Stellarton, N.S., mayor hopeful for development as pit mine gets its fill

STELLARTON, N.S. — Stellarton Mayor Danny MacGillivray is looking forward to the town’s pit mine being filled in.

“We’re hoping the land can be used for residential, commercial, or recreational purposes, to enhance the town,” said the mayor in an interview with SaltWire.

The Stellarton pit mine was in operation for 26 years, opening in 1996. It spanned from the west side of MacGregor Avenue, then later to the east side. According to information provided by Stellarton engineer Blaine Murray for a previous article, the mine is around 0.773 square kilometres.

While talks of it’s operations coming to an end began in 2019, it was still operational midway through 2022.

Now, the mine is no longer operational. The process of land reclamation has begun, with work on filling it beginning in 2023.

Although no plans are currently in place for what the land will be used for once the mine is filled, MacGillivray has high hopes, looking forward to the land’s potential financial viability.

“The town has never received any royalties from the mine in the 20-something years it’s been here,” he said. “We’re hoping that when Pioneer Coal is done with the project, it will be suitable to use in the future.”

That won’t be anytime soon. Patricia Jreige, a spokesperson with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR), estimated the reclamation process will take two years to complete.

Sink holes?

In 2010, a large sink hole appeared on North Foord Street in Stellarton.

What started as a deep pothole quickly turned into a 12-metre hole filled with water. That area had been the site of the 300-metre deep Allan shaft mine before the explosion in 1950.

Officials closed the street, blocking it off with concrete barriers; however, as the sink hole expanded, the barriers fell into the hole, damaging a sewer collection pipe, a water main, fiber optic communication cables, and a portion of the exit 24 off-ramp.

When asked about the potential for sink holes at this site in the future, a Jreige stated in an email, “Previous underground mine workings have been removed as a result of recent open pit mining activities at the site. This should help prevent any potential of sinkholes at the site.

“The site will need to be properly contoured once the mine is backfilled and the site will be monitored for subsidence and groundwater levels,” she added.

Pioneer Coal, who operated the pit mine, did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.