Canadian app developer Clirio has helped the Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) in the creation of a Giant Mine Remediation Project app that uses 3D design to create a simplified overview of the complex end-of-life project.
Clirio said the app includes including LiDAR, GIS, CAD and underground measurements built with a multi-disciplinary team of engineers and content developers that creates a three-dimensional "table-top" model.
This will help community members, government officials and other rights holders and stakeholders share a common understanding of the challenges and solutions related to this project, said the firm.
The app also features a comprehensive underground view of the former mining operation showing the stopes which store the arsenic trioxide and the engineering solution that has been proposed to contain it.
There is also a depiction of a rising water table and its limited potential to interact with the arsenic due to the frozen ground. Finally, users are transported to the year 2040, and a view of the reclaimed site, complete with restored creeks, covered tailings ponds, and a new water treatment plant. All of this is done using augmented reality (AR) on the users' devices to best depict the scope and scale of the issues at hand.
"Having worked with CIRNAC over the past few years to create holographic visualizations of their project data, we are proud to partner with them to create this app that we feel will be of interest to a many Canadians, as we are all stakeholders in this project," says Gerald Magnusson, head of Product for Clirio.
The C$1 billion (US$777 million) Giant Mine Remediation Project is co-managed by the government of Canada and the Government of Northwest Territories and involves the cleanup of abandoned gold mine within the municipal boundaries of Yellowknife, NWT.
In 1999, the mine stopped operating and Canada became the site custodian, attention focused on the environmental issues left behind. The most notable is the 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide, a byproduct of the gold mining operations, stored in underground chambers.
This technically complex remediation plan requires the understanding and acceptance of many rights holders and stakeholders, including engineers, government officials and the public.
"This information can be difficult to clearly explain to non-technical individuals. As public engagement is a critical component to this process, a more effective communication method was required to show how the mitigation plans are going to be implemented," write the statement.
Users of the app can view inaccessible underground areas with both safety and visually clarity and can see all aspects of the project.
"Clirio's work gives CIRNAC a new tool that can help support a meaningful public engagement process in an efficient way that helps avoid unnecessary costs and delays, moving towards approval of the project and mitigation of the risk to the community," added the firm.
