Gold mine in Tooele County would use cyanide to get metal

On a national scale, the use of these cyanide leach pads to process gold have been a  costly environmental nightmare in Colorado, Montana and South Dakota, where hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to clean up the legacy left by mining companies that went bankrupt.

The Environmental Protection Agency has spent more than $350 million to clean up the contamination caused by the Summitville Mine perched in the Rocky Mountains east of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 11,000 feet.

More than $110 million has been spent by the federal agency at the Gilt Edge Mine in South Dakota, where the governor sought emergency action to keep the mining company from abandoning its costly water treatment program when its parent company went bankrupt. The state and federal government later sued to obtain some compensation, reaching a $30 million settlement in 2012.

Matthew Allen, an EPA spokesman, said both Superfund sites will demand cleanup for years to come.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865573483/Gold-mine-in-Tooele-County-would-use-cyanide-to-get-metal.html?pg=all

‘Mercury ban will undermine small-scale mining’

Last month, government representatives from more than 140 countries, including Zimbabwe, met in Switzerland and agreed to sign a mercury treaty later this year as part of global fight against pollution.

Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-scale for Sustainable Mining Council (ZASMC) president Walter Takavarasha told NewsDay last week that the treaty would affect the operations of more than 500 000 people.

He said small-scale miners were making use of mercury in gold processing as it was a simple and affordable method to extract the precious mineral.

“Now that there is a global commitment to sign a mercury treaty, there should also be new funding commitments from donor agencies and governments to support capacity-building, especially to support artisanal and small-scale gold miners,” Takavarasha said.

http://www.newsday.co.zw/2013/02/26/mercury-ban-will-undermine-small-scale-mining/

Ghana: Millions spent on curbing illegal mining

Elsewhere, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported on widespread lead poisoning, a result of using rudimentary tools to extract gold, in Nigeria's Zamfara state which has killed at least 400 children since 2010. In Mali, the organisation has found that around 20000 children, some as young as six, are doing heavy labour on artisanal gold mines and working with mercury, despite Malian and international laws prohibiting child labour.

HRW researcher Juliane Kippenberg says it would be desirable to formalise the sector so that some of the harmful practices, like the use of child labour, toxic chemicals and environmental effects, could be ended. But formalising artisanal mining cannot be done overnight.

http://www.fm.co.za/economy/2013/02/28/millions-spent-on-curbing-illegal-mining

Philippines: DENR allows Philex to open for 4 months

In an order Tuesday, the DENR took note of the greater risk if the main dike of the Tailings Storage Facility 3 (TSF3) of Philex weakened further.

“The dike might collapse if the situation is not addressed immediately,” Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said.

The DENR said the operations of Philex for the purpose of filling the void in its tailings pond should not exceed four months.

Paje said the company may start operations as soon as its officials received a copy of the order.

Philex, a company controlled by businessman Manny V. Pangilinan, was held liable for the spill of 20 million metric tons of fresh tailings from its Padcal mine in Tuba, Benguet, on Aug. 1 last year and ordered to pay P1 billion in penalties.

Its operations have been suspended since August due to the spill that polluted two water bodies in Benguet, the Balog Creek and the Agno River, which is linked to the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan.

In a recent public hearing, Philex said it would carry out a “beaching process” by filling the void in the TSF3 caused by the mine spill with 3.5 million MT of fresh tailings. The company said the process was necessary to keep the stability of its mine facility and prevent another accident

http://business.inquirer.net/109737/denr-allows-philex-to-open-for-4-months

Ghana: Ban Galamsey Operations

In Ghana, we do not have many juicy stories to tell on the exploitation of gold. All we have to relate is the pollution of our sources of water supply, and the degradation of the environment, putting our people in distress. Last year, The Chronicle had a running battle with a multi-national company which was bent on moving an entire community from their ancestral home, because the township is sitting on gold.

The worry was that all ancestral groves in the town were to be destroyed. In the midst of this entire calamity, the compensation did not go to enrich the people. Central Government received most of the cash, with the people receiving peanuts, if any at all.

http://ghanaian-chronicle.com/ban-galamsey-operations/

Mongolia: Hearing on mining disaster postponed

Victims of mining disaster, residents of Gurvanbulag sum in Bayankhongor aimag are suing  against Chinese owned gold mining company that apparently caused disaster in the area. According to local residents` claims the Chinese mining company caused the only river dry up, soil pollution and also caused over gazing pastures in Gurvanbulag sum with their gold mining operations. 
http://english.news.mn/content/135418.shtml

Gold in the “Stans”: Challenges and Opportunities

The government has not only expressed concerns over the company’s tax payments, but also alleges that it has caused significant environmental damage. Five environmental claims issued in December for $150 million have now been followed by another environmental claim for $315 million. The Kyrgyz parliament has set a three-month deadline for the government to revise its 2009 deal with Centerra or terminate the arrangement unilaterally. Throwing more cold water on the situation, the mine was hit by a strike earlier this month.
http://goldinvestingnews.com/32656/gold-kyrgyzstan-kazakhstan-uzbekistan-tajikistan-soviet-union-turquoise-hill-centerra-newmont.html

China Admits Existence Of 'Cancer Villages' In Report, As Pollution Concerns Mount

As public discontent mounts in China over the country's worsening pollution problemand the government's lack of transparency about environmental concerns, Chinese authorities have acknowledged the existence of so-called "cancer villages" in a new report this week, according to multiple media outlets.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/23/china-cancer-villages-pollution_n_2744879.html

Referendum needed to re-open PNG’s Panguna mine, says Bougainville landowner

The Bougainville government is holding the second of four planned community meetings to hear the people’s views on whether the huge copper and gold mine can be re-opened.

In 1988, anger over alleged environmental damage and human rights abuses at Panguna sparked a civil war and closed the mine.

A former presidential candidate and a landowner at Panguna, Martin Miriori, says before any re-opening there would need to be compensation, reconcilation and awareness building, followed by a referendum.

http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=74276

Ghana’s Mahama to ‘Chase Out’ Illegal Foreign Gold Miners

Ghana is facing an influx of illegal small-scale miners mainly from China as global gold prices climb amid economic uncertainty in Europe. Residents of villages where the mining takes place have raised concern about environmental damage, especially to water bodies.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-02-26/ghana-s-mahama-to-chase-out-illegal-foreign-gold-miners

Suriname: the impact of gold mining

Some of the information that they received was related to gold mining and its impact. For instance the use mercury on water damages the quality of it in these communities. There is also the issue of forced displacement, child labour and sexual violence perpetrated against women in mining areas. Due to this situation surrounding gold mining, the Rapporteurs stress “the need to hold consultations with affected communities before and during the implementation of these activities, and the State's obligation to take measures to safeguard the economic, social and cultural rights of these communities”. 
http://tktotem.blogspot.com/2013/02/suriname-impact-of-gold-mining.html

Zimbabwe: Small-Scale mining council seeks solutions on proposed mercury ban

THE Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Council (ZASMC) has urged stakeholders to come up with solutions to address challenges that will arise from the proposed ban on the use of mercury in industrial processes, including mining. 

Representatives from more than 140 countries including Zimbabwe met in Switzerland early last year and agreed to sign a treaty to phase out the use of mercury in industrial applications.

This was in view of the United Nations’ acknowledgement that mercury posed a health risk worldwide.

ZASMC president Mr Wellington Takavarasha said the global commitment to sign a treaty against the use of mercury represented a major breakthrough considering the risk associated with its use.

“Mercury is a potent neurotoxin and the United Nations reports that mercury pollution poses a health risk globally. Government delegates agreed to phase out the use of mercury over time in all industrial sectors including gold mining in order to minimise global pollution,” he said.

http://www.chronicle.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46895:small-scale-mining-council-seeks-solutions-on-proposed-mercury-ban-&catid=41:business&Itemid=133#.UStnJx2zcVA

Ghana: Interest groups join forces to uproot illegal mining

There is an insurgence of armed robbery, prostitution and drug abuse in Subriso, a galamsey prone community in the Ahafo Ano North District of Ashanti.

Farmlands are being destroyed whilst water bodies and the environment are gravely polluted as a result of illegal gold mining.
http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201302/101908.php

Modern Day Prospectors Will Haul 12,000 Gallons of Cyanide from Nevada to Mine for Gold in Utah

To illustrate, allow me to detail the next gold mine to be born in the U.S. A detailed proposal has been sent to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for a new gold mine, the Keiwit Project, in Toole County, Utah. It would be the first ever built in the region. Its operators hope to process millions of tons of ore over six years in order to extract gold, silver, and arsenic from the rock. But to do it, they’re going to need to ship in over ten thousand gallons of cyanide from Nevada.........
“cyanide would be trucked to the site from Nevada from a company with employees certified in safety procedures for handling the compound. At the Kiewit site, a lined, 12,000-gallon tank of the material would sit inside a secondary container on top of another liner.”..............
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/modern-day-prospectors-will-haul-12000-gallons-of-cyanide-from-nevada-to-mine-for-gold-in-utah

Greece Will OK Gold Mine Project

The Skouries gold and copper mine, which is on the Halkidiki peninsula in one of northern Greece’s most densely forested areas and a major tourist destination, has been at the center of controversy for some two decades. Many local residents oppose the new open-pit mine, saying it will destroy the environment and harm the area’s tourism potential.
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/02/23/greece-will-ok-gold-mine-project/

You couldn't pick a worse place to dig a gold mine

The project plans boast a 2,000-foot-deep open-pit mine stretching more than two-miles long with earthen dams up to 50 stories high, which are to be built in a known earthquake zone, and are supposed to hold back some 10-billion tons of mining waste mixed with cyanide, sulfuric acid, arsenic, and other toxic chemicals.

Not only is it unsafe, it is destructive and degrading. As one of the last remaining pieces of American wilderness, Bristol Bay is home to an "unspoiled Eden of vast tundra, crystal clear streams, and pristine lakes that span a stunning array of national parks and wildlife refuges," according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. To add to its endearing image, Native Alaskans still live their traditional ways here, filling their freezers and smokehouses with fish from the bay for the coming year. A Brown University study found that 20 percent of the average indigenous families' diet consists of sockeye salmon.

http://www.theday.com/article/20130224/OP05/302249978/1044

‘Religious gold miners’ in South Suriname

Inhabitants of the Kwamalasamutu already mentioned the presence of the Americans during a meeting earlier this month. A REDD+ delegation visited the village to discuss forest preservation, and in the presence of a de Ware Tijd reporter, the villagers expressed concern about the intentions of these 'missionaries.' Granman Alalaparoe says he does not know whether the Americans have permission of the government to survey for gold. Gerold Dompig, chairman of the Gold Sector Commission (OGS), says he is familiar with the situation and it has his attention.-. 
http://www.dwtonline.com/de-ware-tijd/2013/02/19/religious-gold-miners-in-south-suriname/

Suriname – Rain Forest for Sale

Goldmining made the situation critical. Rivers and creeks are being polluted at a high rate. Canadian companies Golden Star and Cambior are working near the village of Nieuw Koffiekamp. In Guyana, Golden Star caused the largest pollution disaster since 20 years. In 1995 all life was extinguished from river Omai, as a result of severe cyanide pollution, following a dam breach.

The gold reserves in Nieuw Koffiekamp are estimated at 2.4 million ounces. Just like anywhere, local land rights are ignored and the population is kept out by armed people.

There are thousands of ‘garimpeiros’ in the interior at the moment. There is ‘no supervision at all’ on the working methods of these Brazilian goldminers. ‘These individual goldminers cause an ecological disaster’ says Hilgerink. ‘I am not an expert where mining is concerned, but when you see all these discoloured rivers from the air, you know something is terribly wrong. And thanks to the roads of the logging companies, the forest is conveniently opened up for these goldminers.’

http://dutchguyana.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/suriname-rain-forest-for-sale/

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Ethical Jewellery: how to buy gold and precious gems with a clear conscience

As a report carried out by the No Dirty Gold campaign illustrates, gold mining involves, “massive pollution, huge open pits, devastating community health effects, worker dangers and, in many cases, human rights abuses that have become hallmarks of gold and metals mining in countries such as Peru, Indonesia, Ghana and in parts of the United States.”

Labourers work long hours for little pay in terrible conditions and in some cases children are forced to work, and become ill as a result of exposure to massive amounts of mercury and lead. Meanwhile deadly metals also seep into the land from the mines and affect the health of local communities.

http://sustainablesuburbia.net/ethical-jewellery-how-to-buy-gold-and-precious-gems-with-a-clear-conscience/

Greece and gold: Fast money, but at what cost?

Many locals, environmental groups and Greece’s main opposition political party Syriza have voiced their opposition to the Skouries gold mining project, claiming it will damage the environment, resulting in economic losses in the tourist, farming and fishing industries. Gold mining has been linked to air, ground water and river contamination through processes such as dredging, amalgamation (using mercury) and cyanide spills. It takes 30 tons of ore to get enough gold for just one ring. The resulting 30 tons of waste ore can contain poisonous heavy metals including lead, selenium, arsenic and mercury.
http://www.greenfudge.org/2013/02/21/greece-and-gold-fast-money-but-at-what-cost/

Inca One helps artisanal miners - and itself - amidst Peru's push to formalize its small-scale gold sector

It's a feat worth $1.8-billion annually. The gold is spirited out of the country without being taxed, costing the Peruvian government some US$500 million in lost revenues. All of this unregulated also provides perfect lubricant for Peru's drug trade.

Of course, the damage doesn't end there. Small-scale mining is highly destructive to the environment: the process starts with clearing swaths of rainforest and ends with the mercury used to extract gold from the rocks either dumped into rivers or burned, polluting the air. Child labour is also rampant in small-scale mines.

http://www.northernminer.com/news/inca-one-helps-artisanal-miners-and-itself-amidst-perus-push-to-formalize-its-small-scale-gold/1002089408/

Mining ban stays, says S. Cotabato governor

Maderazo also said that other mining companies granted ECCs had committed destructive practices, such as the pollution of Balog Creek in Benguet province by Philex Mining Corp. and the Agno River in Pangasinan province.

“In our view, the project in Tampakan is even more dangerous than those two sites. First, even before the operations begin, human rights violations are already rampant in the area highlighted by the killings of a mother and her two children in October last year,” he said, referring to last year’s military operations that led to the deaths of the wife and two sons of B’laan tribal leader Daguil Capion.

Capion has been at the forefront of an armed struggle by B’laan natives against SMI.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/362313/mining-ban-stays-says-s-cotabato-governor

Philippines: Provisional clearance

The mining project often described as the biggest foreign investment in the Philippines has been granted an environmental clearance certificate on the third attempt, prompting praise from the Chamber of Mines and provoking fury among environmental activists. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources carefully limited the grant by attaching “certain conditions,” but not even full compliance can guarantee that the controversy over the $5.9-billion open-pit copper-gold project in Southern Mindanao will be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/47327/provisional-clearance

Peru Mercury Seizure Points to Illicit Gold Mining

Peruvian officials have seized 198 kilos of mercury they believe was intended for use in unlicensed gold mining, a reminder of the issues that the government faces in tackling this industry, which some analysts have linked to organized crime.

Agents from the national customs agency Sunatdiscovered the chemicals in 10 plastic bottles stashed in concealed compartments underneath the seats of a car travelling to Puno through the Tacna region, near the borders with Bolivia and Chile.

http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/peruvian-seize-mercury-illegal-mining

R i g h t s H o l d e r s , No t St a k e h o l d e r s

To refer to First Nations as stakeholders ignores and disrespects
our constitutionally protected status as governments. Grouping us
into the general body implies we
merely have interests and not lawful rights. It is essential that Canadians, including governments, the
public, and industry, understand
and respect that we are rights holders who must and will exercise our
lawful rights to support the process
of helping our Nations take their
rightful place culturally, economically and socially
http://indigenuity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SEVEN-Spring-2013-Article.pdf?goback=%2Egde_4161585_member_215995260

The Horrors Of Mining In The Head Waters Of The Amazon

The acidification of the water causes gill malfunction in all fish life and ultimate death. The waters also become toxic due to the presence of heavy metals and toxins used to extract copper and gold from the mined ore. This acidification is known as Acid Mine Drainage and lasts for ever. The poisons remain in river sediment. Mines started in the times of the Romans are still leaching acid after 2,000 years.

This acid moves into ground water, and in this case with a pit which will be started at 900 meters and which will be mined to a depth of 1,250 meters, putting the base of the pit below sea level, this is a certainty. The mine will process 60,000 tons of ore every day, crushing this ore and
washing it, using poisonous chemicals, and using an estimated 12 million liters of water per day.

http://www.countercurrents.org/dene190213.htm

Zimbabwe: Freda Suspends Operations

AIM listed pan-African commodity company Mwana Africa Plc says gold production at cash cow Freda Rebecca would be affected in the short-term while gold recovery would suffer in the medium-term following a leach tank accident. The accident has forced the company to suspend plant processing operations as the company repairs the damage and puts measures to restore safety before it can resume operations at its Bindura based gold mining unit.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201302200318.html

Cyanide exposure from gold mining real, say Bukit Koman residents

They stressed that they are not against the project, but urged RAGM and the government to follow a strict process to ensure that people are not being exposed to poisonous hydrogen cyanide.

Dr Tan Ka Kheng, a professor with the HELP College of Arts and Technology with a background in chemical and environmental engineering, expressed his shock over the irresponsible absence of environmental safeguards in the plant concerning hydrogen cyanide emission.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/litee/malaysia/article/cyanide-exposure-from-gold-mining-real-say-bukit-koman-residents/

Mining Reality TV Gold—Forest Peoples Be Damned

Natural resource mining in general has a deplorable environmental record, but gold-mining is particularly problematic because of the small amount of gold obtained per unit of ore. According to Earthworks, the gold in one ring produces 20 tons of mining waste. And with gold prices hitting an all-time high of $1,921.15 an ounce in September 2011—as demand for the relatively safe investment rises in the context of a failing global economy—gold mining has gone up too. That includes artisanal mining, the kind of extraction replicated and dramatized by these TV series. In fact, it now comprises of up to a quarter of global gold production.
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/mining-reality-tv-gold%E2%80%94forest-peoples-be-damned/

Corporates aren't the only solution to conflict gold

The first thing you notice about any small-scale mine site is a constant humming of mechanised water pumps and generators followed by the noise of countless workers, digging and hauling up pans of soil to be panned and washed. All this is backbreaking, dirty, noisy, insecure and dangerous work carried out on the promise of payment plus a daily meal until the gold is delivered. It is mind-boggling how the sheer muscle of humanity, driven on by the primeval urge to survive can move tonnes of earth every hour and in doing so carve vast ravines out hillsides, re-direct river courses, and sculpt entirely new landscapes as they pursue gold veins. But to truly understand the ASM sector you need to look beneath the obvious of environmental mismanagement, systemic mercury usage and child labour issues to understand the hidden driver of money and survival.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/corporates-solution-conflict-gold-small-scale-miners

Gold mine in Tooele County would use cyanide to get metal

Jim Springer, spokesman with the state Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, said no negative comments were received on the project, which involves exploratory drilling, blasting, an open-pit mine and a process to extract the gold and silver using cyanide.

While the division is a long way off in the permitting arena, the project's proposed use of what's called "cyanide heap leach pads," would be the state's only active mining operation using this extraction method.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865573483/Gold-mine-in-Tooele-County-would-use-cyanide-to-get-metal.html

Keeping U.S. mercury off the global market

As discussed in a previous Earth Wise segment, people are exposed to mercury’s most toxic form through eating contaminated fish. In the U.S., 44 states have fish-advisories due to mercury pollution. And worldwide, fisheries and human health suffer from rising mercury contamination.

The Mercury Export Ban of 2008 seeks to protect the global environment by taking U.S. mercury supplies off the market. Before the ban went into effect—despite efforts to regulate American industry—our country was one of the world’s leading exporters of elemental mercury.

Most of our exports were bound for developing nations, where the toxic metal was used in highly polluting practices, like artisanal gold mining—which is considered one of the most significant sources of mercury release into the environment.

Now that it’s in effect, The Mercury Export Ban prevents the sale, distribution, transfer, and export of elemental mercury. It requires the Department of Energy to manage the long-term disposal of U.S. supplies.

http://wamcradio.org/EarthWise/?p=2002

Moody’s Water scarcity ‘poses mining threat’

Global mining companies may see increased pressure on their credit ratings as environmental issues including water scarcity add to capital and operating costs, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Smaller, less-diversified mining companies in water-scarce regions such as South America were most vulnerable, Moody’s said in a report last week. Larger producers including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American would also be adversely affected given their global operations and willingness to operate in remote and arid regions, it said. “Water scarcity is already changing the mining landscape as environ
http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/moody-s-water-scarcity-poses-mining-threat-1.1471846#.USIaTOLqj0o

Australia: NEPA sues gold miners-cyanide spill

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) has slapped gold mining firm Ausjam with a lawsuit to recover $5.4 million the agency said it spent cleaning up after a cyanide spill at an abandoned goldmining site in Clarendon nearly two years ago and which it said was left unmanned by Ausjam.

NEPA's Executive Director Peter Knight told the Jamaica Observer last Monday that the environmental agency had revoked Ausjam's environmental licence and was now suing the company to recover most of the US$75,000 (approximately J$7.5 million) it spent on the clean-up operations

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/NEPA-sues-gold-miners_13652711

South Americans face upheaval or death over water supply

People streamed into the central square in Celendin, a small city in the Peruvian Andes, the morning of July 3, 2012. They were protesting the government’s support for Newmont Mining’s plan to take control of four lakes to make way for a new gold and copper mine. By midday, there were 3 000. Some hurled rocks at police and brandished clubs. Then assailants shot two officers and an army soldier in the leg.

Blocks away, construction worker Paulino Garcia left home on foot to buy groceries. As he approached the central square, he encountered chaos. People ran for cover as federal troops fired their weapons. One bullet struck Garcia as he watched the mayhem. It ripped open his chest and exited through his back. The 43-year-old father of two fell to the ground and died

http://www.thepost.co.za/south-americans-face-upheaval-or-death-over-water-supply-1.1471738#.USDVxeLqj0o

Writ of kalikasan, mandamus to protect CDO from mining

It also ordered city hall, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Northern Mindanao and mining companies to file their respective verified returns—to include all evidence that they did not violate, or threaten to violate, or allow the violation of any environmental law, rule or regulation or commit any act resulting in environmental damage of such magnitude that transcends political and territorial boundaries, including affidavits of witnesses, documentary evidence, scientific or other expert studies and object evidence supporting their defense—within a non-extendible period of 10 days from the service of the writs.
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/news/regions/9382-writ-of-kalikasan-mandamus-to-protect-cdo-from-mining

Masked intruders raid Greek gold mining company

There has long been vehement opposition to the prospect of a gold mine and processing plant being built at Skouries in the Halkidiki peninsula, with residents objecting to what they say will be the destruction of the environment and of pristine forest in the area, leading to the loss of tourism and other local activities such as farming, the rearing of livestock and fishing
http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2013/02/17/intruders-raid-gold-mining-company-in-greece

The Missing Ethics of Mining

In 2008, I visited this area as a contractor for an agency of the World Bank. I had recently written a doctoral dissertation about artisanal mining, while working as part of a United Nations environmental research and technical assistance group whose aim was to address mercury pollution. Artisanal miners are the world’s largest remaining users of elemental mercury, a potent neurotoxin whose industrial use is declining in every other sector. In the course of our project, however, we also observed two new disturbing trends in mining. First, the number of artisanal miners was spiraling uncontrollably, tripling and quadrupling in lockstep with the steep rise in the price of gold after September 11, 2001. Second, many of the places we were studying were subject to increasingly tense—and frequently violent— land-use conflicts between local artisanal miners and foreign industrial mining companies. Because our remit (and funding) was limited to studying the environmental effects of mercury from artisanal mining, we had no mandate to examine these conflicts. While I had read about coexistence interventions being applied by the World Bank and other international development agencies to these conflict areas, this was my first occasion to experience them directly.
http://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2013/the-missing-ethics-of-mining-full-text/

QUEENSLAND'S TOXIC DEE RIVER REVEALS NATIONAL MINE WASTE PROBLEM

But for one community west of Rockhampton, a spill of toxic water from an old gold mine has turned out to be worse than first thought.

The abandoned Mount Morgan gold mine, which overflowed for the first time in its history three weeks ago, is still spilling acid and heavy metals into the Dee River. Local farmers now say that the Dee River is an unnatural shade of blue-green for a lot of its length, and birds and fish are dying.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/toxic-mine-water/4518922

Mining Companies Face Ratings Cuts as Water Scarcity Lift Costs

Smaller, less-diversified mining companies in water-scarce regions such as South America are most vulnerable, Moody’s said in a report dated yesterday. Larger producers including BHP Billiton Ltd., Rio Tinto Group and Anglo American Plc will also be adversely affected given their global operations and willingness to operate in remote and arid regions, it said.

“Water scarcity is already changing the mining landscape as environmental legislation becomes more stringent,” Andrew Metcalf, a Moody’s analyst, said in the report. “Operating in some countries increases political risk as mining companies’ water supplies can be restricted if the needs of communities increase.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-15/mining-companies-face-ratings-cuts-as-water-scarcity-lift-costs.html

Mwana Africa shares plunge on tank rupture at Zimbabwe gold mine

Mwana Africashares tumbled Friday after the company said it halted production at its Freda Rebecca gold mine in Zimbabwe following a rupture in a leach tank. 
http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=20694302

Minerals Processing for a Green and Responsible Gold Mining Operation

With a modest investment of EUR 20 million, the Pampalo mine was built fully operational and now produces 800 to 900 kg of pure gold annually. An on-going expansion will increase the mine’s production capacity by 30 to 50 % next year.

In addition to the main underground mine at Pampalo, several promising satellite gold deposits are being investigated along the long Karelian gold line. The maximum distance of the satellites is 30 km, allowing the mine to transport and process all of the produced ore at the Pampalo plant.

http://www.bulk-solids-handling.com/processing/crushing_grinding_milling/articles/394667/

Mined Fair for the Fair-minded

When the Alliance for Responsible Mining developed its first standard there was no international certification scheme for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Fair trade generally only dealt with agricultural products, and consumers had close to no way of knowing where their gold came from. When buying Fairtrade and Fairmined gold you can trace your gold back to the mine and know that the miners have good working conditions. They take care of the environment, and you support social and economic development in their communities.

Artisanal and small-scale mining supports the livelihoods of between 100–150 million people around the world (60–100 million for gold) and has a huge potential for sustainable development of impoverished communities. Fair standards for ASM can make this potential a reality.

http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/briefings/data/000247

New Environmental Pollution Study Findings Recently Were Published by Researchers at Technical University

Research findings on Environmental Pollution are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting from Cartagena, Spain, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Mercury releases from artisanal and small-scale gold mines (ASGM) condense and settle on plants, soils and water bodies. We collected soil and plant samples to add knowledge to the likely transfer of Hg from soils into plants and eventually predict Hg accumulation in livestock around ASGM in Bolivia."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Technical University, "Mean contents of Hg in soils range from 0.5 to 48.6 mg Hg kg(-1) soil (5 x to 60 x more compared to control sites) and exceeded the soil Hg threshold levels in some European countries. The Hg contents ranged from 0.6 to 18 and 0.2 to 28.3 mg Hg kg(-1) leaf and root, respectively. The high Hg in Poaceae and Rosaceae may elevate Hg accumulation into the food chain because llama and alpaca solely thrive on these plants for food."

http://www.equities.com/news/material/2013-02-13/1037835/new-environmental-pollution-study-findings-recently-were.story

Brazilian agency rejects Canadian company's bid to mine controversial Amazon dam site for gold

The MPF said any evaluation of the mine's viability must "be assessed based on whether the fragility imposed by the Belo Monte dam to the Big Bend of the Xingu permits the presence of another large project in the region, especially one that provokes people's displacement, the intensive use of polluting substances, and recognized environmental impacts," according to Amazon Watch, which welcomed the decision.

"We applaud the MPF for taking vigorous steps to uphold Brazilian environmental and human rights legislation, putting the brakes on a project that would heap further tragedy on the communities already faced with the disastrous Belo Monte dam," said Amazon Watch's Christian Poirier in a statement.

http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0213-belo-sun-mining-corp-xingu.html

Ghana to crack down on foreigners engaged in illegal mining

Ghana comes next to South Africa in Africa in terms of gold deposits and also possesses good amounts of bauxite, diamonds and manganese.

Besides, it has a sizeable deposit of iron ore, limestone, kaolin, granite, salt and feldspar that are yet to be fully exploited.

The favorable investment climate in Ghana has attracted more local and foreign companies into mineral exploration and mining activities.

However, there is growing discontent over the influx of large- scale miners in what has historically been the preserve of Ghanaian small-scale miners.

According to Ghanaian laws, foreign companies are only allowed to work independently on large and open-pit mines.

The small-scale mining sector has been characterized by serious challenges such as human casualties, indiscriminate destruction of the environment, particularly farmlands and food crops, and flagrant pollution of water bodies.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/761473.shtml

Greece sees gold boom, but at a price

No project, however, appears to have elicited more of a public outcry than the resumption of mining operations in the mineral-rich hills here, where legend has it that Alexander the Great also mined for gold. Past mining operations here have been boom-and-bust enterprises, their fortunes swinging with the price of metals, leaving behind ugly piles of sandy gray tailings. Virtually everybody in the area has stories about the runoff from old mining operations, which turned the sea yellow at times
http://neoskosmos.com/news/en/greece-sees-goldboom-but-at-a-price

Peru Mercury Seizure Points to Illicit Gold Mining

Peruvian officials have seized 198 kilos of mercury they believe was intended for use in unlicensed gold mining, a reminder of the issues that the government faces in tackling this industry, which some analysts have linked to organized crime.

Agents from the national customs agency Sunatdiscovered the chemicals in 10 plastic bottles stashed in concealed compartments underneath the seats of a car travelling to Puno through the Tacna region, near the borders with Bolivia and Chile, reported Andina.

The mercury, worth over $21,000, was of foreign origin and was likely destined for use in illegal gold mining in the Madre de Dios region, reported Peru21.

Officials detained five people, including two minors, who were travelling in the car.

http://insightcrime.org/news-briefs/peruvian-seize-mercury-illegal-mining

Jared Diamond On Traditional Society, Warfare And Eschewing Technology

 To date, the company has paid no mining royalties or compensation to the more than 4,000 Amungme indigenous people displaced by the growing mine’s concession area since strip mining began there in 1972. Many of the displaced people have been forcibly moved to the lowlands. Both Amungme and Comoro tribes have been severely affected by the environmental devastation caused by the mine, such as “copper pollution, destruction of vegetation and estuary habitat, toxic runoff and contamination of the river food chain.” And Amungme tribespeople, moreover, are open to the malaria-carrying mosquitoes of the area’s lowlands. The human rights violations and environmental devastation surrounding the Grasberg mine prompted the Norwegian government in Sept. 2008 to completely divest its $1 billion investment in Rio Tinto.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelvenables/2013/02/12/jared-diamond-and-updated-commentary/

South Americans Face Upheaval in Deadly Water Battles

People streamed into the central square in Celendin, a small city in the Peruvian Andes, the morning of July 3, 2012. They were protesting the government’s support for Newmont Mining Corp.’s plan to take control of four lakes to make way for a new gold and copper mine. By midday, there were 3,000.

Some hurled rocks at police and brandished clubs. Then assailants shot two officers and an Army soldier in the leg.

Blocks away, construction worker Paulino Garcia left home on foot to buy groceries. As he approached the central square, he encountered chaos. People ran for cover as federal troops fired their weapons, Bloomberg Markets magazine will report in its March issue.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/south-americans-face-upheaval-in-deadly-water-battles.html

IFC-funded mines: still courting controversy

Following a year of violence associated with mining projects funded by the World Bank's private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC, see Update 82), the IFC's mining investments in Guatemala, Mongolia, Colombia and Peru are still provoking controversy.
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-572002

Mining’s toxic legacy

Mercury in lakes and rivers is converted into methyl mercury by certain bacteria. Fish ingest methyl mercury by swimming or feeding in contaminated water. Methyl mercury accumulates in fish tissue and is carried up the food chain to larger fish, animals and humans. Methyl mercury is dangerous because the concentration of methyl mercury increases as it goes up the food chain.”.....
What we do know is that shortly after EPA fined Barrick, it turned its attention on Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. EPA called on the state agency to list an additional 19 streams, lakes, rivers,including Ruby and Comins Lakes, the Owyhee River, Wildhorse and South Fork Reservoirs to the methyl mercury fish warning list.
http://www.planevada.org/minings-toxic-legacy/

Moldavian investor takes over half of Romanian mining company Romaltyn, wants recycling pilot for mineral waste

The previous owners Polyus Group were planning to invest some USD 14 million in 2010 in mining technologies to re-start gold extraction. Romaltyn’s sterile sludge pond triggered an international ecological accident, when sludge and cyanide leaked from the pond into the Lapus, Somes, Tisa and Danube rivers in 2000. Two years later, the EU created a new international code for the management of cyanide, which is used in the gold production process.
http://www.romania-insider.com/moldavian-investor-takes-over-half-of-romanian-mining-company-romaltyn-wants-recycling-pilot-for-mineral-waste/75028/

Fairtrade and Fairmined Gold

The poor and vulnerable in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are driven into artisanal mining because it can offer an alternative way to earn a living where agriculture or other activities are simply not viable. However, they face a multitude of challenges as they struggle to survive. The current increase in gold prices is driving millions more into this sector.
http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/policy_library/data/01654

“To get the gold, they will have to kill every one of us”

Rafael Correa was elected president in the weeks following the bloody bridge protest. Upon taking his oath, his left-wing PAIS Alliance fulfilled a campaign promise and convened an assembly to draft a new constitution, Ecuador’s twentieth. Burning questions of indigenous rights and environmental protection, it seemed, would be addressed democratically before the entire nation.
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/10/to_get_the_gold_they_will_have_to_kill_every_one_of_us/

Peru: A View of the Amazon from the Air

That ox-bow lake is what the water colour ought to be like. The sickly yellow colour of the main river comes from silt, sediment and run-offs from the many gold mines nearby. 
http://discovermagazine.com/galleries/zen-photo/p/peru#.URjcX-LDH0o

Harper government using “humanitarian” aid to boost Canada’s global mining companies

According to the Mining Conflicts in Latin America (MICLA) research group based at McGill University, there are approximately 200 Canadian-owned mines active in Latin America at any one time. Since the late 1990s, the group identified 85 mine sites where a dispute arose between the local population and the mining company.

A typical example is the San Martin gold mine in Honduras, where Goldcorp and Honduran authorities first ignored villagers’ complaints about industrial pollution, then sought to suppress and discredit a study that found local residents had medically dangerous levels of lead and arsenic in their blood.

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/11/cida-f11.html

No stranger to mine spills, Philex still wants rehab of aging tailings pond

Described as the biggest mining disaster in the country, the Padcal mine spill of Philex Mining Corp. in August last year is not the first time the company has faced such problems in the same mine site and in another project.

In January 1992, part of the Padcal mine’s Tailings Pond No. 2 in Itogon, Benguet collapsed and spilled about five million metric tons of tailings across 5,000 hectares of land along Agno River downstream, according to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

The leakage was blamed on the weakened dam structure after the 1990 earthquake that devastated many parts of Baguio City and Benguet, according to the MGB’s “Sustainable Development in the Philippine Mineral Industry: A Baseline Study.” Philex started operating its Padcal mine in 1958.....
In the MGB initial investigation report last Sept. 26, figures provided by Philex show that levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium in the waterways spiked after the mine waste spill.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/294083/news/specialreports/no-stranger-to-mine-spills-philex-still-wants-rehab-of-aging-tailings-pond

STRUGGLE FOR LAND AND WATER IN THE ANDES

The perceived inadequacies of the new mineral law have set off a new wave of protests. In August, Aymara comunarios (as the word is rendered in Bolivia) launched an occupation of the installations of the Inti Raymi Mining Company at La Titina, outside the Altiplano city of Oruro, in protest of the pollution of local water sources with cyanide and other toxins. Traditional Aymara authorities of the local ayllus (agricultural communities) issued a statement saying: "We view with profound concern...that the government...has drawn up...the Mining Law...without the participation of social sectors, and especially of the indigenous nations and original peoples."
http://www.ww4report.com/node/11977

Burma: More arrests as the old regime betrays its democratic mandate

Four Burmese gold mine workers, who were arrested for leading a march to Naypidaw in November, were sentenced to six months imprisonment at a Pegu court on Thursday for protesting without permission and instigating public unrest.

The four men were protesting the government's decision to close the small Moehti Moemi gold mine in central Burma to make way for a major conglomerate, called the Myanmar National Prosperity Public Company Limited (NPPCL), which rendered them jobless.

The men, identified as Ye Yint Htun, Naing Win, Nay Aung Htet and Saw Naung, were arrested by police on 23 November 2012, along with forty other miners.

They were then charged for protesting without permission under article-18 of Burma's controversial 2011 law on peaceful assembly and procession, and article 505(b) of the country's draconian penal code for sedition.

http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12079

Amerindians of Guyana don’t have right to gold on their land

The Amerindian population is vulnerable to the negative effects brought by gold-mining. The loss of land is devastating to communities that primarily support themselves through subsistence farming, and pollution from the mining operations contaminates water sources, harming humans, vegetation, and animals alike. Mercury, a contaminant that can cause blindness, speech impairment, cardiovascular disease, memory loss, and fatigue and is especially dangerous to pregnant women and young children, is commonly used in gold panning to help separate gold pieces from soil. Guyana has sought permission to be exempted from the UN’s newly drafted Minimata Convention on Mercury (could link back to other article here). Despite undeniable evidence that mercury contamination is devastating to miners, jewelers, and inhabitants of the land near gold-mining operations, Guyana argued that such a ban would damage their growing economy. In July, Guyana banned gold-mining directly from rivers in an attempt to address growing complaints of contaminated drinking water.
http://firstpeoples.org/wp/tag/gold-mine/