Can Old Mine Waste Power BC’s Clean‑Energy Future?

BC is sitting on a hidden opportunity: millions of tonnes of mine waste that could help supply the minerals needed for a low‑carbon economy. But without strong rules, remining these sites could also repeat the environmental and social harms of the past.

Remining—the recovery of minerals from old mine sites, including tailings ponds and waste rock—offers both promise and challenges as BC pays more attention to critical minerals and transitions toward a cleaner energy future. Many legacy sites continue to pollute local watersheds and impact communities, particularly Indigenous Nations whose territories host a large share of abandoned and closed mines.

Highland Valley Copper Mine Tailings Pond

Massive tailings pond at Highland Valley Copper Mine, Canada’s largest (and soon to be much larger) open-pit copper operation.

Remining can help address these long-standing issues. By reprocessing existing waste, it has the potential to:

reduce contamination and improve environmental conditions,
support reclamation of old mine sites, and
recover critical minerals needed for renewable energy technologies—without opening new mines.

Some projects in BC and elsewhere are already demonstrating how remining can work in partnership with Indigenous Nations and contribute to land restoration. However, without clear rules, remining also carries significant risks. Poorly managed projects can trigger tailings failures, release harmful contaminants, and reinforce inequities faced by Indigenous communities.

Prepared for the BC Mining Law Reform Network, Remining for BC’s Energy Future examines BC’s current legal framework and finds that no provincial law directly regulates remining. Existing mining and environmental statutes may apply, but the rules are unclear, especially for projects at orphaned or inactive sites. This uncertainty poses challenges for environmental protection, oversight, and accountability.

To ensure remining is conducted safely and responsibly, the report recommends several key reforms:

Define remining in law to clarify when and how regulatory requirements apply.
Require environmental assessments for remining in higher‑risk settings.
Embed early and meaningful Indigenous participation and consent, in line with BC’s reconciliation commitments.
Clarify liability and reclamation responsibilities and strengthen financial assurance requirements.
Establish a centralized inventory of tailings materials to improve transparency and oversight.

Other jurisdictions are beginning to address these same challenges and provide useful guidance for BC.

Remining for BC’s Future outlines a path for BC to advance responsible, future‑focused remining practices that protect ecosystems, uphold Indigenous rights, and contribute to a sustainable energy transition.

Report:

Remining-for-BCs-Energy-Future Download