with us to determine just, fair and equitable compensation for these historic wrongs.”.Arsenic has been reported to have impacted animals’ brains and eyes at the Giant Mine site researchers reported..The research appeared in science journals Chemosphere, and The Science of the Total Environment..“During the time Giant Mine was operating, Canada did not protect us from the arsenic poisoning coming from Giant Mine," Ndilo Chief of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Ernest Betsina said..Ndilo is a Dene community near Giant Mine.."Our community remembers the illnesses and deaths caused by the mine, but Canada did not warn us of the contamination of our food and water. Our land is spoiled. It is not like what it was. We are fearful of harvesting anything near Giant Mine. We are fearful of fishing in the Yellowknife Bay and gathering berries close by.".In 2020, the Dene called on the feds to come to the table to ensure that after so many decades of this toxic legacy, the Yellowknives Dene people will benefit from the clean-up of the lands, and create a new legacy of skills, jobs, and a healing of the land..The Dene said Giant Mine is a monster that has loomed over many generations of Yellowknives Dene..It is constantly changing shape, one minute it takes the form of dust that blows over them, another it is in the dirt that their children play in, or in the despair it has caused them. They say its legacy will always be destruction and death..The Dene say Canada's apology and compensation to them for creating this monster is long overdue and that monster is all buried underground at Giant Mine in Yellowknife.
