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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - First, second, and third time is the charm for the Det'on Cho NUNA joint venture, which has secured its latest contract over care and maintenance of the Giant Mine remediation site.

Det'on Cho Corporation president and CEO Roy Erasmus Jr. stand in front of a Giant Mine painting from artist Christopher Hunt on July 8. The painting was received as a gift after the Det'on Cho NUNA Joint Venture was awarded the most recent care and maintenance contract for the infamous mine site. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

The federal government announced July 6 the joint venture, between Det'on Cho Corp. and Nuna Logistics Ltd., would be awarded the 21-month, $14.9-million contract.

"We are committed to supporting the local residents and their community by ensuring the integrity of the care and maintenance of the Giant Mine," Rona Ambrose, minister of the federal Department of Public Works and Government Services said in a written statement.

Det'on Cho NUNA was first contracted for care and maintenance over the site in 2005, after the mine's owner, Royal Oak Mines Inc., went into receivership, leaving the federal government to oversee and manage the site.

An estimated 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide is said to have been left at the site after more than 50 years of gold processing between 1948 and 2004. About 7.6 million ounces of gold was produced and the arsenic was left stored in rock and concrete vaults, also contaminating the surface of the Giant Mine site.

"The Yellowknives Dene did not benefit a whole lot from the mining and now we are left with one of the largest environmental disasters in Canada," Det'on Cho Corp. president and CEO Roy Erasmus Jr. said. "Our communities and our people have been significantly affected and impacted from this so seeing and realizing not only some benefit from the cleanup, but ensuring that the cleanup happens in a responsible way and is done in a way that brings back the land to as close a natural state as possible, is important to the community."

Det'on Cho is owned by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and NUNA is 51 per cent Inuit-owned.

Det'on Cho NUNA has a staff of about 25 to 30 people at the Giant Mine site. The contract makes the joint venture responsible for security with 24-hour surveillance, protecting the public from accidental harm, ensuring the mine remains in compliance with environmental regulations, including water sampling and sewage treatment as well as monitoring the condition of structures and facilities on the site.

The last contract, valued at $40 million over three years, expired in March and followed a public competitive tendering process similar to the awarding of the most recent contract. Just one other application was received from another joint venture between Tlicho Engineering and Environmental Services Ltd., and Aboriginal Engineering Ltd.

Erasmus said Det'on Cho NUNA has provided site care and maintenance over the past six years with no safety incidents.

The official Giant Mine Remediation Project is awaiting review of the cleanup plan's environmental assessment by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board.

Giant Mine is located 12 km from the city centre.

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