On July 30, 1985, a 5 year $10,000,000 agreement was signed in Prince George between Canada's Minister of State for Mines, the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and the Minister of Industry and Small Business. The object of the joint agreement was to stimulate development of the provinces mining industry. One item included within that agreement was in the amount of $18,000 to fund year one of a proposed 3 year study of mine waste dump resloping. The project was described in the application for funding as follows:
"Dump faces constitute a significant portion of the approx. 25,000 hectares of land disturbed by mining in B.C. The cost of resloping waste dump faces is factorially higher than other reclamation costs. The Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation an ad hoe industry, government and university committee - has made this issue the No. 1 research priority. A consultant study is recommended to search literature, interview individuals, examine sites, analyze findings and present a report at the annual B.C. Mine Reclamation Symposium. The Technical and Research Committee will assist in review of results, and corporate members of the committee will dedicate project work to it in the field."