The Payette National Forest continues to move forward with the permitting of the Stibnite Gold mine project. This proposed cyanide vat leach open-pit mine is located in the headwaters of the East Fork South Fork Salmon River. ICL has been encouraging Midas Gold and the Forest Service to develop a new alternative that revises the mine plan and reduces the area of new disturbance.
A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) disclosing the expected environmental effects will be released in May 2019 for public comment.
Why This River Is Special
The proposed mine has led many organizations, including ICL, to highlight the incredible values of the East Fork South Fork Salmon River and the South Fork Salmon River downstream of the project.
This watershed contains the most important remaining habitat for summer Chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin and provides world-class whitewater for river runners.
How Well Has Past Mining Protected the Rivers?
Many are concerned because mining doesn’t exactly have the best track record on protecting water quality or fisheries. Previous mining companies at the Stibnite site have been unable to manage arsenic problems and have left behind a polluted landscape and left taxpayers on the hook for cleanup costs despite promises otherwise.
In addition to the direct negative effects of burying streams under tailings or waste rock piles, heavy metals mobilized from mining activities can enter surface or groundwater and contaminate water supplies, killing or substantially impairing fisheries far downstream.
So when a brand new mining company comes along making the same promises that previous mining companies were unable to meet, many folks are justifiably skeptical.
Midas Gold Says They’re Doing Things Differently
Midas Gold, the Canadian mining company developing the mine, is promoting the project as a "Plan of Restoration and Operations" instead of the usual "Plan of Operations" that mining companies submit.
The company’s restoration pitch has earned statewide and national attention for potentially raising the bar on mining operations.
To give credit where credit is due, Midas Gold has legitimately raised the bar to date by reducing impacts of their exploration efforts and worked collaboratively on mitigation measures for these impacts. Midas Gold has also invested in pioneering studies of how mining operations can minimize light pollution. Their staff has been actively engaged in any number of community-related programs and have participated in good faith in efforts that ICL has also been involved in.
True Restoration or Just Better Reclamation?
While the project is being promoted as a restoration project with a mining component, the current plan is really a large-scale industrial mining project with some improved reclamation – and some restoration components – on the margins. The problem with calling this a restoration project is that over half of this disturbance would be in pristine areas. The first rule of responsible development is to avoid sensitive areas, then minimize impacts, and finally to mitigate remaining issues. The current mine plan skips much of that first step and converts 1,991 acres into an industrial site with open pits, mills, tailings and waste rock facilities (for size comparison, the entire lift-accessible terrain on McCall’s Brundage Mountain is 1,920 acres). If the mine tailings facility were transposed into downtown Boise, the tallest buildings would be completely buried.
ICL supports some of the true restoration components such as stabilizing erosion from Blowout Creek, but we are concerned that this restored creek would then flow into a newly created open pit that would not be backfilled. The current plan has many other examples of positive restoration that could be negated by permanent large-scale negative impacts from the current mine layout.
What’s Next?
The DEIS will provide estimates of the risks and benefits, and should also evaluate options to decrease the risks. Until we know the details on the predicted environmental impacts, here are three things you can do:
- Stay in the loop – Sign up for the latest updates from the U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho Conservation League.
- Educate yourself – The city of McCall has created a great tool for citizens interested in learning about the potential effects of the project. This portal includes a link to the Stibnite Lecture Series featuring speakers from multiple perspectives and allows you to listen to each of the topics. (ICL’s John Robison was a speaker at the environmental program).
- Elevate the discussion – Encourage anyone engaged in the project to heed the lessons from previous mining projects, ask “what if” questions, and keep the long-term health of the watershed and our community in mind. Contact us if you would like a presentation on past mining impacts and our recommendations on responsible mine development.