Horse Creek Silica Mine
Proponent: Hi-Test Sand Inc.
Location: Golden, BC
Date: 2015 – present
Description: The Horse Creek Silica Mine is a small open pit silica mine located approximately 12 km south-southeast of Golden, BC in the Golden Mining Division. The mineral lease was permitted under the Mines Act in January 2020 (replacing the former permit for the site). The mine was previously active from 1980 to 1999. No mining has occurred since 1999; however, the new permit was activated to reinitiate mining at the site.
Since 2015, KES has worked with the Proponents to develop a series of permit-compliant management plans and implement on-site monitoring, including the following:
Mine emergency response plan
Water management and monitoring plan, including permit-compliant annual surface water quality sampling per the Environmental Management Act permit for the site
Fugitive dust management plan, including the establishment of a weather station and relevant on- and off-site monitoring
Erosion and sediment control plan
Soil salvage and stockpiling management plan
Vegetation management plan, including the control of invasive species established at the site
Wildlife management plan
Chance find procedures plan
Reclamation research program
KES developed these plans through a series of detailed field assessments, and will to implement and monitor their effectiveness employing a similar approach. KES designed these plans to ensure that wildlife is minimally impacted, water quality remains unimpacted, and that the post-mine landscape returns to a productive state in which native ecosystem functions return and allows for opportunities for use by local First Nations.
