Catastrophic Acid Mine Drainage Blow-out Threatens Leadville Colorado and Arkansas River System with 1.5 Billion Gallons of Toxic Water

Lake County officials have feared a catastrophic blowout of a blocked mine-drainage tunnel for years, but they declared a state of emergency only amid this winter's heavy snows and a recent revelation that federal officials share their concerns.

Metals-contaminated water already is seeping out of fissures and reaching the Arkansas River, officials say, and the risk is growing of a life-threatening flood and environmental disaster if the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel bursts.

"What were trying to avoid here is a catastrophe," county director of emergency management Jeff Foley said Thursday during an emergency conference call with state and federal officials. "That's why we're acting now instead of acting when there is a blowout."

(Are we really naive enough to believe, that over the next few centuries, the Arkansas River isn't destined to be contaminated by this mine?)

The concern is a 1.5 billion-gallon pool of acidic mine runoff, laced with toxic levels of cadmium and zinc, that is dammed behind cave-ins deep underground in the World War II-era drainage tunnel.

Water beneath the mining district has risen to 188 feet above the tunnel's water-treatment plant and is beginning to spill out in new springs, according to a memorandum by Jord Gertson of SourceWater Consulting.

In addition to reaching the Arkansas River — the site of a massive Superfund cleanup effort over the past 25 years — the untreated water threatens to contaminate Leadville's water wells, said County Commissioner Ken Olsen.

And with snowpack already at 160 percent of its average depth, the threat is probably only going to get worse during the spring runoff.
River was contaminated for miles

Ron Cattany, director of reclamation, mining and safety for the state Department of Natural Resources, noted that the river was contaminated for miles downstream after the last mine-drainage blowout in 1983, which prompted the Superfund designation.

Although county officials have raised red flags about the blockages since they were discovered in 2001, they didn't learn until last week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shares their fears.

"We are concerned that an uncontrolled, potentially catastrophic release of water to the Arkansas River from the (tunnel) is likely at some point," EPA regional administrator Robert Roberts wrote in a November letter to regional director Michael Ryan.

EPA letter "heightened awareness"

The letter "validates" the county's chronic concerns over human safety and protection of the river, and it contributed to the declaration of an emergency, Olsen said.

"That has certainly brought to our attention a heightened awareness," he said. "The situation is no different today than it was yesterday, except the fact is, what we're trying to do here in Lake County is to address the prevention of some subsequent catastrophe."

Officials with the federal Bureau of Reclamation — which operates the tunnel — as well as the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers vowed Thursday to work with state and local entities to resolve the problem, beginning with a conference call today to review data, determine the actual threat and develop possible solutions.

Here is the full article.

After years of “environmentally friendly” mining South Africa pays the price for mining industry platitudes – permanently contaminated waters

One legacy of South Africa's extensive mineral deposits is the infrastructure and wealth of the country. But another more troubling legacy is emerging as an increasingly urgent problem: environmental contamination from over 100 years of mining that could severely pollute the country's water, affecting the food chain and citizens' health.

The magnitude of the potential problem has government agencies scrambling to coordinate a response to a relatively new issue for the regulatory bodies. "The truth of the matter is that as a nation we don't know how to deal with this problem because it has never happened to us before," said Dr Anthony Turton, a leading water researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

"This was always suppressed before because people didn't matter in the pre-1994 South Africa. All we've done so far is see the tip of the iceberg. We certainly don't have any coherent government strategies yet."

But the urgency is real. As more mines close and more tests reveal hazardous contamination levels in sediment and local food samples, there is growing concern about acidic waters emanating from disused mines.

The epicentre of the problem lies southwest of Johannesburg in a valley ringed by mines - both active and closed - where a small river called the Wonderfonteinspruit runs southwest from the mining town of Randfontein to Carletonville and Khutsong, and into the Mooi River, which provides water for Potchefstroom, a large university town.

Over 10 years of scientific studies have established that the sediment in the Wonderfonteinspruit is contaminated with radioactive uranium and high levels of other heavy metals in wastewater discharged from local mines.

By law, wastewater from mines is supposed to be treated to a standard established by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) before being discharged into waterways, but the evidence of contamination in the sediment means there has not been compliance. The mining companies were not closely regulated during the apartheid years, but environmental activists charge that while laws are now in place, enforcement is not.

Further complicating the enforcement issue is that several different mining companies - DRD, Gold Fields, Harmony - operate in the area and discharge water into the same canals and pipelines, so identifying a specific source of contamination can prove difficult.

A second source of pollution is runoff and wind-eroded particles from slime dams - soil residue from within the mines that often contains radioactive elements and heavy metals. On a recent site visit south of Carletonville, residue from eroding slime dams was observed washing down dirt roads towards drainage canals that empty into the Wonderfonteinspruit.

A 2007 report by the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) stated: "These slime dams and rock dumps are potentially significant contributors to diffuse contamination."

Wind-blown radioactive dust particles from the slime dams could also pose "significant radiation exposure" through inhalation or by contaminating agricultural crops, while cattle posed a serious problem because they churned up sediment loaded with radioactive elements and heavy metals in the waterways when they went into them.

After the NNR's report was released, the largest mining company operating in the area, Harmony, issued a directive to land and water users in the area, saying that cattle should no longer be watered in the river.

Thus far, the more proactive steps are coming from the local community. The Merafong Council, which includes the town of Carletonville and surrounding district, has put up signs warning people to not use the water and has provided drinking water to informal settlements on the river's banks.

"Although Water Affairs in their latest reports indicate that the water itself is safe, it is a known fact that there are sediments that are contaminated with radiological elements," said Albie Nieuwoudt, Strategic Executive for Economic Development, Planning, and Environmental Management at Merafong.

"That's why we put up the signs. We've just created our own Environmental Management section to look at issues arising from dust and slime dam residue; we've got a duty to protect our citizens."

Frustrations with government

Rene Potgieter, a former peat farmer who now works on the Wonderfonteinspruit contamination issue, said, "We have a group here organised through DWAF where water quality is monitored. I sit on the committee, and on a regular basis we look at what the discharge water qualities are. You just see noncompliance, noncompliance, noncompliance. But all DWAF does is monitor - they don't do anything with those results."

Nieuwoudt said he had heard of NNR reports about vegetable samples but had not seen them yet. "Apparently they found some pollution in some crops. "There are small community farming projects using that water source from boreholes, so we need to be informed."

The NNR has made statements that contradict its own reports, several of which classify food samples as above the accepted limit. On 7 February 2008 it issued a statement about the Wonderfonteinspruit that said, "No evidence has been found indicating unacceptable levels of radioactivity in vegetables, fish and meat samples." NNR's CEO, Maurice Magugumela, has also assured the public that food from the area was safe to eat.

Yet an NNR status report in October 2007 said: "The NNR collected samples of vegetables (onions, asparagus and oats) and fish in the area and sent these for analysis. The projected doses from the samples taken indicate that the total doses from some [of] the samples taken are above the dose constraints and dose limits ... and are of safety concern from a radiological point of view."

When questioned about these discrepancies, Magugumela stated that it was a complex issue and different international measurements were used to determine dosage and when intervention was appropriate.

Acid Mine Drainage

After 100 years of mining in South Africa, the subterranean infrastructure is vast and many neighbouring mines are interconnected for safety reasons. To mine for gold, mining companies must displace the groundwater for the duration of the mining operation by pumping it out. This slurry carries an assortment of naturally present heavy metals to the surface on the slime dams and discharges water.

When a mining company ceases operation, water begins to re-enter the area and reacts with exposed pyrite, a mineral formation, which creates sulphate. Sulphate reacts with water to become sulphuric acid, which then dissolves the heavy metals into the mix as the water rises and eventually "daylights" onto the surface. At this point, the water is considered to be acid mine drainage (AMD) or "mine water decant".

"You get this flow of water that comes up through the springs and it is very low Ph - very acidic - and it is a whole cocktail of heavy metals and potentially radioactive metals," said the CSIR's Turton.

In the Wonderfonteinspruit area the aquifers are in dolomite, a spongy layer of rock through which water moves quickly. The speed of the water is increased by the mining shafts. In August 2002, acid mine water began to appear in the West Rand Mining Basin just above Krugersdorp Game Reserve.

Harmony Gold rapidly built containment dams and channelled the water into Robinson Lake for treatment, but a percentage of the water is unusable even after treatment and is released into the Tweelopie Spruit, a small river in the area.

A 2006 Water Resources Commission report described Robinson Lake as having an exceptionally high uranium concentration after the influx of AMD water. "This extreme concentration is believed to be the result of remobilisation of uranium from a contaminated sediment by acidic water."

A separate paper about the 2002 decant, written in 2007 by CSIR scientists and Water Geoscience Consulting, stated: "The ramifications of mine water decant for the subregion are enormous. The greatest focus in this regard is undoubtedly the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site ... Of no lesser concern, however, are the downstream landowners and agricultural activities that are largely or wholly dependant on groundwater for potable and business use."

According to Turton, "This is the source of major concern in the short term, but there are other future worries as mines close down and decant starts to move across to the East Rand."

He fears that the country's energy crisis will exacerbate the problem by forcing smaller mines that cannot absorb the financial losses caused by power outages to close. "If they close prematurely, this process will simply be accelerated like a domino effect and hit us before we have the necessary science in place to inform the policy-making process," he said.

But DWAF Minister Lindiwe Hendricks has stated that wastewater from mining operations is not a threat to the country's water supply. When the 2002 decant began, DWAF instructed the responsible mines to contain and treat the water. Hendricks said DWAF's plan to deal with future AMD issues was to build a long-term treatment plant. The Western Basin Environmental Company has been established to treat AMD water.

A Farmer's Tale

Douw Coetzee's farm is located on the Wonderfonteinspruit stream, and his dam is a radioactive hot spot with high levels of radioactive sediment and other heavy metals like cadmium. The dam tested higher for radioactivity than the site above his property where mining waste enters the water via a pipe. Coetzee said he had submitted fish and cow samples from his farm months ago but had yet to hear any results.

Regulators from Harmony mines, as directed by the NNR, ordered Douw and his brother Sas to stop using the water for irrigation purposes because it exposed the sediment, so the Coetzees watched their fields wither and lost their primary income from maize.

Then they were told to keep their cattle away from the water because cattle disturb the sediment when they go into the water to drink, allowing the mine waste to move along in the water's flow. He cannot sell the cattle, which are multiplying rapidly, or the farm, for fear of contamination. "It's not morally right," he said.

He and his brother are not only worried about financial ruin but also their health. "I've lived here all my life; I played in this mud when I was a child. The cadmium level in our dam is 16,000 times higher than the allowed maximum. We're caught up now in nothing but meetings and maintaining what's left of the farm," said Coetzee.

"Basically we're just keeping the cattle alive and having to borrow money from the bank. This was supposed to be my legacy to my children, but everything has been stopped. This is horrible."

He said there were approximately 50 subsistence farmers upstream who did not know about the issues until he and his brother met with them. Whether or not those farmers were still irrigating with river water was unclear. The farmers' union spokesman was unavailable for comment.

What's next

The NNR has established a Regulatory Steering Committee, involving all the relevant local and national government agencies, to be advised by a team of scientific experts yet to be named.

The CSIR's Turton noted that even though many people were frustrated with the current number of reports, the reports thus far have been inadequate in scope and funding.

He said two studies were needed to clearly define the issues in the area and allow government agencies to act: one is a "fate and pathway" report that will definitively determine whether the heavy metals and/or radioactive pollution are entering the food chain and, if so, what steps are necessary to break the chain of pollution; the second is an epidemiological study of people exposed to mine waste.

The reports could potentially create a rough blueprint of the mining pollution issues and appropriate actions that other areas of the country will face. "This is a national strategic issue," said Turton. "We know the next decant will be in the East Rand in the next 10 years, when they stop mining. It is the only way we will get a handle on human health issues arising from chronic exposure."

The Coetzee brothers plan to take meat samples from their cattle to a laboratory in Europe and also have themselves tested while there. Douw pointed to a collection of disused buildings on the property and said the farm used to employ 19 families.

"We tried to hold onto them as long as possible but eventually they didn't get anything from us because we didn't have any money," he said. "It's complete ruins now. These used to be nice houses."

Here is the full article.

Estimation of Environmental Damages from Mining Pollution on River Systems

Introduction

Pollution, in general, can cause damages on natural resource systems which provide valuable though unpriced services to society. Oftentimes, the harmful effects of pollution are not considered by the polluter in decision-making, thus creating excessive environmental externalities. To estimate the externalities generated by pollution, it is necessary to develop economic measures of values of the environmental and resource services provided by the affected resource systems. The estimation process is undertaken primarily to provide inputs to the information base supporting public resource and environmental management decisions. One of these decisions that is of primary relevance to this study has to do with determining the natural resource damage liability of responsible parties in pollution cases, which can be used as basis for damage compensation to affected parties.

Mining pollution has historically been a major source of degradation of natural resource systems such as river, coastal, and air (USEPA 1995). For this reason, mining, as an economic activity, is subject to major environmental regulations worldwide, including the Philippines. Unfortunately, the current information on mining externalities is insufficient to be useful for policy setting. This study was undertaken partly to partly fill this information gap, particularly in the development of policy instruments which require information on social costs of mining, and partly to assist in the formulation of guidelines on damage assessment and compensation for the mining sector. A case study of an accident-induced mining pollution was implemented.

The Mining Accident

Marinduque Island is located about 170 kilometers south of Manila. It has a total land area of 959.2 km2 (see Map 1). Administratively, it is one of 11 provinces of Region IV or the Southern Luzon region. The provincial population in 1995 was 199,910, with almost one-fourth (44,609) of the population residing in Boac, the provincial capital.

The Marcopper Mining Corporation (MMC) had been engaged in copper open-pit mining in the municipality of Sta. Cruz, Marinduque since the early 1970s. When the mining operation moved from the Mt. Tapian to the San Antonio mine site in 1989, the drainage tunnel in the Tapian Pit was plugged with concrete so the pit could serve as disposal pond for the mine tailings. In August 1995, seepage was discovered in the drainage tunnel, which consequently ruptured on 24 March 1996, discharging mine tailings into the Makulapnit-Boac River system (henceforth referred to as Boac River), initially at a rate of 5-10 cubic meters per second (see Map 2).

The incident resulted in the release and deposition of some 1.6 million cubic meters of tailings along the 27-km span of the river system and the coastal areas near the river mouth west of the island-province. The impact on the river ecosystem was extensive. The devastating effects of the pollution on the river and coastal ecosystems were of such magnitude that a UN assessment mission declared the accident an environmental disaster (UNDP 1996). Boac River was left virtually dead. The onrush of tailings downstream displaced the river water, which in turn flooded low-lying areas, destroying crop farms and vegetable gardens along the banks and clogging the irrigation waterways to ricefields. Road sections straddling the river were damaged, temporarily isolating some barangays (villages) and affecting trade and access to services. All these impacts adversely affected the local residents in Boac whose livelihood activities were river-dependent.

The Boac River

The Boac River is a major river system in Marinduque and has traditionally been used for a variety of purposes by the population residing in towns along the river. The tailings spill not only had a significant visual impact on the quality of the river, but also resulted in the total loss of the river-based sources of livelihood as well as of other non-economic uses such as recreation.

During its pre-release condition, the Boac River was an important source of subsistence food for the local population such as fish, shrimps, and snails. Some of the local population engaged in river fishing as a secondary occupation. A significant amount of vegetables was being grown along the river banks, both for commercial sale and subsistence consumption. Another important source of household income from the river was its use for commercial laundry services. Some of the local population also engaged in gravel and sand quarrying in the river banks. The river was also a transport route used to haul agricultural crops upstream to the Boac town market.

The river's nonmarket uses included being a source of recreational opportunities for the local residents, especially children. Some of these activities included swimming, fishing, strolling along the river banks, and picnicking. The river has also been used as a receptacle of both industry and household wastes. Other household uses of the river included bathing, washing clothes, work implements and dishes, watering gardens, and maintenance of livestock.

Damage Valuation Approaches

1] Contingent valuation. Contingent valuation as an approach to benefit/damage estimation involves soliciting responses to hypothetical questions regarding the value people place on environmental amenities. The most commonly used hypothetical questions ask people for the value they place on a specified change in an environmental amenity or the maximum amount they would be willing to pay for the change to occur (Freeman 1993). A variation is the question on how much compensation people are willing to accept to endure or risk an environmental dis-amenity. These two measures, willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept compensation (WAC), when aggregated over the population concerned, can provide a value of the resource as an asset.

2] Travel cost. The travel cost method, which is extensively used to value recreational goods and services, requires data on people's observed visitation behavior to a recreational site. From these data, a demand curve for use of the site is derived. Then, the total amount of consumer surplus may be estimated. The estimated consumer surplus is a measure of the recreational value of the resource and is used as basis for estimating park entrance fees and related charges for use of a recreational site. However, the value of changes in the quality of a recreational site or changes in the quality of the flow of recreational services is better measured through a variant of the travel cost -- the random utility model, which does a "better job of capturing the role of site characteristics in influencing the decisions about whether to participate in recreation and the choice of a site to visit" (Freeman 1993).

3] Hedonic property value. One potential valuation approach to measure the value of lost services of the river is the application of hedonic pricing using changes in property values as a measure of pollution damage. The method is a surrogate-market approach which assumes that purchasers of property reveal their attitude to a bundle of attributes, including environmental, by their willingness to pay (Dixon et al. 1994). Through multiple regression analysis, the environmental attribute coefficient, after controlling for other attributes, is used to predict changes in property values given changes in environmental quality. The approach requires extensive data on the selling prices of individual properties as well as on their physical characteristics (e.g., location, size, distance to an environmental amenity).

4]Restoration Cost. In addition to the discounted foregone use values of the river, an alternative measure of natural resource damages in the Marinduque mining accident is the cost of restoring or rehabilitating the river to its pre-release condition. In the U.S., the estimate of the cost of restoring an injured natural resource to its pre-damage state is favored as basis for compensatory damages by the U.S. Court of Appeals over an estimate of the reduction in value of the flow services of the injured resource. The argument is that monetary values as a measure of the value of a public asset is an understatement of its social value (Smith 1996).

Impact on Fishing

Coastal fishing. A total of 35 sample households (15%) from three barangays (Laylay, Pili and Balogo) were engaged in coastal fishing. The initial income losses experienced by coastal fishermen immediately after the accident were due to the pervasive fear of the local people of eating fish caught from the coastal waters near the river outlet. For a couple of months after the spill, fish was avoided as stories of alleged food poisoning spread and the seawater remained discolored by tailings silt. Whatever fish was caught at that time was bought at depressed prices. Unfortunately, data to validate this observation were not collected in the survey.

Later, however, coastal fishers reported a real reduction in their fish catch which resulted in foregone annual average income losses averaging P17,938 per household. The average monthly income loss for those who used non-motorized boats (n=31) was higher at P1,830 than for those with motorized boats (n=4) at P1,410. This result was expected since fishers with motorized boats can fish farther offshore to avoid the pollution and to the extent that their catch revenue could offset the added fuel cost. Thus, they were likely to suffer less than the non-motorized boat fishers who did not have similar options.

Short-term Mitigation Activities in the Boac River and Affected Communities

Immediately after the accident, Marcopper and government agencies conducted relief operations and dispatched medical missions to affected communities. The Marcopper Environmental Guarantee Fund (EGF) compensation mechanism was activated with the formation of a Committee and Secretariat to oversee the fund's dispensation, most of which was allotted for damage compensation payments and construction of core and evacuation centers (see Section 8.6). In addition, Marcopper spent funds outside the EGF for infrastructure-related activities such as road repair and construction of new access roads to remote barangays isolated by floods. Relief and medical missions were dispatched to the affected areas immediately following the accident.

Long-term River Rehabilitation/Restoration Options

Table 13 summarizes the seven options addressing the tailings deposition in the rehabilitation of the Boac River, namely: (1) landfill, (2) haul to Tapian Pit, (3) pump, (4) coastal reclaim, (5) settling basis, (6) deep ocean disposal either by river or settling basin, (7) dredged channel, with corresponding estimated costs. Each option was evaluated by those concerned on technical, social, and economic grounds. The construction of the dredged channel had actually been completed at the time of the study; however, the option to redredge the channel was being evaluated. Assuming the redredging would cost the same as the original dredging and that it will address the tailings deposition adequately, this activity appears to be the least costly among the options. The cost, however, excluded the externalities from the redredging activities such as lower fish productivity and others.

Conclusion

The study makes the following prescriptions:

1. Guidelines for the conduct of a systematic natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) for events resulting in release of hazardous substances to the environment should be formulated. These should include the three stages in damage assessment, which are injury determination, quantification of effects, and damage determination. In the first two stages, the Philippine EIS System, which is fully institutionalized, should provide the physical, technical, and even economic data required. In the damage determination stage, the guidelines should prescribe the range of valuation methods for valuing foregone natural resource services applicable in different pollution cases.
   
   
2. Government policy on the nature and extent of liability of polluters for injury on natural resource systems should be clearly defined. Moreover, the efficiency implications of alternative liability rules should be considered in the formulation of liability-cum-compensation policies.

Here is the full article.

Mining 4500 Years Ago in Europe Resulted in Watershed-Scale Metal Contamination - 100 Times Background Levels

4,500-YEAR-OLD MINING POLLUTION IN SOUTHWESTERN SPAIN: LONG-TERM IMPLICATIONS FOR MODERN MINING POLLUTION

The Tinto river drains the Rio Tinto mining district, which comprises the world’s largest known massive sulfide deposits; these orebodies have been mined from the third millenium BC to the present. The Tinto river is strongly acidic (pH, 1.5–2.5); during flood events, it transports a sandy material, including abundant detrital pyrite grains. A core drilled in the Holocene sediments of the Tinto estuary allows for investigation of recent and historical mining pollution. Two anomalous horizons have been recognized (0–1.3 m; 3–4 m). Both are characterized by very high metal content (100 times over the background) and by the presence of abundant clastic pyrite grains. The metal association (Pb, Ba, As, Cu, Zn, Sn, Tl, Cd, Ag, Hg, Au) is typical of that of the Rio Tinto pyritic ore. The upper horizon corresponds to the modern mining activity; the lower horizon has been dated at 2530 BC (14C AMS calibrated age).

We show here that active mining occurred early (Copper Age) in the Rio Tinto area, resulting in a watershed-scale metal contamination. We also show that anthropogenic input of metals may be accumulated and immobilized during thousands of years in estuarine sediments.

M. Leblanc (corresponding author)
Hydrosciences, UMR CNRS-Université Montpellier 2, 34095, Montpellier, France

J. A. Morales and J. Borrego

GIGC, Departamiento de Geología, Universidad Huelva, 21819 Huelva, Spain

F. Elbaz-Poulichet

Hydrosciences, UMR CNRS-Université Montpellier 2, 34095, Montpellier, France

Economic Geology; May 2000; v. 95; no. 3; p. 655-662; DOI: 10.2113/95.3.655
© 2000 Society of Economic Geologists

Here is the full citation.

Mining of Massive Sulfide Deposits in Spain During the Copper and Bronze Ages has Resulted in the Pollution of the Rio Tinto River Estuary

Rio Tinto estuary (Spain) : 5000 years of pollution

Résumé / Abstract
Mining of massive sulfide deposits in southwestern Spain extending back to the Copper and Bronze Ages has resulted in the pollution of the Rio Tinto fluvial-estuarine complex, the site of Columbus' departure for the New World in 1492. Additional sources of potential pollution include the large industrial complex at Huelva near the lower portion of the estuary. Extensive analysis of surface sediment samples and cores has established that there are no geographic trends in the distribution of the pollutants, which include Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn, Ti, Ba, Cr, V and Co. These data have, however, demonstrated that tidal flux within the estuary carries phosphorus and perhaps other elements from the industrial complex at Huelva to the tidal limit of the system, several kilometers upstream from the discharge site. Radiometric analysis of short cores shows that sedimentation rates over at least the past couple of centuries have been about 0.3 cm/ year. These data and that from a single deep core demonstrate that the estuary was polluted from mining activity long before the large-scale operations began in the late nineteenth century.

Auteur(s) / Author(s)
DAVIS R. A. (1) ; WELTY A. T. (1) ; BORREGO J. (2) ; MORALES J. A. (2) ; PENDON J. G. (2) ; RYAN J. G. (1) ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) Department of Geology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave, SCA 203, Tampa, FL 33620, ETATS-UNIS

(2) Departmento de Geologia, University de Huelva, 21819 Huelva, ESPAGNE

Revue / Journal Title
Environmental geology (Environ. geol.) ISSN 0943-0105

Source / Source
2000, vol. 39, no10, pp. 1107-1116 (18 ref.)

Here is the full citation.

Toxic Metal Pollution From Medieval Mining Persists 800 Years Later

Study looks at patterns of heavy-metal contamination of a site in southern France

Scientists have tracked down the source of high levels of heavy metal pollution at a site in southern France: medieval metallurgical workshops. Sandrine Baron, Jean Carignan, and Alain Ploquin of the Center for Petrographic and Geochemical Research in Nancy, France, report that the lead, antimony, arsenic, copper, and zinc residues left behind there more than 800 years ago still pose a potential health threat (Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/es0606430). Mont-Lozère Massif, the site of medieval workshop remnants that they studied, is in the Cévennes National Park, where people fish, hunt, farm, and camp.

Heavy metals are distributed in the environment because of natural and anthropogenic mechanisms. The trick for Baron's team was to figure out to what extent each mechanism contributed. While it's not surprising that large quantities of heavy metals have staying power in soil and rocks, this study is one of the first to systematically attribute present-day pollution levels to an ancient source of man-made pollution. The study "certifies the responsibilities of the polluters and the origin of the toxicity," Baron points out.

The team examined leftover slag—the by-product of smelting ore to purify mined metals—and the background content of the metals in surrounding soil and granite. By comparing the lead-isotope ratios found in the slag to those found in rock and soil, Baron's team illustrated that binary mixing between slag and granite was the primary method of dispersion and verified that the medieval pollution contributed at least 40% of the lead found in the granite.

Studies of old metallurgical pollution allow the understanding of modern pollution because we can observe the long-term effect of heavy metals in the environment.

Here is the full article.

Double threat of Cyanide Leach Mining and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) imperils the Futaleufu River Valley - Kinross Gold & Geocom Resources responsible

Mine Tailings, Sudbury Ontario, Edward Burtnyski

Fool's Gold?

One of the world’s greatest adventure tourism destinations is being threatened by the plans of Kinross Gold Corporation, of Canada and Geocom Resources Inc. of the United States. These junior level mining concerns are intent on establishing a gold mine along the Rio Espolon, a major tributary of the Futaleufu River. Discovery work was conducted within the claim in 2006 resulting in the release of assay results in April, 2007. Along with substantially high gold deposits, some as concentrated as 20.9 grams per tonne, the assay also returned reports of a “massive” sulfide layer nearly three meters thick within the ore body. These sulfide layers are notorious for producing Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) – sulfuric acid - a potent environmental poison which is discharged from mine tailings. Furthermore, such toxic drainage can go on for centuries, long after a mine has shuttered its operation. Rather than declare the area unfit for a safe mining enterprise, Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc. have instead elevated the Espolon Claim to a “formal venture status” thus instigating a confrontation with determined and established environmental organizations(1) and adventure travel outfitters for the future of the region, as outlined below.

Geographic proximity to communities, national parks and adventure tourist destinations

The location of the future mine is an odd choice, as if the company executives were unaware of the community they planned to operate in, which in the past has been typical of many North American based mining operations. Canadian mining companies, with a wink and a nod from the Canadian Government, (2) have often shoved aside indigenous people around the world (3); the evicted and displaced populations of Guatemala being a perfect recent example (4). What these companies are allowed to do internationally they are prohibited by law from doing in their own country (5) leading the CEO of a prominent Canadian mining corporation to proclaim, "Chile is the best mining jurisdiction in the world... Canada is not a jurisdiction where I would like to develop a mine." (6) Where it is unthinkable that Canadians would be exposed to the toxins generated by these mines, Canadian mining interests like the ones proposing this project in the Futaleufu River Valley have little concern about exposing poorly represented and uninformed indigenous people to the health and environmental threats of heavy metals, sulfuric acid (battery acid), and cyanide. (7)

As for the geographic neighborhood of the mine, on the western border of the Kinross-Geocom claim lies Pumalin National Park (8), Chile’s largest and newest nature sanctuary, founded by American entrepreneur and passionate conservationist Douglas Tompkins(9). Tompkins, who made his fortune founding the Esprit and North Face apparel companies before discovering the Shangri-La of Patagonia, is vehemently opposed to the gold mine as well as the road that must be built through Pumalin Park to sustain it. (10) An "industrial thoroughfare" through and bordering the park he founded is not something he envisioned.

To the east of the mining claim lies the famously anti-mining province of Chubut, Argentina (11) whose populace recently voted down(12) a proposed gold mine, by Meridian Gold Corporation, another North American concern. The mine was to be situated seven kilometers from the city of Esquel, Argentina, which sits some 50 kilometers from the present Kinross-Geocom claim in the Futaleufu River Valley. Instead of working with the citizens of Esquel, to address points of weakness in the company's environmental impact statement (EIS), Meridian Gold instead chose to pursue their case all the way to the Argentine Supreme Court where they were summarily rebuffed. (13) It probably came as some surprise to the Meridian Gold executives, who are used to having their say in nations in which they are ostensibly guests, that the Argentine government works independently of the international extraction industry. (14 , 15) Had the same environmental challenge been raised in Chile, its authors would have been, at minimum, monitored by the Chilean National Intelligence Agency (16 , 17 , 18) before the challenge was inevitably papered-over under the pretense that Chile is not ready for the full environmental privileges, protections and regulations of a first world country(19), being only one of three countries in the Western Hemisphere without an Environmental Protection Agency. (Peru and Panama are the other two, for those keeping track.) It is sad to say that it appears the Chilean national government believes that quality of life improvements for its citizens can only be made manifest through environmental degradation, not preservation. (20)

To compound matters on the Argentine side of the claim, the Kinross-Geocom mine, once built, will abut one of Argentina’s preeminent nature reserves, Los Alerces National Park. (20) The park is world famous for harboring rare populations of ancient Alerce Trees, some over three thousand years old. The blasting in the mine, which will send heavy metals aloft, will unfavorably effect the air quality, water quality and health of Los Alerces.(22) In addition, the drainage of the Futaleufu River, one of the greatest sport fisheries in Patagonia runs directly through or is directly adjacent to the mine. Exposure to even the most diminutive amounts of cyanide, heavy metals or sulfuric acid will irreparably spoil this international angling treasure. (23.)


Finally, to the south of the mining claim lies the spectacular and awe-inspiring Futaleufu River Valley, world renowned for international adventure travel and worldclass whitewater rafting and kayaking. The Futaleufu region is fast becoming one of Patagonia, Chile’s greatest tourist destinations, gaining the same fame and stature as Torres del Paine National Park and Argentina’s Cerro FitzRoy, in recent Chilean (24) and international (25) media coverage. The Futaleufu River Valley is also a favorite vacation destination of a wide array of Hollywood celebrities and European and North American business magnates, some of whom have bought property in the valley that will be rendered worthless when the Kinross-Geocom mine begins operation. A recent well publicized outfitter's trip included:

"John McEnroe and his wife, rock singer Patty Smyth; comedian-writer Dan Aykroyd and his wife, actress Donna Dixon; and Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband, Saturday Night Live comic; Brad Hall, all with children in tow." (25)

The above mentioned trip also happened to include Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Chilean Senator, Antonio Horvath. According to the outfitters, who run adventure trips on the river, there are many other celebrities who vacation in the Futaleufu Valley, incognito, that will gladly volunteer to shed their anonymity to help publicize the plight of the Futaleufu - virtually ensuring that the fight over this river will become long and protracted.

Incongruously, this world-renowned adventure Mecca lies only a few kilometers downstream from the ill-considered Kinross-Geocom mining claim and it will bear the full brunt of the cyanide, heavy metals and acid runoff the mine is sure send down the drainage, (26) rendering the river lifeless and useless (27) to anything but the generation of hydropower – which will likely be this project's aftermath? (28)

Sulfide Contamination throughout the Strike Zone

If geographic location were not inauspicious enough for this proposal, what lies between the ore bearing lodes is the pièce de résistance of environmental foreboding and abuse. As reported in the official Geocom Resources company assay (29), of April 2007, the Espolon Mining Claim contains a “massive” sulfide layer composed of the sulfur laden compounds of pyrrhotite-pyrite and chalcopyrite. These injurious aggregates, which nature has wisely provided to safely and nearly permanently encapsulate, when exposed to an atmosphere of oxygen and water, of which the Patagonia region has no shortage, devolve to form sulfuric acid. (30) While acid is a valuable commodity (when confined to an automobile battery) to have sulfuric acid freely flowing through the environment is another matter altogether.

As far as the sport fishery is concerned it can be completely wiped out by one flood that the mine owners fail to contain. (31, 32) A small tailings dam in Romania failed with the following result:

In January 2000, the tailings impoundment dam failed, resulting in the release of 130 cubic yards (130 pick-up trucks worth) of mine waste contaminated with cyanide and heavy metals. The result was the disruption of drinking water supplies in 24 locations and for 2.5 million people and a massive fish kill in the Tisza River where up to 80% of all fish perished. In all, over 1,200 miles of the Danube River system were contaminated. (33 , 34 , 35)

If the Kinross-Geocom mine were to be developed in North America, a region with strict environmental laws, it would require the most stringent and extreme precautions, often requiring the claim owners to harvest only the highest-grade ores and avoid tailings reclamation. (36) This is something Kinross Gold Corporation has historically loathed to practice. (37) During such a mine’s lifespan, were it located in North America and not Chile, environmental regulations would require that all water be cached and filtered through a water treatment plant and that the mine be back-filled with limestone as a final precaution at the end of its productive use. All of these safeguards are expensive and significantly limit a mine’s lifespan, productivity and profitability and are no guarantees against natural disasters. However, in a country with weak environmental laws, these concerns are often dismissed so that the indigenous inhabitants might enjoy jobs at the mine to the sacrifice of their environment, communities and health. (38) Furthermore, should an employee elect to become a part owner in the mining enterprise they would find the proposition exceedingly difficult as the mine’s stock is not listed on the Chilean stock exchange, despite Chile being the company’s primary venue of business. (39)

Abundant water and epic storms mean acid mine runoff and containment difficulties.

Water is another element of concern in the extremely sodden environment of Patagonia, Chile. Anyone who has spent any significant time in this area is bound to encounter the epic rains that frequently soak this region, sometimes for weeks at a time. It is not unimaginable that one of these storms could inundate the Espolon Mine forcing a release of toxic tailings waste into the environment, as was the recent case with the Red Dog Zinc Mine in Alaska.

"As I've told you folks here in the past, we can't stop discharging unless it stops raining," Kuals said. "Until that happens we must discharge water or that dam will fill up and overtop and nobody wants that to happen."

The only recourse the Red Dog Mine owners offered was to reapply to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States to increase their discharge quota. (40)

Cyanide in the water - a necessary part of the gold mining process

The Espolon Mine will require vast amounts of toxic cyanide to extract the metal from the ore layers. Cyanide is used to process both base and precious metals and is the reagent of choice at modern mines. 85% of the world's gold is produced through the cyanide leach process. (41)Cyanide leach mining is a hallmark of the Kinross Gold Corporation which is petitioning the EPA in the United States to implement the technology at mines it owns in Alaska. (42) Cyanide spills can cause longterm problems for local communities like Futaleufu which lies directly downstream of the mine.

"Even after mining ceased in 1997, cyanide continued to leak into nearby Jordan Creek at levels harmful to aquatic life. At the Beal Mountain, Kendall, Golden Sunlight and Zortman-Landusky mines - all in Montana - numerous cyanide spills and leaks contaminated drinking water aquifers and killed streams. These weren't transient effects. Because of persistent cyanide contamination, Pegasus Gold had to provide an alternative drinking water source to the town of Zortman..." (43)

Cyanide mining has been banned in some provinces of Argentina (44) and recently in Romania. (45)



Pit Mine Blasting - Will the "daily blast" rock the Futaleufu River Valley?

In order to loosen rock material to be transported to the cyanide leach heaps, rock must first be loosened from the surface using pit blasting. These daily blasts are so large and powerful that they are often captured on seismographs designed for earth quake monitoring:

"In August 2004 a UNR group set out a line of 400 seismometers extending from Fresno, Calif. north across Nevada to Idaho. These seismometers recorded earthquakes and several large (>100,000 lb ANFO) mining blasts at huge open-pit gold mines in northern Nevada for one week. This open-pit gold mine is more than 400 m (1400 ft) deep and over 2 km (1.5 mi) wide. Blasting is done almost every weekday, since for these deposits gold production depends on crushing and processing huge volumes of ore." (46)

Because the topographic relief is so great in the Futaleufu Valley the noise created by these mega-blasts will echo through the canyons for miles. Noise pollution will not only affect the experience of international adventurers visiting the valley but may also impact animal species like the endangered Huemul which lives in a dedicated nature reserve nearby. What pit mine blasting does to people living in the vicinity is already well documented:

"Mining companies blast rocks once or twice daily and this does not only generate noise pollution but the vibration has created deep cracks in residential buildings and schools. Four schools in the Kwabibirem district, Fiaseman Sec. Sch. in Tarkwa, three basic schools at Bogoso to mention a few, are on the verge of collapsing due to deep cracks in them. Must we allow this to continue?" (47)



Take a tour of various Kinross Gold Corporation properties from around the world. For all practical purposes, this IS the future of the Futaleufu River Valley, these mines look all alike.

Exchanging the Patagonia wilderness for jewelry & jobs

The Espolon Mine will be a scar on the landscape, a sprawling industrial zone comprised of some 14 square miles (3800 hectares, 9360 acres) at latest count, if all the ore is to be mined. (48) At the end of the mine’s useful life all that will remain is a pit brimming with hazardous mine tailings covered over with a thin layer of topsoil which will need to be monitored for centuries after closure, to ensure that nothing infiltrates the water-table and watershed. (49)

In exchange for all this environment cost the mine owners promise jobs and community fringe benefits - for as long as the strike lasts. The “creation of jobs” (50) has become the cornerstone of the miner’s mantra as if the very act itself supersedes the environmental damage they intend to inflict. (51)

It is ironic that even with the sharp increase in the number of the mining companies established all over the country, unemployment in the mining areas is growing at a geometric rate and labour rights and welfare are ever deteriorating. Social inequity is further exacerbated by the fact that the indigenous people’s hopes of attaining employment in these mines have all too often proved elusive. Two reasons account for this:

1. The processes involved in surface mining offer few job opportunities for unskilled labour.

2. Where they can be absorbed, they are discriminated against.

These mining companies propose an employment quota for the affected communities as bait to gain local acceptance but consistently fail to deliver. The introduction of surface mining has been characterised by forceful ejection, displacement, relinquishing of farmlands and an outright ban on agricultural activities including farming, hunting and fishing. Believe me the legacy has been acute unemployment associated with a drastic fall in living standards. In effect, people in mining areas are pushed deeper into poverty. (52)

Using the very same logic these miners employ one could argue that the dismantling of the Pyramids of Egypt would offer local Egyptians the same perks during the destruction and the very same disadvantages after it was over (lack of tourists) – albeit without the centuries of subsequent environmental heavy metal contamination.

Gold mining produces nothing of practical value.

Finally, the most peculiar aspect of gold mining is that it produces nothing of practical value. Gold is mined almost exclusively to adorn the wrists, fingers and necks of the upper classes (53). There is no shortage of gold in the world for useful purposes. However, what the planet is fast running out of are wild and pristine places like the wilderness areas of Patagonia, Chile. (54)

In Summary - Eight Reasons to question the Espolon Gold Mine


1] The mine is located in an ecologically sensitive triangle between the Pumalin National Park in Chile, Los Alerces National Park in Argentina and the spectacular world-class tourist destination of the Futaleufu River Valley. The land already has a use as world-class international tourist destination. How can a gold mine of this magnitude exist without degrading the environment and scaring away international travelers?

2] The mine claim area contains vast amounts of Sulfide which will cause Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). This mining proposal, if approved, will be the dirtiest type of gold mine possible. The effects on the aquatic life in the Espolon and Futaleufu River Valleys will be devastating. The result will affect every fishing lodge and aquatic dependent business in the watershed, including possibly the Salmon Industry in the Golfo Corcovado sixty miles downstream.

3] The Espolon Mine will use vast quantities of toxic Cyanide in the extraction process. The cyanide will be present in tailings waste containment ponds waiting for the inevitable flood which will send toxic water down the Espolon into Futaleufu River, as was the case on the Danube River in Europe. Additionally the cyanide can leak from the containment areas and infiltrate the ground water making it unfit for human consumption for decades after closure. When this happens will Kinross Gold & Geocom Resources be around to monitor and ameliorate the environmental problems they caused?

4] The Futaleufu River Valley region is subject to vast amounts of precipitation and frequently floods. Even if Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc plan for the worst-case flood scenario, and spend accordingly to prevent it, the Espolon Mine will leak acid and heavy metals into the environment, either through necessary releases to avoid a containment dam breach or through a breach itself. Vide infra:

"In 1992 in Summitville, Colorado (USA), a containment dam that held mine waste from a gold mining operation burst. The escaped toxic waste killed all life along a 25 km stretch of a nearby river." (55)

5] Daily pit-mine blasting in the Futaleufu Valley will drive away international tourists and wildlife. If the residents of the valley are lucky there will only be one seismically recordable blast a day. However, because the Espolon claim is so large, it is possible that there will be more than one open pit, which will require more than one explosion.

6] The mine region has no infrastructure to support heavy industry. Within the region there are limited roads and a limited electricity supply. All equipment for the mine, including cyanide for the leeching process, will need to be transported through Pumalin Parque or the Futaleufu River Valley. Both of these are unacceptable from a tourism perspective.

7] The Futaleufu River Valley is fast becoming one of Chile's greatest international tourism destinations. The pure, translucent teal colored waters of the Futaleufu River make it one of the most photogenic rivers in the world. Will tourists visit an area whose streams, lakes and rivers have been compromised beyond recognition?

8] Gold is a decorative metal with very limited use outside the manufacture of adornments. Is it worth the price of destroying one of the last pristine wilderness areas on the earth to produce it? The desire for gold has been the historical driving force behind the destruction of entire civilizations in the Western Hemisphere - do we need to add the Futaleufu River Valley as well?

What is Sulfide Mining and Acid Mine Drainage?

In April of 2007 Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc. reported finding a "MASSIVE SULFIDE LAYER" in the Espolon Gold Mine claim in the Futaleufu River Valley. Here are the implications:



“Sulfide mining, like that of the Yellow Dog mining project, may create potentially irreversable environmental damage to the region and lasting health ailments to area residents,” said U.S. Congressman Stupak.



Read more articles about the Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Espolon Project here: Espolon Gold Mine

Acid Mine Drainage - Environment Impacts - How will Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Sulfide Mining effect the Futaleufu River Valley?

In April of 2007 Kinross Gold Corporation and Geocom Resources Inc published an assay of their Espolon Gold Mine claim in the Futaleufu River Valley. What they found was a "massive" sulfide layer within the ore bearing strike. (more about it here) Here are the implications:

Acid Mine Drainage

A high school freshman sits in a grass meadow where two mountain ridges slope down and join. As the young observer gazes across the landscape, he sees a scar on the neighboring ridge. At first it looks like a rockslide or scree slope, but on closer examination he sees a hole in the mountainside. It is an abandoned mine with a waste rock pile at its entrance. An orange-red liquid slowly trickles down from the mine into the forest until it reaches the headwaters of a crystal clear mountain creek teeming with small fish and insects. The volume of clear, cold water flowing overwhelms the orange-red liquid and it disappears.

Returning 8 years later as a college graduate, the observer encounters a much different scene. The meadow is now a wasteland without vegetation, and the once healthy creek is flowing red in the headwaters. The observer follows the creek downstream to see it change from red to white to turquoiseblue; no fish or insects appear for several kilometers downstream. What has happened? The answer is acid mine drainage.

Specifically, in the first visit, the high school student saw acid mine drainage from an old mine that had been worked with crude equipment, likely producing no more than a couple tons of ore a day. Acid mine drainage from this old mine was not significant enough to negatively affect the creek.

The following year, however, the mine had been reopened. The newly opened mine operated with high efficiency using modern equipment and produced from 350 to 450 tons of ore per day. Owing to the larger disturbance and production methods, the acid mine drainage from the modern mine had a significant impact on an entire watershed.

This scene actually played out in the Siskyou Mountains of southwest Oregon. The Formosa Mine initially operated between 1927 and 1933. The mine re-opened in 1990 and produced from 350 to 400 tons of copper and zinc ore per day. The ore was crushed into powder and processed using ponds to separate the metals.

Upon closure in 1994, the mining company placed the leftover crushed high-grade ore back into the mine workings and filled the former flotation ponds with the gangue or low-grade ore. The following winter, the mine workings and former ponds filled up with water from rainfall and began producing acid mine drainage (AMD) as the ore reacted with the water.

AMD from the mine flowed into the headwaters of two nearby creeks, which were habitat for threatened salmon and steelhead. Studies performed before 1990 documented an abundance of aquatic insects and fish in both creeks. After the mine closed, the creeks flowed red, white, turquoise-blue, and blue-green as the metals in the AMD precipitated out into the streambed. A total of 29 kilometers (18 miles) of stream were contaminated with metals from the AMD. Eighteen kilometers (11 miles) were found to be mostly void of aquatic insects, and fish populations were reduced by over 90 percent.

Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) and Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)

Acid rock drainage (ARD) is a natural process in which sulfuric acid is produced when sulfides in rocks—for example, pyrite (FeS2)—are exposed to air and water. This occurs along outcrops or scree slopes where sulfide-bearing rock is naturally weathered.

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is essentially the same process as ARD only greatly magnified. In general, rocks that contain valuable metals usually contain sulfides (metals combined with sulfur). The reason for this marriage (metal deposits with sulfide or sulfur) is that thermal waters are typically responsible for depositing many types of metallic ore. These thermal waters travel along fractures or small channels in the host rock. As a result, the thermal waters also change the mineralogy of the host rock along these fractures, creating bodies of rock referred to as hydrothermal alteration zones, which may be many times larger than the economically-defined ore zones or veins that fill the fracture.

Mineral Deposits

Gangue minerals are the nonvaluable minerals closely associated with the valuable ore deposits. They generally include minerals like quartz or calcite. During mining activities, the gangue material is commonly discarded as waste rock or low-grade ore in an effort to extract more valuable ore minerals found in the veins. AMD is typically associated with these types of hard rock mines across the world. Another major form of AMD is associated with coal mines in the eastern United States (and elsewhere around the world) where acid is formed by the oxidation of sulfur occurring in the coal and the rock or clay found above and below the coal seams.

When the minerals in the rock were deposited millions of years ago, they were formed at high temperatures and pressures. This makes these mineral deposits (including the gangue material) unstable under surface conditions when exposed to oxygen and water. Most sulfide minerals react with oxygen (oxidation) and water (hydration). Some sulfides, especially those containing iron and copper, generate sulfuric acid in the process. Pyrite (commonly called "fool's gold"), the most common sulfide mineral, reacts with oxygen and water to form ferrous iron and sulfuric acid in solution.

Laboratory studies have shown that exposing sulfide minerals to oxygen and water produces sulfuric acid, but scientists found that the rate of generation is so slow that it would take decades to oxidize a significant proportion of sulfide. Observations of AMD and other natural systems clearly demonstrate that acid production occurs in a short time period, from months to years. This is because some common strains of bacteria present in almost all environments increase the reaction rate by orders of magnitude.

Once the acid is formed it leaches other metals, such as copper, zinc, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, lead, and mercury, from the mineralized vein. High concentrations of these metals are dissolved by the acid and carried away in solution. As the acid solution flows away from the mine, the pH changes and affects the chemistry of the solution such that different metals begin to precipitate out of solution.

Color changes typical of creeks affected by AMD start as orange, red, or yellow-brown as the ferrous iron solution is diluted. The pH rises as the AMD mixes with the receiving stream, causing the ferrous iron to precipitate out as ferric iron. Farther downstream, the stream is white as aluminum oxide deposits along rocks and the streambed. The iron and aluminum deposits tend to form a sludge-like material, which inhibits algae, insect, and fish growth, and damages their habitat. Benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms are particularly sensitive to this type of pollution. Following the orange iron and white aluminum deposits, the streams can then take on turquoise-blue or green colors as copper and other metals begin to precipitate from solution.

Depressed food supplies, gill clogging, and smothering by iron or aluminum precipitates, along with direct toxicity from ingested metals, contribute to the significant decline of fish, insect, and benthic communities in streams polluted by metal oxides. With their food supply diminished, fish populations can be limited even when degradation is not severe enough to cause direct poisoning of individual fish.

The Problem and the Cleanup

Acid mine drainage is a global problem. In the eastern United States alone, AMD from coal mines has adversely impacted fisheries associated with over 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles) of streams in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland. The problem in the western United States is less studied, yet it has become apparent that once-pristine watersheds are suffering from the effects of AMD. Cleanup of abandoned mine sites is difficult because of their remote locations and because these problems will go on for hundreds of years until the mineralized rock is leached free of sulfides and metals.

Here is the full article.

Read more articles about the Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Espolon Project here: Espolon Gold Mine

Cyanide Heap Leaching and Acid Mine Runoff - A Futaleufu River Valley preview?

This is the story of the struggle to save the famed Blackfoot River (memorialized in A River Runs Through It) from a proposed leach mine. It documents the enduring but sad legacy of mining throughout the state of Montana--cyanide-laced groundwater, acid mine drainage, and the failures of a boom and bust economy. It speaks from the hearts and minds of men and women who are fighting to save their vanishing heritage. Private property and the right to make a short term profit face off against the rights of future generations to experience the spirit, physical beauty, and health of the wilderness.

Examples of Acid Mine Drainage - Will Kinross Gold Corporation & Geocom Resources Inc. do this to the Futaleufu River Valley?

Abandoned Mine - Kentucky



News segment on WYMT TV about Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in Letcher County,KY and the work of OSM/VISTA Evan Smith (Head of Three Rivers Project) and Kentucky Watershed Watch to bring attention to this problem and seek remediation. Produced by Amy Walker.

Little Dry Fork Mine - Kentucky



On or around March 7, 2007, an abandoned mine had a blow out and now acid mine drainage is gushing into Little Dry Fork, just west of Whitesburg, KY. The orange water, increased water flow, and the changed chemical makeup of the water has decimated aquatic life in the creek. The acid mine drainage flows into Dry Fork and then into the North Fork of the Kentucky River. The plume of cloudy orange runoff extends at least one mile downstream from the mouth of Dry Fork.

Appalshop created this piece as a collaboration with WMMT's Community Correspondents Corps (CCC) and Appalshop Films.

The Almeda Mine - Oregon



The Almeda Mine is located in Southern Oregon on the Wild & Scenic Rogue River. Despite decades of acid mine drainage discharging into the river, the BLM and DEQ have continued to drag their feet when it comes to a comprehensive cleanup of the site. The Center for Environmental Equity, a Portland-based nonprofit is leading the charge to have the mine listed as a Federal Superfund site. For more information go to nevermined.org.

Read more articles about the Kinross Gold / Geocom Resources Espolon Project here: Espolon Gold Mine