Mine closures yield fields of green

The cleanup and reclamation of North America's defunct mines or those set for closure will be extremely costly, estimated to be over one trillion dollars within the next ten to twenty years. In Canada, mines are controlled by the provinces and British Columbia began reclamation of major coal mines and hard rock metal mines in 1969. Other provinces have followed suit and in 1991, Ontario ruled that new and existing mines and advanced exploration projects must be designed for closuer. Many US states are enacting similar laws and the EPA plans to require mines to submit closure plans with their permit applications. Cleanup includes the sale of usable equipment, salvage of the rest, dismantling buildings, treatment and disposal of process chemicals, hazardous materials and tainted soils as well as recontouring and revegetation of the sites. Currently, at Elliot Lake in Canada, three of Canada's largest underground uranium mines are undergoing the process of closure