Mineral Exploration is the official publication of the Association of Mineral Exploration British Columbia.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/428696
(top left) Scholarship winner Sara Sparks with Ryan Todd and Wendy Gardner of the BC TRCR; (top right) Scholarship winner Rachel Pugh with Todd and Gardner; (bottom right) BC TRCR members Bill Price of NRCan, 2015 BC TRCR chair Nicole Pesonen of Walter Energy, Kim Bittman of Taseko Mines, Jonathan Buchanan of AME BC, Angela Waterman of MABC, 2014 BC TRCR chair Ryan Todd of New Gold and Wendy Gardner of Thompson Rivers University; (bottom left) Bill Price and Ryan Todd of the BC TRCR present the Tony Milligan Book Award to Randy Baker and Patrick Allard of Azimuth Consulting Group Partnership. W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 21 This historic mercury mine owned by Teck Resources Limited recently under- went decommissioning and reclamation from 2010 to 2012. The tour of the site included an overview of the reclaimed areas as well as presentations on the aquatic and terrestrial risk assessments conducted to support closure; the land- filling of the decommissioning materials; the current status of the revegetation; and preliminary results of the river otter and American mink study. Symposium papers The Symposium attracted 219 delegates, including 17 sponsored First Nation dele- gates and 18 Grade 11 and 12 students par- ticipating in the Northwest Community College School of Exploration and Mining's dual-credit Environmental Monitor Assistant Program. The Symposium technical papers were presented over two days at the Prince George Civic Centre. For a complete list of papers, visit trcr.bc.ca. Papers are also published online through the University of British Columbia at circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/6934. Awards The BC TRCR celebrated the successes of students and the authors of the pre- vious year's best technical paper at its 38th annual banquet during the Mine Reclamation Symposium at the Prince George Civic Centre on September 24. The committee offers a total of $2,000 in scholarships annually to students reg- istered at a university or college in the province of British Columbia. This year, the BC TRCR awarded the Jake McDon- ald Scholarship for Mine Reclamation to two master of science candidates at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Rachel Pugh and Sara Sparks. Pugh is conducting research on creat- ing granular structure in non-soils, such as mine tailings, using a co-pyrolysis pro- cess with organic matter and mine tail- ings. She completed an undergraduate degree at UNBC with a B.Sc. in environ- mental science, and has also worked for both the federal and Yukon governments. Sparks' research at Highland Val- ley Copper is focused on using moun- tain bluebirds and tree swallows as bio- indicators of self-sustaining reclaimed ecosystems. Her interest in reclamation was prompted by her work as an environ- mental technician at Huckleberry Mine during her first year of university, leading her to switch her studies from outdoor tourism to environmental science. The Tony Milligan Book Award is presented to the author or authors of the best paper presented in the previous year that exemplifies the most practical aspects of reclamation. This year, the award was presented to Patrick Allard, Randy Baker and Cheryl Mackintosh of