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Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines

Miners are razing forests to meet surging demand for metals and minerals, report says – by Victoria Milko (Associated Press – October 23, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Whether it’s digging for metals and minerals for cellphones and electric vehicles or coal for power generation, mining around the world has skyrocketed since 2000, causing widespread destruction of tropical forests, degrading the environment and displacing Indigenous and local communities, the World Resources Institute says in a report released Wednesday.

The analysis highlighted that from 2001 to 2020, the world lost nearly 1.4 million hectares (3,459,475 acres) of trees due to mining — an area roughly the size the country of Montenegro. Nearly a third were in tropical primary rainforests. Protected areas were also damaged.

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Who will pay for Ontario’s radioactive past? – by Aya Dufour (CBC News Features – October 15, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/

One northern remediation project illustrates the complexity of the issue

If not for the fences and the signs, nothing’s obviously threatening about the radioactive waste that has plagued Nipissing First Nation for decades. It looks like sandy soil peppered with small rocks. Behind the benign appearance, however, are niobium and other naturally occurring radioactive materials that were left behind by a defunct mining operation dating back to the early days of the Cold War.

With the company long gone and the Ministry of Mines busy remediating and monitoring the other 5,865 abandoned mining projects in Ontario, the waste has just sat there for 67 years.

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Illegal mines, pollution and a thirsty global market: Anger mounts over Ghana’s gold problem – by Zinhle Essamuah and Arleen Aguasvivas (NBC News – October 20, 2024)

https://www.nbcnews.com/

Mercury and heavy metals in the country have contaminated over 60% of the West African nation’s water sources, according to Ghana’s Water Resources Commission.

ACCRA, Ghana — Illegal small-scale gold mining in Ghana has been linked with the destruction of the environment and illness. But for some, the practice known locally as galamsey provides livelihoods and an informal boost to the West African nation’s economy.

With a general election approaching in December, galamsey is proving to be a hot-button issue for the nation’s lawmakers — including President Nana Akufo-Addo — in the face of widespread demonstrations across the country calling for a crackdown on the practice.

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Iran believes all remaining workers have died in coal mine explosion, raising death toll to 49 – by Nasser Karimi (Associated Press – September 24, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran said Tuesday it believes the remaining workers trapped by an explosion at a coal mine in the country’s east have died, bringing the death toll in one of its worst industrial disasters to at least 49.

A provincial emergency official, Mohammad Ali Akhoundi, gave the death toll in a report carried by Iranian state television from the mine in Tabas.

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BACK ROADS BILL: Mitigating a catastrophe at a legacy mine – by Bill Steer (Timmins Today – September 13, 2024)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

Go to Charles Dube’s website for a well documented historical account of the Steep Rock Lake Mine: https://tinyurl.com/af8f93nj

Bill tells us about a not-so-well-known, long-term environmental solution in the making

A recent back road trip led me to discover the current progress of the provincial government in trying to mitigate an inherited contaminated area. If ignored, it would become a long-term catastrophe. It’s called a lake, Steep Rock Lake, but it isn’t, really.It now looks a little like the setting of a Waubgeshig Rice dystopian novel or Last of Us the raging HBO hit.

There are cautionary and explanatory signs and fenced off areas everywhere. Over time the former asphalt access roads are now well pitted and cracked with emerging plants. The same with the railway over/underpasses. The original galvanized guard rails are coated with a tinge of red iron ore dust.

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Eagle mine cleanup efforts hit stumbles after Victoria Gold put into receivership, former top engineer says – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 16, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Efforts to clean up a massive cyanide spill at the Eagle gold mine in the Yukon have faltered after the receivership of Victoria Gold Corp., potentially posing new threats for the environment, a former top engineer at the company says.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed at the company’s outdoor gold-processing facility in late June, causing massive damage to mine infrastructure and contamination. About two million tonnes of contaminated materials broke through the company’s containment zone and spilled into the local environment, killing fish and raising concerns about groundwater pollution.

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Protest concert in Carmacks, Yukon, calls for a ban on heap leaching – by Caitrin Pilkington (CBC News North – August 27, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Headliners included Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Love and a .38

First Nations across the Yukon are coming together in support of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun following the Eagle Gold mining disaster. On Aug, 24, crowds from across the Yukon gathered in Carmacks for a concert series — called Cyanide in the Water —in support of the First Nation, and to protest heap leach mining facilities in the territory.

The idea for a concert came to Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation Chief Nicole Tom in the weeks following the heap leach failure on June 24, which saw hundreds of millions of litres of cyanide-contaminated solution escape containment at the mine site.

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[Yukon’s Eagle gold mine disaster] Troubled water – by Julien Greene (CBC News – August 24, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/

In June, Yukon’s Eagle gold mine saw what the territory’s mines minister is calling a “catastrophic failure”: the release of hundreds of millions of litres of toxic cyanide solution into the environment. For many local residents, it’s a wake-up call about the risks and costs of large-scale mining in the territory.

Steve Buyck walks a forest path framed by highbush cranberries, rosehips and Siberian Aster. Slung over his shoulder, a rifle. The bullet in the chamber is large enough to down a moose.

These days, however, hunting the animal doesn’t come so easily for him. Not far away from Buyck’s home, along the banks of the Stewart River in central Yukon, is the Eagle mine, the site of a “catastrophic” heap leach pad failure and cyanide spill in late June.

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Yukon government curbs expectations of sale of contaminated Eagle gold mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 24, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Yukon government is curbing expectations about a sale of the contaminated Eagle mine, saying that environmental remediation of the site is the main priority.

The open pit gold mine in central Yukon was placed into receivership earlier this month after an Ontario judge ruled that operator Victoria Gold Corp. wasn’t moving with enough urgency and lacked funding to remediate a major cyanide spill.

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Agnico, New Gold, Iamgold seen as possible buyers for shuttered Eagle Gold mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 22, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Stakeholders are hoping for a restart of the contaminated Eagle gold mine, but experts say finding a buyer isn’t guaranteed, and creditors are likely to take a major haircut regardless of the outcome.

Toronto-based Victoria Gold Corp. was placed in receivership last week, its management ejected and its shareholders wiped out after an Ontario judge ruled it wasn’t moving with enough urgency and lacked sufficient funding to remediate a major cyanide spill in central Yukon.

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Victoria Gold CEO regrets silence during crisis, suspects cyanide spill caused by fluid buildup – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 16, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Victoria Gold Corp. chief executive officer John McConnell says he regrets staying silent while the company was in crisis, and suspects June’s catastrophic cyanide spill at its Yukon mine was caused by an uncontrolled buildup of fluid.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed at the outdoor heap-leaching facility on June 24 and half of that spilled into the local environment beyond the company’s containment zone. The scale of the environmental damage is unknown, but the local First Nation fears the spill could devastate salmon fisheries, hunting grounds and groundwater. Dozens of dead fish were recently found in a creek near the mine and groundwater in the vicinity of the mine will have to be monitored for toxic cyanide for years to come.

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‘We’re not out of the woods yet’: Victoria Gold CEO speaks publicly for 1st time since heap leach failure (CBC News North – July 30, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Company has no intention of leaving the site, says John McConnell

The president and CEO of Victoria Gold says there’s still a lot of work to do before the heap leach failure at the company’s Eagle mine site near Mayo, Yukon, is contained — but the company has no intention of leaving the site.

Speaking publicly Tuesday — the first time he has done so since the heap leach pad went down on June 24 — John McConnell said he believes there is no longer the potential for major environmental impacts from the failure, which is believed to have released up to 300,000 cubic metres of toxic sodium cyanide solution.

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Yukon partially takes over Victoria Gold mine cyanide spill cleanup after company fails to meet orders – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 28, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Yukon government has taken over some of the environmental-mitigation efforts stemming from a major gold-processing plant failure in the territory because operator Victoria Gold Corp. failed to meet a key government directive.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed on June 24 at an outdoor heap-leach facility at the Eagle gold mine in central Yukon operated by Victoria Gold. Two million tonnes of material breached the company’s containment zone and elevated levels of cyanide were later found in a water body adjacent to the mine.

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Documents show ‘disastrous’ cyanide leaks continue at Eagle mine in Yukon – by Caitrin Pilkington (CBC News North – July 24, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Victoria Gold excavated a pit to hold contaminated solution — but failed to line it

Yukon government inspection reports released to the public this week reveal the scale of what transpired at the Eagle mine site near Mayo — and what’s being done by Victoria Gold to address it. An inspection report dated July 20 describes a series of failures by Victoria Gold to adequately address cyanide solution leaks.

The company’s post-failure water treatment plan “does not sufficiently describe” plans to store and treat daily leaks of 15,000 to 20,000 cubic metres of toxic solution — enough liquid to fill up to eight Olympic swimming pools.

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Yukon contemplating seizing control of Eagle mine site as Victoria Gold runs low on storage for contaminated water – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 19, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Yukon government is contemplating seizing control of Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle mine site, as doubts grow about the company’s ability to prevent further environmental damage after a catastrophic heap-leach failure last month.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed June 24 at an outdoor heap-leach processing facility at the gold mine in central Yukon. Two million tonnes of material breached the company’s containment zone and elevated levels of cyanide were later found in a water body adjacent to the mine.

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