OLD MINES BECOME NEW HOMES

Innovative work in the north; because bats need all the help we can give them

SCATTERED ACROSS THE RUGGED TERRAIN OF northern Ontario are countless abandoned mines. No one knows for sure how many, though estimates are as high as 5,000. They are a significant hazard to the public and to some wildlife. Many remain exposed because rehabilitation can be a costly liability and challenging undertaking for the mining companies responsible. Left unrehabilitated for decades, even longer, many of these abandoned mines have become naturalized and are now crucial habitats for local species. As a result, biologists are beginning to ask important questions about the ecological factors that should come into play when rehabilitating lands ravaged by mining.

Consider the Edison mine in northern Ontario. It was developed by the legendary American inventor (and cutthroat businessperson) Thomas Edison. While he is better known for inventing an early functional light bulb (though not the first, which may have been invented by a Canadian), Edison distinguished himself in the mining industry as well, pioneering new mining techniques and technologies, including a battery-powered miners’ lamp. In Ontario, Edison was a key player in the discovery of nickel at Falconbridge, and he had a hand in the local silver rush near the present-day town of Cobalt, Ontario. It wasn’t silver he was after but cobalt, a byproduct of silver-mining, for a new battery type he had invented. In 1905, he acquired his own mine near Latchford, Ontario, about halfway between North Bay and Timmins. Over two years, Edison’s employees sank two shafts to 45 metres,