Records reveal extent of early arsenic pollution from Giant, Con – Cabin Radio
May 28, 2025
A new study reveals more about the extent of arsenic contamination and its impacts during the early years of gold mining in Yellowknife – and how officials responded.
Authors of the paper, published earlier this month, combed through hundreds of archival government documents related to operations at the Giant and Con mines from 1949 to 1956.
Among the pages were more than 800 measurements of arsenic concentrations from water sources in the area.
Compiling that data, researchers found “extreme and widespread” arsenic contamination of local water bodies from mining operations.
