MINING IN THE FOREST

	- Key Lake Mine; Photo by Branimir Gjetvaj

Mining is an industry that produces materials that people use in their everyday lives. While we must recognize the need for some mining, we also cannot underestimate the ecological impacts of it. It is important to do as much as possible to lessen these impacts.

A major issue in maintaining ecological integrity in the boreal forest, and in creating a network of protected areas, is the current system for mineral exploration, claim staking, and mine development. Most of the forest is protected for mining. While mine sites themselves are relatively small and isolated (0.1% of the forest), the total amount of land devoted to the mineral industry in the forest is very large. Ninety-five percent of the forest is open to exploration and claim staking with five percent of that amount, currently under mineral leases. All of these lands are deemed 'unavailable for protection' unless the industry agrees to remove the Crown's mineral reserves. Provincial policy gives precedence to mineral development over environmental protection and typically, only those lands with very low mineral potential are considered for protection.

If we are to adequately protect the boreal forest to the standards the public deems suitable, there needs to be more discussion of the major impact of mining on the forest, and how it can best be balanced with wilderness protection.

Mineral exploration, claim staking and mine developments all impact ecosystems.

Impacts of mineral exploration and claim staking include:

• creation of roads and trails,
• construction of temporary work camps,
• clearing of helicopter landing pads and bush airstrips,
• clearcutting seismic lines,
• seismic blasting,
• test pits,
• drilling boreholes,
• trenching in both soil and rock,
• soil removal, often with high pressure water, and
• accumulations of drill cores which may be contaminated with heavy metals.

Impacts from mine sites include:

• road development,
• power lines,
• waste rock accumulations,
• toxic tailings ponds,
• acid mine drainage,
• radioactivity,
• hazardous scrap materials,
• toxic chemicals.
• abandoned mine sites

Mineral Development Costs and Benefits

About 8% of the provincial economy is mining. This comes at a price to society that is never fully accounted for. Aside from issues of ongoing public responsibility for abandoned mines and tailings, there are significant subsidies, which include road construction, tax credits and rebates, royalty incentives, provision of expensive geological information, and research and development funding. These public investments are never accounted for in the claims of how our economy is bolstered by this industry. Nor do they account for environmental and other social impacts from loss of wildlife habitat to contamination of land, lakes and rivers, to the loss of opportunity for other uses so that a majority of our lands can be always available for this industry.

CPAWS Solutions:

If we are to have an enduring boreal forest that supports a variety of environmental, societal and economic needs, there needs to be an overhaul of the mineral industry. We offer the following solutions:

Ensure the environment is safe from mineral development

• About half of the boreal should be protected to help ensure ongoing ecological processes
• the province's protected areas system should be completed such that full representation of different ecosystems are included in a network of connected wilderness landscapes
• abandoned mine sites should be cleaned up with industry money
  

End the centuries-old "open access" claim staking privilege. instead of affording 95% of the boreal for mining and only 5% for environmental and wildlife needs, use modern principles that are similar to how all other resources are allocated. For example:

• timber: companies must identify and lease specific parcels
• water: hydro-electric projects are subject to EIA like Churchill River Study
• wildlife: licences are based on inventory and need
• fish: licencing is based on lake and species allocations
  

Implement modern methods of resource allocation for minerals

• sell or auction rights as is done for oil and gas in southern Saskatchewan
• ensure mineral development occurs within the constraints of a land use plan
• require applications and public review of claim staking to resolve issues
• ensure environmental conditions apply to all activities
  

Ensure full-cost accounting of mineral development

• public costs for road access
• public costs for power lines
• minimize public tax rebates, royalty holidays and subsidies
  

Assess mineral development on the basis of need and impacts, not just profits

• are there less sensitive places for mineral development than the boreal forest?
• are there other sources of minerals available, through avenues such as recycling?

LEARN MORE:

Forest Threats & Solutions The impacts of human developments in the forest.

Mining: Quick Facts Learn more about mining in Saskatchewan and it's ecological impacts.