Worker killed at British Columbia mine.

A 59-year-old worker has died in an accident at the Teck Coal operated Coal Mountain Mine near Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia, at about 2.00 am local time on Sunday 16 March 2014. The name of the deceased has not been released at this time, nor have any details of the accident, which Teck Coal are describing as a 'serious incident'. An investigation into the incident will be carried out by the British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines.

Operations at Coal Mountain. Teck Coal.

The Coal Mountain mine covers an area of 30 km², where around 2 700 000 tonnes of coal are extracted from open pits annually, principally for the steel industry. There are around 175 employees at the site, which is generally considered to have a good safety record. The mine is a mountaintop removal operation, in which sixteen coal seems forming around 8-12% of the total thickness of the Mist Mountain Formation, which is exposed in the Front Ranges of southeastern British Columbia and Southwestern Alberta, but heavily deformed by the mountain forming processes, discouraging the digging of pits to access the coal.

Section showing typical exposure of the Mist Mountain Formation at Coal Mountain. InfoMine.

The approximate location of the Coal Mountain Mine. Google Maps.

See also Two workers killed by gas at Colorado silver mine, Athabasca River polluted by mine runoff, Fatality at Wyoming coal mine, Fatality at Illinois coal mine and Worker killed at West Virginia coal mine.

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Romanians protest against Carpathian gold mine.

Thousands of Romanians have attended rallies in Bucharest and other cities against a proposed gold mine in the Carpathian Mountains. The Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources is hoping to excavate over 300 tonnes of gold and 1500 tonnes of silver from the Roșia Montană area, where gold has been mined since at least Roman times. However protestors object to the plans, which will involve the removal of four mountaintops, and the relocation of three villages.

Protestors in Bucharest on Monday 2 September 2013. Radu Sigheti/Reuters.

The mine has been planned for over a decade, but has not gone ahead to date due to concerns over the impact it may have on the local environment, communities and Roman archeological sites in the area. However the Romanian government produced a draft bill at the end of August which would grant the Canadian firm exceptional powers to circumvent environmental, heritage and property laws in the area, something the protestors claim is unconstitutional, and will lead to forced relocations and widespread environmental damage. 

Romania was economically impoverished under the Cold War regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu, but experienced exceptional economic growth during the 1990s and early 2000s, largely due to investment from the European Union. However the country was badly hit by the economic collapse of 2008, and was forced to borrow €20 billion from the International Monitory Fund, European Union, World Bank and other institutions, in return for which it was forced to agree to a set of economic measures including slashing public sector pay, selling of state assets and allowing foreign companies access to mineral resources.

The approximate location of the proposed Roșia Montană mine. Google Maps.

Mountaintop removal is a process in which the entire top of mountain ridges are removed in order to expose mineral seems, which can then be completely removed. The process has been linked to severe environmental problems, including loss of biodiversity and toxification of water resources. It has also been linked to severe health issues; communities close to mountaintop removal projects have been shown to suffer sharp increases in levels of cancer and birth defects, placing a severe strain on local healthcare providers. The process has also caused more direct disruption to communities, with homes, churches and graveyards being removed or relocated against the will of the local populations.

Environmentalists in Romania are also concerned by the proposed use of the cyanide extraction process, in which finely ground gold and silver ore (the two metals are commonly found together) is mixed with (highly toxic) sodium cyanide in setting pools. This leads to the formation of gold and silver cyanide compounds, which are then mixed out with zinc, causing the precious minerals to precipitate out in a sludge, which is then treated with concentrated sulphuric acid in order to obtain the pure metals. The process has been associated with a number of severe environmental problems, mostly relating to the spillage of toxic cyanide compounds.

See also Chilean court suspends work at the Pascua-Lama Gold Mine over entironmental concerns, Operations ceased at Padcal Mine following flooding, Protest group Appalachia Rising occupy the offices of four US Representatives, Protestors object to the expansion of the Conga Mine in Peru and Acid spill from gold mine adds to Edith River's woes.

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23 Miners still trapped after cave-in at gold and copper mine in Indonesian West Papua.

A cave in at a mine in Indonesian West Papua on Tuesday 14 May 2013 has killed five workers, with another 23 still trapped inside a tunnel. The incident happened at the Grasberg Mine, operated by Arizona-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. The Grasberg Mine is the world's largest gold mine, and third largest copper mine, employing over 19 000 workers.

Rescue Workers in a tunnel at the Grasberg Mine on 17 May 2013. PT Freeport Indonesia/AP.

The Grasberg Mine comprises an open pit mine covering 24 700 acres, and an 'exploration zone' covering a further 500 000 acres; the 14 May incident occurred in a tunnel used for training purposes. The mine has previously suffered from landslides during the monsoon season, which have been linked to over-steep sides in the main pit. The area is also prone to Earthquakes. The mine has been plagued by other problems. The facility has come under attack by the Free Papua Movement (who seek independence from Indonesia) on a number of occasions, which has provoked brutal reprisals from the Indonesian security forces, reportedly involving hundreds of deaths. The site is accused of being responsible for severe environmental problems in the region, where local rivers are described as almost devoid of fish, due to mine tailings and acid runoff entering the water system. The site has been subject to investor boycotts and has had difficulty in gaining insurance due to environmental violations. The site has also suffered several strikes due to workers complaining about low wages and lack of safety. 

The main open pit at the Grasberg Mine - described as the 'Earth's biggest hole in the ground'. West Papua Media.

Operations at the mine have ceased while rescue attempts continue. Workers are said to be holding a sit-in on a road close to the site.

See also Over 60 feared dead in Darfur gold mine collapse, Chilean court suspends work at the Pascua-Lama Gold Mine over entironmental concerns, Two Sierra Leonean artisanal miners killed by soil cave-in, Chilean miners strike after landslip kills worker and 83 feared dead after Tibetan landslip.

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Chilean court suspends work at the Pascua-Lama Gold Mine over entironmental concerns.

An Appeals Court in the Chilean city of Copiapo has ordered all work to cease at the Pascua-Lama Gold Mine, citing environmental concerns raised by the Diaguita Indigenous Community and Chile's Environmental Evaluation Service, who were concerned that waste from the mine was reaching glaciers which the community depend upon for their water. The company had previously been fined for monitor glaciers in the region. The mine straddles the border between Chile and Argentina, where environmental concerns have also been raised in a campaign co-ordinated by environmental group Greenpeace. At the time of writing mine owners, Toronto-based Barrick Gold, have obtained an injunction against enforcement of a law passed by the Argentinian Congress in 2010, which aimed to curb mining close to glaciers in order to protect the countries water supplies, and excavation work continues on the Argentinian side of the border. However the Argentinian Supreme Court has demanded a national water-resource survey mapping glaciers and peri-glacial areas, and it is unclear what the mine's long term prospects are if the company becomes involved in confrontations with authorities on both sides of the border.

The position of the Pascua-Lama Gold Mine in relation to the Chile/Argentina Border and glaciers in the area. Jeanine Lee/Monteal Gazette.

The Pascua-Lama Mine is planned to be the world's highest open-pit mine, at an altitude of 4500 m, with estimated reserves of 17.9 million ounces of gold, as well as significant amounts of silver and copper. 75% of the reserves are on the Chilean side of the border, and 25% in Argentina. Barrick have predicted that it should be a low cost mine to operate, however despite work having began in 2006 the mine is yet to produce a single ounce of gold, with current operations still concentrating on removing the overburden (layers of rock on top of the desired beds in an open-pit mine). The project originally had a projected cost of US$1.5 billion, but this has now risen to over US$8 billion after a string of setbacks. This latest problem has affected Barrick's share value badly, with the company suffering an 8.4% drop in value on Wednesday.

Gold (and other heavy metal) mines can have significant environmental impacts as the deposits are never very concentrated, requiring the removal and processing of large amounts of rock. This is typically achieved by pulverising the rock and treating it with chemicals in settling pools, which require stringent controls to prevent pollution of the local environment. Historically this has led to a temptation for companies to try to circumnavigate (or ignore) environmental regulations in less developed nations, thereby maximizing profits. That Barrick have managed to run into problems with environmental regulators in both Chile ans Argentina while still at the overburden-removal stage of the Pascua-Lama project suggests that environmental remediation costs may not have been factored into the original projections for the project, which bodes poorly for the long-term prospects of the mine.

 

Overburden-removal operations at the Pascua-Lama Mine. Reuters/Barrick Gold.

Chile is one of South America's most prosperous nations, but there is still widespread poverty and the economy is heavily dependent on the export of raw materials, i.e. mining, fishing, farming and forestry. This has led successive Chilean governments to welcome investment in these sectors, sometimes to the detriment of environmental and human-rights concerns. This has led to a rising awareness of these issues in the country, with rising public demands for better protection of the environment and better pay and protection for the workforce.

See also Chilean miners strike after landslip kills worker, 83 feared dead after Tibetan landslip, Operations ceased at Padcal Mine following flooding, Acid spill from gold mine adds to Edith River's woes and Copper spill causes pollution alert on the Edith River in the Northern Territory, Australia.

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83 feared dead after Tibetan landslip.

83 mineworkers are feared to have died after a major landslide hit a mining settlement in Tibet at about 6.00 am local time on Friday 29 March 2013 (roughly 10.00 pm on Thursday 28 March, GMT). The landslip occurred in Maizhokunggar County, about 68 km from the Tibetan capitol of Lhasa, when an area of slope 3 km long collapsed causing around 2 million cubic meters of mud and rock to overrun part of the  Jiama Copper Gold Polymetallic Mine, which produces gold, silver, copper and molybdenum.

Operations at the Jiama Mine before the landslip. Claude Arpi.

The site is located at 4600 m, making operations there difficult at the best of times. It is essentially a mountaintop-removal type mine, covering an area of 144 km². Whilst it is a mine, and therefore has a considerable amount of excavation equipment, but a lot of this has also been buried. Over a thousand rescue workers are said to be present at the site, including firefighters, medical teams, police and sniffer dog teams.

The Chinese mine industry has a poor environmental and safety record, though there have been attempts to reform this in the past few years. The Jiama Mine has had a checkered history, with complains about environmental degradation and poor safety from the local population. It was taken over by the Tibet Huatailong Mining Development Co., a subsidiary of the China National Gold Group Corporation, in 2009, when it was promised that improvements would be made to the mine's operation.

See also Major landslip on Whidbey Island, Washington State, Woman dies as house destroyed by landslip in Looe, Cornwall, At least six killed by West Java landslide, Polish miners rescued after Earthquake and Seven workers killed by mine explosion in Hunan Province, China.

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Protest group Appalachia Rising occupy the offices of four US Representatives.

On Wednesday 6 June 2012 activists from the protest Group Appalachia Rising occupied the offices of four US Representatives from states in the Appalachian Region. The group were protesting against the increased used of open-pit mining in the Appalachian Mountains, and in particular the process known as mountaintop removal, in which the entire top of mountain ridges are removed in order to expose coal seems, which can then be completely removed. The process has been linked to extreme environmental degradation, and severe health impacts on local communities.

Mountaintop removal at Oven Fork, near Whitesburg (Letcher County, Kentucky). The Mountaintop Removal Road Show.

The representatives affected were Congressman John Duncan (Republican), representing Tennessee's 2nd District, Congressman Nick Rahall (Democrat), representing the 3rd District of West Virginia, Congressman Hal Rogers (Republican), representing Kentucky's 5th District, and Congressman Morgan Griffith (Republican), representing Virginia's 9th District. Each was targeted by a group from their own state. A total of 22 activists were arrested in Washington, two in Representative Duncan's office, six in Representative Griffith's office, seven in Representative Rogers' office and seven in Representative Rahall's Office. All four Congressmen have been accused of having a poor record on environmental issues, and of supporting the interests of extraction companies over those of their constituents.

Protesters from Kentucky inside the office of Representative Hal Rogers. Appalachia Rising.

The protests come a week after Memorial Day protests in which Appalachian women shaved their heads in morning for mountains which have been removed, and protests on the first of this month in which members of the Earth Quaker Action Team and the Sierra Club organized mass withdrawals from the PNC Bank in protest at its investment in mountaintop removal projects.

Mountaintop removal has been linked to severe environmental problems, including loss of biodiversity and toxification of water resources. It has also been linked to severe health issues; communities close to mountaintop removal projects have been shown to suffer sharp increases in levels of cancer and birth defects, placing a severe strain on local healthcare providers. The process has also caused more direct disruption to communities, with homes, churches and graveyards being removed or relocated against the will of the local populations.

See also Daw Mill Colliery threatened with closure, The effects of oil sands mining on wetlands in northern Alberta, Greenpeace activists occupy drilling ship in New Zealand, Protestors object to the expansion of the Conga Mine in Peru and Acid spill from gold mine adds to Edith River's woes.

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