Researchers bring the ‘Sudbury method’ to Peru, to help clean up mine waste (CBC News Sudbury – November 18, 2023)

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

Scientists say work in Sudbury to rehabilitate the landscape damaged by mining is recognized worldwide

Researchers from northern Ontario are in Peru where they are sharing their knowledge of what has become known as the “Sudbury method.” The Sudbury method refers to the community’s work over decades to rehabilitate a landscape damaged by mining and smelting.

“Sudbury has become recognized almost globally now for taking one of the most damaged landscapes on planet Earth and through a lot of work by citizens, community members, industry and government, turning it into actually a really, really nice place to live,” said Graeme Spiers, an emeritus professor in environmental and earth sciences at Laurentian University.

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U.S., Canada and Ktunaxa Nation to discuss coal-mining pollution in Kootenai River watershed (Montana Free Press – November 9, 2023)

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At the first-of-its-kind meeting, representatives of U.S., Canadian and tribal governments will discuss water quality impacts stemming from an expansive coal-mining operation in British Columbia.

After years of delays and false starts, eight governments impacted by an expansive Canadian coal-mining operation are set to meet today on Indigenous territory in Cranbrook, British Columbia, to discuss the future of the governments’ shared waterways.

The meeting will include representatives from the federal governments of the United States and Canada and the Ktunaxa Nation Council, which advocates for the interests of six bands of Indigenous people spread across present-day British Columbia, Montana and Idaho. The council, which includes representation from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, has for years asked for greater oversight of Teck Resources’ British Columbia-based coal-mining operation.

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Mercury is still an environmental threat – by Tristan Ahtone (Grist.org – November 9, 2023)

https://grist.org/

The heavy metal is poisoning Indigenous peoples’ environment and health, but no one can agree on how or when to get rid of it.

The negotiations produced no particularly big wins. There is still no agreement on a common, global method to measure and identify mercury-contaminated waste from industrial sources, like chemical manufacturers or oil and gas operators.

Mercury can still also be purchased online and traded internationally, and states could not agree on when to pull it from tooth fillings. But there were some successes: Nations have agreed to ban the use of mercury as a preservative in cosmetics by 2025 as well as to increase support for Indigenous peoples in future negotiations.

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OPINION: Canada is endangering our traditional way of life — and Sen. Murkowski made sure the president knows – by Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson (Achorage Daily News – November 4, 2023)

https://www.adn.com

Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson is the president of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, the largest sovereign tribe in Alaska, representing more than 37,000 Tlingit and Haida citizens worldwide.

The transboundary T’aakū (Taku), Shtax’héen (Stikine) and Joonáx (Unuk) rivers have provided for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. These rivers are economic powerhouses for Southeast Alaska’s coastal communities.

Today, however, the headwaters of these sacred rivers are the site of a modern-day gold rush with investors aiming to develop poorly regulated gold mines and failure-prone toxic mine waste dams in British Columbia (B.C.).

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Cast a ballot, learn about Giant Mine: public info session on arsenic trioxide takes place on election night – by Mah Noor Mubarik (CBC News Canada North – November 1, 2023)

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

Session is meant to help people learn about long-term plans for toxic arsenic trioxide

An independent board meant to review the Giant Mine clean-up is holding an information session so people can learn more about long-term plans for the highly toxic arsenic trioxide buried underneath the mine site. The session will be held on the same evening as the territorial election.

The Giant Mine Oversight Board’s chair, David Livingstone, said the date for the meeting was set before wildfires led to the postponement of the election. He said it took four months to set up and would be impossible to reschedule easily.

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Canada, U.S. to meet with Indigenous leaders in B.C. over pollution issues (Canadian Press/Business In Vancouver – November 1, 2023)

https://biv.com/

Indigenous groups in both countries have been clamouring for years for a bilateral investigation of selenium contamination from B.C. coal mines owned by Teck Resources

Canadian and U.S. officials are expected to meet next week with Indigenous leaders as they work on cleaning up toxic mining run-off that’s polluting waters on both sides of the border.

Ktunaxa Nation officials say the meeting will take place Nov. 9 on Indigenous territory in Cranbrook, B.C. Indigenous groups in both countries have been clamouring for years for a bilateral investigation of selenium contamination from B.C. coal mines owned by Teck Resources.

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Cleaning up Australia’s 80,000 disused mines is a huge job – but the payoffs can outweigh the costs – by Mohan Yellishetty and Peter Marcus Bach (The Conversation – October 22, 2023)

https://theconversation.com/

Newly announced closures of Glencore’s copper and zinc mines in Mt Isa will add to a huge number of former mines in Australia. A 2020 study by Monash University’s Resources Trinity Group found more than 80,000 inactive mine sites across the country.

Globally, a 2023 study estimates the mining footprint at around 66,000 square kilometres. Abandoned mines account for much of this area. It’s estimated the US has about 500,000 abandoned mines and Canada at least 10,000. The UK and China have at least 1,500 and 12,000 old coalmines, respectively.

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How to turn mine tailings into healthy soil – by Staff (Mining.com – October 10, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

University of Queensland researchers have developed an innovative method to turn mine tailings into healthy soil. “We have basically taken engineering solutions into the context of natural soil formation from rocks because tailings have some useful minerals common to natural rocks,” Longbin Huang, co-author of the paper that presents the solution, said in a media statement.

In Huang’s view, his team’s proposal could save billions of dollars around the world by minimizing the costs and risks of tailings storage.

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Metal-mining pollution impacts 23 million people worldwide – by Victoria Gill (British Broadcasting Corporation – September 21, 2023)

https://www.bbc.com/

At least 23 million people around the world live on flood-plains contaminated by potentially harmful concentrations of toxic waste from metal-mining activity, according to a study. UK scientists mapped the world’s 22,609 active and 159,735 abandoned metal mines and calculated the extent of pollution from them.

Chemicals can leach from mining operations into soil and waterways. The researchers say future mines have to be planned “very carefully”. This is particularly critical as the demand surges for metals that will support battery technology and electrification, including lithium and copper, says Prof Mark Macklin from the University of Lincoln, who led the research.

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How Geopolitics Is Complicating the Move to Clean Energy – by Peter S. Goodman (New York Times – August 18, 2023)

https://www.nytimes.com/

The fate of Indonesia’s unrivaled stocks of nickel — a critical mineral used to make batteries for electric vehicles — is caught in the conflict between the United States and China.

He is known as the Minister for Everything. From the government offices of Indonesia’s capital to dusty mines on remote islands, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan commands authority as the nation’s essential power broker.

A four-star general turned business magnate turned cabinet officer, Mr. Luhut’s paramount aspiration is transforming Indonesia into a hub for the production of electric vehicles. But as he pursues that goal, he and his country are increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical forces beyond their control.

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B.C. attempts to facilitate discussions with U.S. on selenium contamination from province’s coal mines – by Bob Weber (CBC News British Columbia – August 16, 2023)

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

Toxic substance found in high levels in B.C.’s Lake Kookanusa, a reservoir that feeds into American rivers

The British Columbia government has changed its tune on a long-requested investigation into contamination from mines flowing into U.S. waters, opening the door to progress on an issue that has drawn the attention of President Joe Biden.

The province has confirmed to The Canadian Press that it would now welcome a role in such an investigation for the International Joint Commission, a body created in 1909 to resolve water-related disputes between the two countries.

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COMMENTARY: It’s time for U.S. government to hold Canada accountable for transboundary river impacts in Alaska – by Brenda Schwartz-Yeager (Alaska Beacon – August 16, 2023)

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Two years ago this fall, I testified at a Wrangell Borough Assembly meeting in support of yet another resolution calling on the U.S. federal government to be firm with British Columbia and Canada in protecting the Stikine River, as well as the Taku and Unuk rivers.

These transboundary rivers, the lifeblood of Southeast Alaska, are threatened by the more than 30 B.C. gold mines in some phase of development just over the border. Over a dozen of them are located within the Stikine-Iskut watershed.

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Sudbury researchers land funding for green mining initiative – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – August 15,2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

MIRARCO Mining Innovation receive $280,000 from industry innovation network

Sudbury’s MIRARCO Mining Innovation has received $280,000 in grant money from the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) Network.

The funding is earmarked to help develop a pilot plant in Sudbury that uses a biotechnology process to extract valuable metals out of waste piles at mine sites while simultaneously cleaning up the environment. MIRARCO’s industry partner, BacTech Environment Corp. announced the news on Aug. 14.

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Tribes pressure Canada over Teck water concerns – by Rob Chaney (The Missoulian – August 14, 2023)

https://missoulian.com/

Acoalition of Indigenous tribes is increasing pressure on the Canadian government to respond to their concerns over transboundary water pollution coming from Teck Resources coal mines in British Columbia. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and the transboundary Ktunaxa Nation sent reminders on Aug. 11 that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had pledged to meet this summer with U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on reducing and mitigating the impacts of selenium and other mine-related contaminants getting into the Elk and Kootenai rivers.

Selenium in particular has been connected to significant declines in fish reproduction in the river system, along with massive fish kills near the mine site itself, although a disputed Teck study concluded that ice, not selenium was responsible for the 2017 die-off.

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‘Our people are still suffering’: Brazil’s operations against illegal mining camps – by Jonathan Watts (The Guardian – August 15, 2023)

https://www.theguardian.com/

Like mechanised Valkyries, nine helicopters filled with armed men and women in camouflage uniforms swoop over dense forests and remote rivers – but this is not a scene from Apocalypse Now, it is a Brazilian government mission to forestall catastrophe in the Amazon rainforest.

The aircraft from the country’s two main environmental agencies, Ibama and ICMBio, fly for hours above the Tapajós basin, then break formation when they approach their targets: illegal goldmining camps that are contaminating the waters and earth of the forest.

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