Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 17/01) - Miramar Con Mine is being investigated by territorial officials for possibly not handling chemicals properly.

A fire last weekend had smoke billowing from the mine site and shrouded parts of the city when a substance called quicklime was deposited at the mine's dump.

When mixed with water quicklime produces heat, which started a fire at the dump Aug. 8.

"We are still discussing with the mine what happened and what the situation was," said Jim Sparling, acting director for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development's protection services.

He added that charges against the company are a possibility.

Mine manager John Stard said quicklime -- used as a corrosive in the mining process -- was inadvertently deposited to close to the dump.

But he said the company has a water licence that allows them to dispose of mining chemicals in the fashion the quicklime was disposed of.

"We certainly don't feel we did anything out of the ordinary," Stard added. "It was a little too close to the garbage dump ... but we are within our legal requirements."

Stard said the mine usually uses up all of its quicklime but in this case six to 10 tonnes of it were dumped because it was mixed with rock.

When the fire started, a shift of workers were evacuated after odours leaked into part of the mine underground, but Stard said no one was injured.

After firefighters drenched the site of the first fire on Aug. 8 they again returned on Aug. 12 when another part of the dump caught fire due to the chemical.