An appeal to delay the demolition of the Robertson headframe at the former Con Mine site has been dismissed.
The appeal, which was filed by local mining advocate Walt Humphries, was thrown out by Yellowknife’s development appeal board this week.
RELATED: Iconic Robertson headframe will not be saved by GNWT
Miramar Northern Mining, the company that is remediating the now-defunct gold mine, says it plans to proceed with demolition as soon as possible.
Humphries filed an appeal of the company’s permit to demolish the structure last month – mere days before Miramar had planned to start tearing it down.
He hoped to delay its demolition even though Miramar insisted it needed to move forward with remediation.
“It’s disappointing but it’s not unexpected,” Humphries told Moose FM following the decision.
“The way the rules are you have to prove you’re more aggrieved than other people. They sort of stack the rules in the favour of the developer that way.”
Yellowknife’s development appeal board had up to 60 days to deliver a decision following last Thursday’s appeal hearing, but managed to come up with one in less than a week.
In the last year and half, both the city and territorial government have called off talks with Miramar to keep the headframe standing – something Humphries calls sad.
“At several points the city or the GNWT could’ve saved it and they chose not to and I find that kind of sad.
“It’s going to change things forever in Yellowknife. It’s a headframe but it’s also a landmark and to me destroying landmarks is just wrong.”
Headframe to come down this year
Scott Stringer, general manager of Miramar’s Con Mine site, says his company plans to proceed with demolition in the very near future.
“We plan to re-engage with our contractors to move forward on the project as quickly as possible,” he told Moose FM in an email.
“Given that the colder winter weather is coming it will be necessary for us to continue to adjust our plans, but all things considered, we still anticipate the headframe to come down this year.
“The cleanup of the debris and scrap will continue through to completion.”
