Ottawa prepares to hire Giant Mine cleanup manager

The federal government is close to kickstarting the process for hiring a company to oversee the $900-million cleanup of Giant Mine in Yellowknife.

"Public Works and Government Services Canada anticipates posting its request for proposals for the Main Construction Management contract in May 2016," the department recently wrote on buyandsell.ca, the government's procurement website.

The department is hosting a workshop in Yellowknife on Feb. 25 to spell out the procurement process for the contract.

Projects to be carried out at Giant Mine include freezing the 237,000 tonnes ofarsenic trioxide stored underground, taking down close to 100 buildings, covering tailings ponds, water treatment, restoring Baker Creek to as ecologically sound a state as possible and long-term monitoring.

The overall timeline for remediation remains unclear.