British Columbia miners sweep Reclamation Symposium awards

[Redator]

The 48^th British Columbia mine reclamation award ceremony took place Wednesday in Penticton as part of the annual Mine Reclamation Symposium. The Symposium spans several days and includes workshops, mine tours, technical presentations and concludes with an awards ceremony to recognize the efforts BC mining companies are undertaking relating to environmental protection and reclamation at mine sites. 

More than 270 people attended this year’s symposium, including biologists, engineers, mine workers and representatives, partners and members of First Nations communities, and students. 

Since 1969, mining companies are required by law to reclaim mine site lands when mine life ends. BC was one of the first jurisdictions in Canada to implement mine reclamation legislation, and the first to extend this policy to exploration sites, the Mining Association of BC said in a news release. 

 Since then, the provincial government under the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals has required companies post a reclamation security bond before mineral exploration and mining work begins at any site.  

 The British Columbia Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation (TRCR) presented awards to mine workers across the province who are demonstrating best practices and innovation in post-mining landscape restoration.  

The 2025 winners 

Elk Valley Resources (EVR) won the Jake McDonald Annual Reclamation Award, which recognizes EVR’s progressive reclamation of the Swift Project at Fording River’s operations.  

Located near Elkford in southeast BC, the project set a goal to produce 170 million metric tonnes of steelmaking coal over 25 years. Reclamation activities started in 2020, and today, the project demonstrates operational excellence in progressive reclamation. A defining aspect of the Project is its use of a bottom-up lift construction method for landform development.  Glencore is proposing the Fording River Extension (FRX) Project to extend EVR’s existing Fording River Operations. The FRX Project is anticipated to extend the lifespan of Fording River Operations by approximately 35 years, which is a critical economic engine to southeast British Columbia.   

Amrize (formerly Lafarge) scooped the Sand & Gravel Award for its achievement of reclamation through Abbotsford Gravel Sales. The team proposed a collaborative solution with neighbouring landowners and the Agricultural Commission to restore 30 acres of land as well as mining and restoring 85 acres of land. This project demonstrates how the aggregate industry can work collaboratively with agricultural stakeholders to responsibly access essential resources while supporting land stewardship and food production goals.  

Jacqueline Dube and DJ Formanski of Elk Valley Resources were awarded the Tony Milligan Book Award, created in recognition of the contributions Tony Milligan made to mine reclamation. This award was presented based on the quality of their paper, ‘An operational approach to geomorphic design in mine reclamation : A case study from Teck Coal Line Creek Operations’, presented at last year’s symposium.  

Scholarship recipients are Thompson Rivers University Master of Science students Rabeya Shikdar Orpa and Zhaohui (Sunny) Han. 

Next year’s 49th Mine Reclamation Symposium will be held in Fort St. John from September 21 to 25, 2026. 

Learn more about mine reclamation in BC here.