Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines – Page 37

B.C. Election 2017: NDP, Greens, Liberals agree mining is important, but must protect environment – by Gordon Hoekstra (Vancouver Sun – May 7, 2017)

May 8, 2017

When the earth-and-rock dam that held back millions of cubic metres of mine waste and effluent at Imperial Metal’s Mount Polley mine failed in 2014, it left the mining industry in B.C. and Canada shaken.

One of the largest dam failures in the world in the past 50 years, it sparked concern among the public, environmental groups and First Nations that aquatic life would be harmed, particularly salmon that use the Quesnel Lake system to spawn in the B.C. Interior. Studies on the effects of the spill are expected to last for years. In the aftermath of the spill — and heading into the May 9 election — the B.C. Liberals continue to be strong proponents of mining.

In their platform, the Liberals say they want to see eight new mines created by 2020, and point to new mines opened under their tenure and those under construction, including the $811-million Brucejack underground gold mine in northern B.C.

Sandmining is destroying Asia’s rivers (The Third Pole – May 5, 2017)

May 5, 2017

https://www.thethirdpole.net/

There is no house or road or bridge or port in South Asia whose builders can claim to have built it with legally obtained sand alone. Illegal mining of sand from riverbeds is so ubiquitous in the subcontinent that on the rare occasions it is stopped temporarily by a judicial order, house prices go up and editorials criticising the judgement are written in financial newspapers.

Reporting illegal sand mining is the most dangerous thing a journalist can do in India. In the last couple of years, three journalists have been killed, allegedly by the illegal sand mining mafia, one each in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

A fourth journalist reporting on illegal mining of sand from the beaches of Tamil Nadu has been repeatedly threatened; anonymous callers – claiming to speak on behalf of a local politician from the party that rules the state – have ordered her to stay away from the area or else.

After the mining, what’s next? Overseas mine rehabilitation offers lessons for Australia – by Gregg Borschmann (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – May 3, 2017)

May 4, 2017

http://www.abc.net.au/

Click here for the radio program: http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2017/04/rvn_20170423.mp3

In Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, the Hazelwood brown coal mine is closed. In the NT, the Ranger uranium mine is due to shut down in four years’ time. They’re very different mines, but with the same problem: what to do with the landscape once the mining stops.

From Australia to the Americas, from Europe to South Africa, there are plenty of lessons to be learned. One of the best examples of restoring a post-mining landscape comes from Europe, where uranium mining by the once feared and secret Wismut company had created a environmental tragedy.

“It was military mining … a military operation to get the first uranium for the Soviet nuclear bomb,” says Gerhard Schmidt, a senior researcher with the Oeko Institute in Germany. “It was not very sustainable … they mined and milled the ore and put the wastes into large piles of more than 100 million tonnes, some of which are the largest in the world.”

Philippines environment minister ousted over anti-mining campaign – by Manolo Serapio Jr and Enrico Dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – May 3, 2017)

May 3, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – Philippine lawmakers ended a 10-month crusade by Environment Secretary Regina Lopez on Wednesday, forcing out the eco-warrior whose mining crackdown was backed by the president but led to demands for her removal by miners.

The rejection of Lopez by the Commission on Appointments is final and a mining lobby group immediately said it would seek a reversal of her measures, while President Rodrigo Duterte’s office said he would respect the decision.

Lopez characterized her campaign as a fight against greedy miners who were threatening public health and damaging nature in a country better known for mountains and beaches than resources. The 63-year-old daughter of a media mogul who left her privileged Philippine life behind when she was a teenager, had ordered the closure of more than half of the mines in the world’s top nickel ore supplier and last week banned open-pit mining.

[Norilsk, Russia] Global Lenses: Diverse political films tackle war, energy and the impact of history – by Daniel Glassman (Point Of View Magazine – April 26, 2017)

May 3, 2017

http://povmagazine.com/

Three new Canadian films take on contemporary global issues through radically different lenses. Stopping off in an Arctic Russian mining city, the ruins of Basra, Iraq and a massive thermonuclear reactor in Southern France, François Jacob’s A Moon of Nickel and Ice, Ann Shin’s My Enemy, My Brother and Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko’s Let There Be Light investigate the entangled issues of history, war, energy and ecology from the bottom up, through intense focuses on individuals and their stories.

Quebecois director Jacob makes his feature debut with A Moon of Nickel and Ice, a multi-faceted portrait of the Siberian nickelmining city of Norilsk. Three facts about Norilsk: It’s the world’s northernmost city with over 100,000 inhabitants; it’s one of the most polluted places in the world; and it’s a “closed city”—foreigners have been banned since 2001, and it was closed to most Russians as well during the Soviet era. Norilsk Nickel’s on-site smelting facility gives the gifts of acid rain, smog and fully 1% of the world’s sulfur dioxide emissions.

You may be wondering how they got 100,000 people to move there. Answer: they forced them. Yes, Norilsk was the site of a Soviet Gulag.

Australian-first centre tackles mining scars on WA landscape – by Emma Young (WA Today – April 27, 2017)

April 27, 2017

http://www.watoday.com.au/

An Australian-first project has lured scientists to Perth from across the globe to work with resources companies on restoring huge tracts of WA land left barren after mining is done. The $6.7 million new centre at Curtin University is led by botanist Kingsley Dixon, former director of science at Kings Park and 2016 WA Scientist of the Year.

He said while Australia had strict approvals processes and mine regulation, the end of a mine’s life was far less scrutinised. “A report by the Australia Institute in March showed Australia had 60,000 abandoned mines where the miner has walked away because it’s too hard to patch the hole, put back the veg,” he said.

“Now a federal inquiry happening into how we got this so wrong. “And in this state the scale of the problem is colossal. There are few other mining activities in the world on this scale.”

Barrick’s bad day: Shares fall 10% as investor confidence shaken by third cyanide spill at Argentine mine – by Sunny Freeman (Financial Post – April 26, 2017)

April 26, 2017

http://business.financialpost.com/

Barrick Gold Corp.’s third cyanide spill in two years at its Argentine operation was among a number of environmental and social concerns that took centre stage at its annual general meeting Tuesday, the stock’s worst day in six months.

Barrick president Kelvin Dushnisky told shareholders that a cyanide pipeline rupture on Mar.28 at its Veladero mine posed no risk to people or the environment.

“However, this was the third incident at Veladero leach pad in the last 18 months and that is completely unacceptable,” Dushnisky said. “These incidents weaken our partnerships and the trust that underpin them.”

Canada’s a global leader on clean air – by Lorrie Goldstein (Toronto Sun – April 20, 2017)

April 24, 2017

http://www.torontosun.com/

The question now is whether carbon pricing to reduce greenhouse gases is
worth the added cost to Canadians in terms of the higher taxes and prices
they will have to pay for almost all goods and services, considering that
Canada produces only 1.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

A Fraser Institute study released Thursday comes as a welcome breath of fresh air to Canadians tired of being harangued by politicians and so-called “green” activists as environmental laggards. The study shows a dramatic improvement in Canadian air quality since 1970, despite economic growth, an increasing population and greater energy consumption, making Canada a world leader in reducing air pollution.

It won’t change the debate over man-made climate change because the Fraser Institute is talking about traditional sources of air pollution, rather than industrial greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide – linked to global warming.

But the study by University of Guelph economics professor Ross McKitrick and economist Elmira Aliakbari entitled, “Canada’s Air Quality since 1970: An Environmental Success Story” lives up to its name.

Approval of Mount Polley mine waste dumping irks critics – by Yvette Brend (CBC News B.C. – April 18, 2017)

April 19, 2017

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Mount Polley Mining Corporation has been granted permission to drain treated mining waste water into Quesnel Lake, a massive glacial lake that provides drinking water to residents of Likely B.C., northeast of Williams Lake.

Approval of the long-term waste water management plan came April 7, despite a disaster that put the water at risk in 2014 and a provincial investigation into the spill that is not yet complete. “The timing is absolutely surprising,” said Ugo Lapointe of Mining Watch Canada, who pointed out the news release came on a Friday afternoon before the launching of the B.C. election.

Quesnel Lake, famed for trophy-sized rainbow trout, is feared at risk by locals who describe it as the deepest fjord lake on earth, and who protest any dump of mining waste, treated or otherwise, which can carry toxic elements and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead or zinc.

BHP-Vale Mine Restart Hinges on Deal With Small-Town Mayor – by R.T. Watson (Bloomberg News – April 13, 2017)

April 18, 2017

https://www.bloomberg.com/

A 34-year-old mayor of a small Brazilian city stands between a giant mine and its plans to resume operations after a disastrous dam collapse.

By refusing to sign off on the use of river water, Leris Braga is delaying permit approvals that would allow the BHP Billiton Ltd.-Vale SA iron venture to rehire thousands of workers and start generating cash again for debt repayments. While that makes Braga a villain for bondholders and unemployed locals, he says he’s only trying to get the company to meet its responsibilities.

“The city of Santa Barbara isn’t going to receive one cent,” he said in an interview from his offices in the more than 300-year-old mining town. “I’m not trying to make some exchange for the document they need.”

[Arizona Mining] FROM THE EDITOR: State needs help filling gaping holes from mining (Green Valley News – April 16, 2017)

April 18, 2017

http://www.gvnews.com/

There are trade-offs when you live in a mining state. Mining brings jobs, feeds economies, and pulls minerals out of the ground that make our lives better. But in Arizona’s case, mining also leaves tens of thousands of gaping, abandoned holes across the landscape.

Nearly 30 years ago, a group of Green Valley men decided to do something about it. You read about them in our paper last Sunday. The group calls themselves the Hazardous Abandoned Mine Finders, and they have plotted the locations and posted warning signs at about 10,000 shafts in Southern Arizona.

For much of that time, they did it with the blessing of several government agencies, who often provided the signs. Now, they’ve been pushed aside in favor of … well, pretty much nothing.

[Arizona Mining] Abandoned mines going unmarked; agencies pull support from GV group – by David Rookhuyzen (Green Valley New – April 9, 2017)

April 18, 2017

http://www.gvnews.com/

For nearly 30 years, an informal group of local desert rats has traipsed across Southern Arizona on a mission to find and mark dangerous abandoned mines. While that group is still around and eager to work, the government has backed off on its support, hampering efforts.

The Hazardous Abandoned Mine Finders, a group of nine men founded by Fred Fielder, has gone out nearly weekly since 1989 to pinpoint mine shafts across Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties and erect warning signs. In nearly three decades, the Green Valley crew has posted about 10,000 signs at shafts that were once mining operations. They’ve marked up to 14 in one day, and in 1996, the group put up 667 signs.

“If you are out there and see one of these signs, the odds are 90 percent that we put that there,” according to Marlin White, the group’s current leader.

The Kola Mining and Metallurgy Combine: Northwest Russia polluter posts impressive cuts in harmful emissions – by Anna Kireeva (Bellona.org – April 12, 2017)

April 13, 2017

http://bellona.org/

In a surprising development, the Kola Mining and Metallurgy Company –which for decades has stubbornly fouled air over Northwest Russia and Scandinavia – last year reduced its emissions of harmful sulfur dioxide by more than 20 percent.

The KMMC, a daughter company of the giant Norilsk Nickel, reported last week that its sulfur dioxide emissions for 2016 totaled 119,700 tons, which is 35,000 tons less than the previous year.

The new emissions figures seem to reverse a rise in the toxic heavy metal pollution that began in 2011. That year, the KMMC posted figures as high as 134,000 tons a year. They rose in subsequent years, plateauing at a towering 154,900 tons in 2015.

Barrick needs to reassure investors after Veladero mine mishaps – by Nicole Mordant and Susan Taylor (Reuters U.S. – April 12, 2017)

April 13, 2017

http://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO – Barrick Gold must take steps to safeguard investor confidence by ensuring there are no more operating mishaps at its mines after a third incident in 18 months at its big Argentina mine, analysts said.

Argentine regulators told Barrick last week that it must overhaul environmental and operating processes at its Veladero mine, where operations have been partially suspended, after a cyanide solution spill on March 28.

“We are absolutely committed to making Veladero a mine that all of our stakeholders can be proud of and our resolve has not wavered,” Barrick spokesman Andy Lloyd said on Tuesday. Veladero is Argentina’s largest gold mine and Barrick’s third largest contributor to output. Veladero’s income was $220 million in 2016, up 2 percent from 2015. Revenue in 2016 was $685 million, down from $720 million in 2015.

Water scarcity, pollution to take shine off Latin American mining sector – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 11, 2017)

April 12, 2017

http://www.mining.com/

Water supply concerns and pollution in Latin America will drive increasingly strict environmental regulations in the region over the coming years, which in turn will also make miners’ life more difficult, a report by BMI Research shows.

According to the analysts, in addition to raising costs for mining companies and delaying certain projects, the focus on the amount of water used by the extraction industry will heightened social pressure on firms operating in the area.

A recent example of this trend is what happened in El Salvador, which last month passed a law that bans all mining for gold and other metals in the country, in an effort to protect its environment, particularly its water streams.