Teck is working to make the area around the base of Red Mountain safer by fencing dangerous areas left over by historic mining operations.
The Rossland Historical Mining Properties Fencing Project is expected to continue until later this year.
Catherine Adair, community engagement coordinator for Teck Metals Ltd., said Teck is still planning to install the fence.
“Our consultants are still up there doing some geotechnical work,” Adair said. “So the fence will be going up either this fall or potentially this spring.”
The area that’s going to be fenced is already closed off to hikers.
Adair said there is an area of Red Mountain that is currently closed because of the historical mining operations, so that area will be fenced off.
The work that you can see from the road that is part of Teck’s ongoing remediation and geotechnical work. They’re investigating what the mining features are.
She said that the backside of Red is an area that’s been historically mined without proper documentation.
“Basically, it wasn’t properly tracked through the years on what areas were mined and not mined and where all the different prospects were,” she said. “So what our consultant is trying to do is monitor that and monitor any new features that open up.”
They will also keep track of the features that have already been documented.
“Because of all the previous mining operations that have gone on, it’s not safe to allow recreational use in that area right now,” she said, adding that it wasn’t clear if the area would be able to be remediated.
“There’s continuous movement and pressures on the rock from air and moisture, and it’s very unlikely that the area could be reopened.”