Editorial (April 03, 1989)

Unwilling to follow the example set by their base metal brothers by investing in chemical methods of treating mill effluent, some of the province’s 49 gold mines are finding themselves nose to nose with an aggressive Liberal government intent on reducing pollution of the province’s waterways.

It’s all part of a 3-year, $30-million program called MISA (Municipal-Industrial Strategy for Abatement).

Complying with the new regulations will not only prove to be costly for most mines, but will add some new headaches to an already complicated business. Mines will have to monitor effluent weekly, monthly and quarterly. Samples must be transported to a fully equipped analytical lab to be analysed for some 200 contaminants in water outflows from mines. Those transportation costs will be a significant burden for smaller, more remote operations.

The news is not all bad, however. Under the new program, which becomes law June 1, companies will not have to sample for ammonia (a known toxin common in most mine water), nor will they have to monitor or regulate seepage under tailings ponds as is done in British Columbia.

Exploration and development projects are exempt, and rightfully so. Otherwise, the added cost could shut them right down. Mines with an average of 50,000 litres of effluent or less entering the environment per day and mines that have announced decisions to close are also exempt.

The new regulations will be much more stringent than previous allowances. They will certainly be a burden on mining companies, but the industry has seen them coming for a long time. The Ontario Mining Association (OMA) has worked with the government on the issue for the past two years in order to come up with a set of regulations it feels its members can live with. The OMA has kept its members (virtually all companies with operating mines in the province) informed on the issue.

Some gold mines have been way ahead of the government on this issue. About 46% of all gold mills in Canada use some form of chemical treatment. Hemlo Gold Mines’ Golden Giant mine has invested in a new chemical treatment process which economically reduces total cyanide levels to 0.13 mg per litre in 1988. At the same time the company has reduced its operating cost by significantly reducing cyanide consumption.

Echo Bay Mines’ Lupin mine in the Northwest Territories (outside of Ontario’s jurisdiction) too, has reduced toxicity of its mill effluent by investing in chemical treatment. That program has been so successful that Hugh Wilson, the technologist responsible, gladly fishes and eats pike and trout from Contwoyto Lake where the mine’s tailings effluent is discharged.

Until all of the operators of all of Ontario’s gold mines can boast that they can do the same, the industry will be seen as being on the wrong side of this issue, despite the efforts at individual operations.

Judging by the way mining companies have cooperated with the government on this issue and seem prepared to accept the results, they are willing to do their part. It’s an added cost of doing business that mining companies know they are going to have to live with.

But, governments at all levels must also recognize that a balance needs to be struck. Environmental issues are certain to become more prevalent in the coming years, but the need to limit damage to the environment has to be weighed against the need to foster future mine development.

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