Information Gathering/Inventory Task Group

Mandate:

To develop capacity for a national inventory of active, closed and orphaned/abandoned mine sites based on compatible inventories in each province and territory, including an acceptable system for categorization and priority ranking. To include agreed upon definitions and terminology as applied to orphaned/abandoned mine sites.

Activities:

The report Capacity Building for a National Inventory of Orphaned/Abandoned Mines in Canada (Cal Data Ltd, 2005) reviewed Canadian, US and international efforts to inventory orphaned/abandoned mines. Recommendations were made for an inventory that would include all inactive mineral sites, is web-based and has a map interface. The system would act as a portal to existing inventories maintained within the provinces, territories and federal agencies. Use of a map interface would allow ease of use without expert knowledge of inventory data systems.

Various options were explored to determine the most suitable host for the NOAMI Internet map site. The Mineral and Mining Statistics Division of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) was selected to host the portal. NRCan maintains several sites using MapGuide-based technology, which map producing mines and resource dependent communities in Canada.

Development of the web-based national inventory of orphaned and abandoned mines is well underway. NOAMI requested that NRCan develop a working model of the database. A working model has been built and populated with OAMs from several jurisdictions. Subsequent phases would integrate datasets for the other jurisdictions to produce a nation-wide inventory. The national inventory is expected to be launched and publicly accessible in 2008.