C.I.M. IN U.S.A.

Environmental concerns that U.S. mining companies are grappling with today will probably be facing Canadian miners in the future.

That prospect prompted the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy’s Toronto branch to organize a recent tour of six gold mining operations in Nevada and California to see how companies there are dealing with the issue.

The tour gave participants, including The Northern Miner, the chance to see a wide variety of western mining operations and an opportunity to hear key operations people discuss how they addressed problems that arose from different levels of regulatory compliance and public involvement.

For example, Homestake Mining Co.’s McLaughlin mine, 115 km northeast of San Francisco, Calif., falls within three different counties, all of which require different regulatory compliance.

And since one of the counties takes in the city of San Francisco, monitoring of air quality has to be as stringent, and must meet the same requirements, as those for the metropolitan area, even though the mine itself is in a relatively isolated part of the state.

The Jamestown gold mine, at Jamestown, Calif., is in a more built-up area and is surrounded on three sides by residential properties. While this suburban mine is generally well accepted by the residents because of its contribution to the county’s tax base, employment levels and local economy, it must deal with a small number of neighbors who vehemently oppose the operation.