Williams Lake Tribune - First Nations get the short end of the stick

URL:  http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribu...

Great letter by Ashton Cooper of Tl’etinqox to Walt Cobb, asking Cobb to quit blaming the Chilcotin people for Prosperity Mine's demise. Good reading and great letter Ashton!

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/igru

Prosperity Mine Recent News and Notes

I thought I would run through some recent news on the Prosperity Mine just to keep myself and all of you updated. I've picked out some things I hope you find interesting.


Globe and Mail Says YES Side Manipulated Mine Poll


The Globe sponsored a web poll back in October to measure public opinion on Taseko Mines' Prosperity Mine project. I followed the poll at the time and wrote encouraging the NO side to vote. Well it turns out that some NO side keeners (the First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining) were actually watching the poll results as they came. Turns out the YES side managed to rack up the majority of its votes in the last few hours before the poll closed, some 3000 votes in that short time.

That was enough to create a  54% lead in the opinion poll. How did they do it?

According to Globe Communities Editor Jennifer MacMillan this sort of thing isn't uncommon. While the Globe's polling system doesn't allow you to vote more than once, enthusiastic voters can simply press the "delete cookies" button on their web browser and they system thinks they are new to town. In this way, multiple voting is easy to accomplish.

Vote YES, delete cookies. Rinse and repeat!

I suppose, to be fair, the NO side could have done the same thing, but there is nothing to indicate that happened. The Globe stresses that "the polls at globeandmail.com are meant to be entertaining for readers, rather than scientific".

Fair warning!

Sequester This!

China tries to blackmail Europe to keep paying for fake offsets. Sometimes I really wonder how any person or country can be so short-sighted and ignorant. This article is about China gaming the Clean Development Mechanism to reap huge profits with no work done. Scammers!

Amplify’d from www.ens-newswire.com

"The insistence that developed countries must continue to squander billions on fake offsets that actually increase production of greenhouse gases is irrational," said Fionnuala Walravens, with Environmental Investigation Agency. "China is not the victim here," she said, "and it's unlikely that a world order that is responsive to climate change can be predicated on the basis of unrepentant greed." Read more at www.ens-newswire.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/i4qg

Relationship between Taseko and First Nations crumbling

URL:  http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_cont...

This is interesting: BIVInteractive.com reports that the Feds turned down Taseko Mines' Prosperity Mine project because then-minister Prentice was in bed with "aboriginals"



BIV writes that Prentice was previously minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, a position which produced “close relationship with many aboriginal communities and leaders."



Ouch.



Imagine, a federal minister and CONSERVATIVE no less turning down a mine proposal because he likes aboriginal people. Where is WikiLeaks when you need it?!



It's a conspiracy.

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/i1lb

Relationship between Taseko and First Nations crumbling

URL:  http://www.bivinteractive.com/index.php?option=com_cont...

"Relations between Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO) and B.C. First Nations hit rock bottom this year"... REALLY? no kidding. Who'da thunk?

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/i1ko

Williams Lake Tribune - Alphonse: Canada’s UN endorsement ‘long overdue’

URL:  http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribu...

Joe Alphonse says Canada's endorsement of UN Rights of Indigenous Peoples legislation is hopeful http://goo.gl/cV8bd

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/i1kg

Taseko's Prosperity Mine in the News Again

Taseko Mines' Prosperity Mine project is in the news again.

The 100 Mile Free Press reports that Donna Barnett, MLA for South Cariboo has travelled to Ottawa to speak to Federal ministers on behalf of Taseko Mines. The goal was to find out what went wrong with the Prosperity Mine proposal as submitted. 

Barnett was quoted as saying that “We want to know whether there has to be a brand new proposal or if there can be amendments to the existing proposal, and that’s the big one. Taseko, in its public statement, said it was willing to look at things and make changes.”

Squidoo Lens Earns $ for EarthJustice

I thought i would share this bit of fund-raising... it is after all just a BIT of fund-raising.

I have a Prosperity Mine Squidoo Lens that I started more than a year ago. Squidoo is a "Web 2.0" site, sort of a high-ranking site that lets you set up good-looking pages about anything you want. The site is called a "lens" and your lens comes with a high ranking in search engines because Squidoo.com itself is very highly ranked.  Search engine spiders crawl the site once a day at least so updates are quickly picked up and placed on Google, Bing or Yahoo.

All lenses automatically have context sensitive advertising. So my lens about Taseko Mines always has little ads on the side relating to mining products, stocks and businesses. When you create a lens you get to choose what to do with the income from advertising. In the case of my Prosperity Mine lens I chose to contribute all the revenue to EarthJustice.

Here is a snapshot of recent advertising income:

Squidoo Lens Monthly Earnings 

Alright alright, it's pennies, I just thought it was interesting that it was anything at all! You have to be up in the 1000 views per month to really see income. This squidoo lens gets about 10 visits per day from different sources. It provides a backlink to this blog and is part of the reason that this blog is ranked so high in Google for phrases like "Prosperity Mine Taseko".

Interested in promoting your cause? making sure your message and website are getting the attention they deserve? Contact me here and I will be happy to give you tips and resources.

Thanks for reading!

Keeping Watch: Prosperity Mine: Feds May Have Leaked Taseko Prosperity Mine Decision

URL:  http://prosperity-mine-vs-fish-lake.blogspot.com/2010/1...

Massive sell off of Taseko Mine shares (TKO) two weeks before federal announcement likely means someone in federal government leaked the news so that a few lucky investors wouldn't lose everything.

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/gh2w

Feds May Have Leaked Taseko Prosperity Mine Decision

Very interesting news out of Ottawa that the Feds may have leaked news of their Prosperity Mine decision about two weeks before the final decision was released.

There is it in mid-October:

Someone saved themselves a spot of cash, not doubt about it!  The thing is, it's easy for regulators to figure out who sold the stocks and started the sell-off, so can't they catch them?

That is the problem with mining: it's a short term game for the financiers, a medium term game for the mining company, and a long term time bomb for the environment.

Taseko Mines says it doesn't know how such a thing could happen. The federal government has tried sidestepping the issue but it's looking pretty stupid in the process. 

Time for an investigation!

RabbleInterview With Chief Marilyn Baptiste

This is a good interview of Xeni Gwet'in Chief Marilyn Baptiste about the Taseko Mines Prosperity Mine project post-Federal decision to nix the mine.

You can get the original here at Rabble.ca. Chief Baptiste is talking about their trip to Vancouver for their land claim appeal in Vancouver on Monday November 22, 2010.

(I tried to post the audio directly here but it didn't work, so you will have to go to Rabble.ca to hear it)

Map of Prosperity MIne location

The map below shows the location of Fish Lake (Teztan Biny in Tsilhqot'in) and the ore deposit. The deposit is under the pattern of trails you can see just to the northwest of the lake.


View Fish Lake on Google Maps in a larger map


Click on the lake and it will open in Google Maps, or use the zoom and pan arrows to look around. Just to the west of here is the First Nations community of Xeni Gwet'in (pronounced "hunny guteen" more or less). The mountains to the west are the Coast Range, and you'll see how close to the end of Bute Inlet via the Hamathko River.


Amazing country. I planted trees in Bute Inlet several years in a row back in the 1980's.

Taseko Mines Sincere About New Mine Proposal?

It is very interesting that Taseko Mines is pondering a new mining proposal for Fish Lake.

After more than a decade of stating categorically (as recently as a week ago on a CBC phone in show) that the only option for their Fish Lake or Prosperity Mine, Taseko Mines has stated that it will look at other options.

I understand this from one point of view, they (or their investors) have spent about 100 million dollars to get this far. There's a lot of pissed off investors out there, and knowing the mining promotion industry this can't feel good to all the joes who sweat it out broadcasting "buy" alerts to their clients.

Ever do a search for "Taseko Mines"? What you get is a whole lot of investment advice (sales advice). Try it, it's amazing just how extensive the results are. Buried in there are other things like news and information, but the vast majority is about selling shares.

Most Taseko Mines search results are from stock promoters

How Sincere Is Taseko Mines?
So just how sincere is Taseko Mines in re-vamping their mine proposal?

My guess is that they want to a) shore up their stock price, and b)sell more shares so they can make share prices climb again. In my last post about Taseko Mines stock plummeting we saw that their stock price has gone all over the map in the last five years.

After all, Taseko has been completely steadfast in their assertion that there was only one way to develop this mine:

Throughout the more than 15 years that this project has been undergoing an environmental assessment, significant First Nations and public interest in preserving Fish Lake has been expressed. Notwithstanding the inherent difficulties of trying to preserve a lake in the midst/immediately adjacent to a plant site/ concentrator and open pit, Taseko has left no stone unturned in trying to find a way to preserve Fish Lake and develop the Project. …

It is not possible to preserve Fish Lake as a viable and functioning ecosystem while at the same time maximizing the full potential of the defined resource. From a mine planning perspective, in order to meet the objective of maximizing the full potential of the mineral resource at Prosperity, mine planners and decisions makers need to contemplate and prepare for the development of a pit that infringes on Fish Lake. (from West Coast Environmental Law website who got it from the Federal Review Panel report.)

So they have left no stone unturned (that's a geologists joke, by the way) in trying to avoid destroying the lake, but they missed one? Sounds like they are putting on their stock promoter's hat.

Marilyn Baptiste, chief of the Xeni Gwet'in band near the proposed mine, stated on a CBC open line show that they would not just jump on board if the lake were not to be destroyed, which is sensible. Who knows what the ramifications would be of another version of the mine.

Could they go underground? avoid open pit altogether? With gold over C$1300  per ounce you'd think that would be a possibility. A lot less tailings to generate acid mine drainage, too.

Here are the latest gold prices from Goldprice.org:

Taseko Mines Stock Price Plummets

Well I have to feel a bit sorry for the shareholders of Taseko Mines after seeing this:

That says it all, doesn't it? I thought this looked pretty bad, but notice it's just this week.

Here is a five year stock chart for Taseko:

Doesn't look so bad really. They've been up and down before.  The discussion now from the business community is around BC not being mining friendly.  My thought is that this is a good message to the mining industry and business in general 

• the land has value all on its own and a mine doesn't necessarily mean a positive return to society, and
• First Nations people count, their opinions and their values count.

Interesting, too, that the Mount Milligan mine has gotten the OK from the federal government. To me that is balance. They say the Mt Milligan mine is designed to minimize damage to the environment, whereas the Prosperity Mine never was. 

Ecological Economics

There has been some good articles on Ecological Economics lately. Ecological Economics isn't just a fancy new term, it's placing a value on the environment to compare with something like a Prosperity Mine. And what it tells us is that an area the size of the Prosperity project does not outweigh the value of a mine, especially when you add in the massive risk of things like acid mine drainage leaking from the lake-cum-tailings pond. 

It is a very human-centered way of looking at the world, but it tells us that the environment provides us with services like clean air, fish, grizzly bears, clean filtered water and so on, and a value can be placed on all of this. 

To my way of thinking, mining companies need to come to grips with this way of thinking. Ensuring a mine's value outweighs (or possibly even improves...) the value of all the services provided for free should be their starting point. Telling society that the mine must be developed or we'll all suffer is old school and blackmail. 

Try Listening Next Time

I like this quote from Marilyn Baptiste on Reuters:

"We hope today's decision will demonstrate the need to find a way forward for industry and governments to work with First Nations from the outset to identify and develop projects that are environmentally and culturally acceptable," said chief Marilyn Baptiste of the Xeni Gwet'in First Nation, in a statement.

Good on her.

Feds Turn Down Taseko's Prosperity Mine!

I couldn't believe my ears this afternoon when I heard on CBC radio that the Federal Environment Minister had turned down Taseko Mines' Prosperity Mine proposal!

Congratulations especially to everyone at the Tsilhqot'in National Government and Xeni Gw'etin Band who worked so hard to fight this mine proposal.  

Fish Lake Survey on Globe and Mail

Click the Blue Link and Take The Survey!

Globe and Mail Survey on Fish Lake

Save Fish Lake

Ivona Vujica slams Taseko's proposed Prosperity mine

Canadian Federal Review Panel Prosperity Gold Copper Mine Project Day4.mpg

"The Value of a Lake" by CBC's The Current

The Current broadcast a story on the Prosperity Mine issue this morning. They tried to portray both sides and did a fair job, I think.

I was interested to hear from the wildlife biologists regarding grizzly and other species, and also the discussion about how to place a value on a lake.

You can listen to the broadcast by downloading the MP3 here:  CBC: The Value of a Lake or you can just click the link and it will play in your browser.

They did the story as a Williams Lake Community vs. the natives in the hinterlands... I guess that is the way Taseko has played it the whole time anyway. Taseko representatives spoke up about how they really just want to make life better for First Nations people... hmmmm. Really?

My Views on Mining and the Prosperity Mine

What I Would Say to the Federal Panel


We Need Mines
We need mines. We need mines because we need stuff like cars and food and pipes to deliver our water and fuel. I have a car and a cell phone and a house, so I understand all that.

Mines are needed to get the metals and other chemicals from the ground that we need to manufacture stuff. Of this there really is no doubt.

We Don't Need Mines Anywhere and Everywhere
We just don't need mines everywhere there is a concentration metal and chemicals in the ground. In fact, we CAN'T have them everywhere. We can't have them where they would poison my drinking water, nor where they would destroy my house or my children's school.

Mines need to built: 

• where there is both a concentration of metals and chemicals in the ground that makes them financially viable, and
• where they do not impose too great a cost on the people who live close to them and on the environment.

That is the test for any mine, and that is the test for Taseko Mines' proposed Prosperity Mine.

So how do you measure "too great a cost" to people? or the environment?

You Wouldn't Want it in Your Backyard

I live in One Hundred Mile House, British Columbia, and there are lots of pretty lakes here, filled with lots of fish and with backdrops of hills and mountains as pretty as you'll find anywhere. But no one who lives near 108 Mile, or 103 Mile, or Horse Lake, Sheridan Lake or Green Lake would put their lake forward as a tailings pond, or offer their beautiful lakefront property up for blasting.

Of course, our houses are collectively worth billions of dollars, and, hey, we built this country, didn't we?

So Whose Land Is It Anyway?

The people who live close to the proposed mine are, for the most part, Aboriginal people, or First Nations people. They are the original inhabitants of this land, a collection of Nations that existed long before Europeans and Asians came here and declared it to be their country.

The people that call themselves Xeni Gwet'in (pronounced Honey Geteen, more or less) have lived where they do for thousands and thousands of years. That's thousands, people, not hundreds. As in, before Christ, before the Han Dynasty, and before Moses divided the Red Sea.

If you came here from England or China or South Africa last year or decade and now call Canada home, I think we can safely say that this place is, in relative terms, not so much yours home as it is theirs.

Who Cares Whose Home It Is?

Why does it matter whose home it is? For the same reason it matters that you wouldn't accept a mine near your home, nor allow your lake to be used as a giant toxic waste dump (I mean tailings pond).

The people of the Xeni Gwet'in have been heard from but not listened to in this debate over Taseko Mines' proposed Prosperity Mine.

The Provincial Government Hasn't Listened

The provincial government rubber stamped this mine proposal without so much as a second look. I am shocked to see that a government that espouses new relationships with First Peoples could kow tow to mining with such alacrity... by which I mean they did it quick-like without so much as a glance at where they were signing.

Taseko Mines Hasn't Listened

Taseko Mines has stuck with one proposal this entire time. It has not entertained any other style of tailings facilities other than emptying, digging up and then filling in a beautiful place that doesn't belong to them. 

Taseko Mines has not listened to the Aboriginal People who would have to live with the results of their mine, not shown any respect for those who have always lived, fished, hunted and died on that land.

Taseko Mines' public relations machine has made the Xeni Gwet'in out to be a backwards and hypocritical people whose opinions don't count. Sound familiar? It is the same argument the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia has used since Confederation to make sure Aboriginal People do not have land or treaty rights.

It also sounds familiar to centuries of Aboriginal People who have endured both the claiming of their lands by Europeans and other newcomers, and the intended and unintended genocide of their people by successive Canadian governments.

Genocide? Never In Canada You Say?

Yes, Genocide by the definition established by the United Nations following the Second World War... a war Aboriginal People contributed to far beyond their proportion in the population, by the way.

The effects of this genocide are still evident today, after all it's been less than forty years since we stopped stealing babies from their families and making them go to residential schools where they were starved and beaten and forbidden from speaking their language or expressing their beliefs.

Why Does the Past Matter With Regards to the Prosperity Mine?

This history stuff matters today because we as British Columbians and Canadians have a choice. We can decide whether it is OK to go on not listening to First Nations people like the Xeni Gwet'in, or whether we should figure out that it isn't alright to steamroll them one more time.

If it wasn't alright to take away language and traditional ceremonies and beliefs then, it isn't alright to create this destruction today.

If it wasn't alright to believe that "our" values of hard work and entrepreneurship are superior to "their" lesser set of values then, well then it isn't alright today either. 

This is exactly the argument that Taseko Mines has gladly fomented in the press and around the water cooler in places like Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and Vancouver. It's the same old "Indians are Lazy" argument you can read about in newspapers from the 19th Century. 

The Williams Lake Tribune and writers like Tom Fletcher have been a key rallying point for this sort of explicit and implicit racism. 

I have never once heard Taseko Mines step up to plate to say tell folks to quit making this an issue about race. Presumably it works in their favor. That tells me that they'll simply do what it takes, in public and through whatever back channels they can find, to make sure they make their millions on this mine.

They don't care 'cuz they don't live there.

Folks, we either still do this in Canada or we don't. You decide.

Taseko Mines Ltd | Go Green

Taseko Mines Ltd | Go Green: "Taseko Mines Ltd
Jan
25
Anglers: unite on destruction of fishing lakes in BC
January 25th, 2010
Last July I wrote a post about the struggle the First Nations were having trying to save their lake, Tzenzaicut Lake also known as Fish Lake (situated about 125 km southwest of Williams Lake, BC) from being “used” as a dumping ground for the Prosperity Mine, a gold and copper open pit mine.� As I [...]
Continue reading about Anglers: unite on destruction of fishing lakes in BC"

Prosperity mine expected to add $4.5 billion to B.C.’s GDP

Prosperity mine expected to add $4.5 billion to B.C.’s GDP

BY GORDON HAMILTON, VANCOUVER SUNJUNE 1, 2009

Taseko Mines Ltd. is countering environmental opposition to its proposed Prosperity mine southwest of Williams Lake with its own economic data claiming the mine will have a $4.5-billion impact on British Columbia’s gross domestic product over its 23-year life.

But to develop the mine, Taseko proposes turning a popular fishing lake, rainbow trout-rich Fish Lake, into a tailings pond, drawing stiff opposition from the Tsilhqot’in first nation and various environmental groups.

The economic argument is winning support in Williams Lake, 125 kilometres from the site, where the city council has made development of the mine its top priority.

But Bernie Elkins, of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, said the impact on the land outweighs the economic impact.

“We are not on-side with killing the lake,” he said, noting it is used by first nations and is popular with fishing enthusiasts. He also said the Tsilhqot’in remain unconvinced the mine will not leach toxins into the Taseko, Chilcotin and ultimately the Fraser rivers.

Comments harshly criticize environmental report on mining plan in Azusa - SGVTribune.com

Comments harshly criticize environmental report on mining plan in Azusa - SGVTribune.com: "Comments harshly criticize environmental report on mining plan in Azusa

By Daniel Tedford, Staff Writer
Posted:�02/21/2010 12:13:42 AM PST"

New Gold Mine Could Devastate Natural Paradise | AIDA Americas

New Gold Mine Could Devastate Natural Paradise | AIDA Americas: "Photo: Acid mine drainage at US mine | Credit: Earthworks
“Paredones Amarillos” is a proposed gold mine that would be located in the Sierra la Laguna Biosphere, a pristine area recognized by the Mexican government and the United Nations for its rich biodiversity. If mining proceeds in this biosphere reserve, this natural paradise could become home to a toxic waste site.

To extract gold from the Sierra la Laguna mountains, the Canadian company, Vista Gold, proposes to carve out huge quantities of rock – each ton contains a mere gram of gold – and grind it into a sludge. Next, it will treat the sludge with cyanide, an extremely dangerous chemical. The process dissolves the gold into a liquid so it can be collected; it also produces massive amounts of toxic waste from the left-over cyanide-treated ore.

The company plans to contain this waste ore (called “tailings”) in a dam intended to store the toxic slurry forever. Unfortunately, these dams can break for various reasons, as happened at the Porco mine in Bolivia in 1996."

Legalbrief - Legal action may follow acid mine drainage

Legalbrief - Legal action may follow acid mine drainage: "��
Legal action may follow acid mine drainage
A report in today's issue of Legalbrief Environmental notes that heavy rainfall in the past few weeks has caused acid mine drainage to 'thunder' into the Witwatersrand Western Basin, causing it to spill over, carrying radioactive waste into the Tweelopiespruit and the Crocodile River system, which flows into the already polluted Hartbeespoort Dam, according to water activist Dr Anthony Turton."

The Latest News on Acid Mine Drainage

Google Blogs Alert for: "acid mine drainage"

Earthlife Africa Jhb | Test for new amd By Rachel However, clean-up plans must not be restricted to areas with radioactive material, but also include other areas affected by heavy metal pollution from acid mine drainage. If the plans are to be effective, mining companies will have to ... Earthlife Africa Jhb - http://www.earthlife.org.za/

Pennsylvania To Reduce Consumers Energy Costs By $46 Million Per ... By admin Loyalhanna Watershed Association Inc. — $128266 for a microhydro turbine and generator to power an acid mine drainage treatment system and lighting at the Latrobe wastewater treatment plant. It will enable a pilot treatment plant to ... Gov Monitor - http://thegovmonitor.com/

Get The Dirt Out Tuscaloosa: EPA petition could mean tighter rules By Get The Dirt Out Tuscaloosa "Every mine discharge in the watershed today has bacteria that's associated with acid mine drainage," Wathen said. "That is a violation of the law. "Our rights have not been observed." ... Get The Dirt Out Tuscaloosa - http://mudbuster.blogspot.com/

Green-friendly hydro scheme gets green light | Otago Daily Times ... They added that it would stop a large volume of acid mine drainage from entering the Ngakawau River which should improve water quality, while using that contaminated water to generate "a much needed local supply of electricity". ... Otago Daily Times: - http://www.odt.co.nz/news

Pacific Free Press publishes my article!

Pacific Free Press published an article I wrote about the Stratus report:  Fighting for Fish Lake: Project Enviro. Assessment Questioned

Thanks Chris at PFP!

Dead willows along Silverbow Creek are surrounded by acid producing metal-laden mine tailings deposited by the 1908 flood. 
 from http://www.earthscienceworld.org/images/search/results.html?Keyword=Acid%20Mine%20Drainage#null

Excellent Article on Acid Mine Drainage and Alternatives to Tailings Ponds

Safe Haven | Contaminated Mining Environments: It's Better To Be Green

November 29, 2009

Contaminated Mining Environments: It's Better To Be Green
by Richard Mills

Richard Mills writes an excellent backgrounder on Acid Mine Drainage, its effects on the environment, and means of dealing with waste rock that avoids or greatly lessens the risk of releasing toxins into the environment.

Mills concludes with these words:

I'm not against mining. In fact, I'm very much in favor of resource extraction. Mining, fishing and logging all provide quality high paying jobs and these industries are some of only a handful that create new money, bringing prosperity and security to communities. But we inhabit this earth and call it our home. Clean water, breathable air and a land free of contamination have to be the legacy we leave our children.

I agree with this, mines need to be, but they don't belong anywhere there happens to be ore.

Fighting for Fish Lake: Project Enviro. Assessment Questioned

Pacific Free Press published an article I wrote:

Fighting for Fish Lake: Project Enviro. Assessment Questioned

Pacific Free Press is an excellent web site, and not just because the published the article. They take an activist approach and aren't afraid to take on tough issues!

Even More on Acid Mine Drainage

Here are some snippets of information on Acid Mine Drainage and what lies ahead for Taseko Mines' Prosperity Mine:

Soils and spoils exposed to acid mine drainage do not support vegetation and are susceptible to erosion. When acid mine drainage enters natural waterways, changes in pH and the formation of voluminous precipitates of metal hydroxides can devastate fish populations and other aquatic life.  There may be as many as 500,000 inactive or abandoned mines in the United States, with mine drainage severely impacting approximately 19,300 km of streams and more than 72,000 ha of lakes and reservoirs (2-3, ). Once initiated, mine drainage may persist for decades... solve.http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a740169972

Acid mine drainage has already polluted more than 12,000 miles of rivers and streams and over 180,000 acres of lakes and impoundments in the United States. According to the U.S. EPA, acid mine drainage from coal mining is the leading source of water pollution in the Mid-Atlantic States. Acid Mine Drainage from metal mines in Western states has caused some of the country's largest and most contaminated Superfund sites. Mining companies argue that modern mining methods can protect against Acid Mine Drainage, but they cannot point to a single mine that is more than a few years old that has not resulted in contamination. Because Acid Mine Drainage often takes several years to develop, recent mines that have not yet contaminated nearby waters do not provide proof that these ores can be mined safely. http://www.sosbluewaters.org/ 

Acid Mine Drainage Pictures 

http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/kirby/AMD.html

Prosperity a Foregone Conclusion?

 You'd Think So From Their Press Releases:

January 15, 2010
Taseko Receives Provincial Approval to Proceed With Prosperity

"Obviously we are tremendously pleased with the Provincial Government's decision. We put considerable effort and Company resources into the documentation and process and to have now received this approval is both gratifying and rewarding," says Taseko President & CEO Russell Hallbauer.

"The Government of British Columbia has authority and responsibility for mine development in the Province. Now that they have given their approval we will proceed to apply for and secure the necessary leases, licenses and permits required to advance the project," concluded Mr. Hallbauer.

Good for the stock prices, right?

And the environment?

More on Acid Mine Drainage

I've been reading more on Acid Mine Drainage... relevant to the sort we can expect of the Prosperity Mine goes ahead.

Need to know more about AMD? just look on the internet.

Denver-based Newmont Mining Co. fined millions for cyanide spill at Ghanaian mine

EARTHWORKS

Denver-based Newmont Mining Co. fined millions for cyanide spill at Ghanaian mine

Panel faults company for failing to prevent accident, delays in notifying authorities

Joint release: EARTHWORKS * WACAM

Accra and Washington, 01/21: Ghanaian authorities are fining Denver-based Newmont Mining millions of dollars for negligently spilling cyanide at its Ahafo gold mine in October 2009, resulting in water contamination and fish kills. A Ghanaian Ministerial Panel that evaluated the spill and its aftermath recommended that the company be fined US$ 4.9 million for failing to prevent the spill or to properly report on and investigate the spill. 

Newmont Mining has been around a long time, they aren't a relative newbie like Taseko Mines, and still they show complete disregard for the environment. Should it matter that they are in a country without adequate environmental protection?

That must depend on the attitude of the mining company. BHP Billiton, for example, is working to extend the same level of environmental practices to all of its operations worldwide, kind like an ISO exersize.  Taseko? Mines? they have certainly never shown this sort regard for the environment at its Gibraltar operation.

The most recent additions to that mine have seen their waste management grandfathered into the old permit, rather than raise the bar to modern standards. Farmers below the mine have spoken for years about hush money paid to those whose cattle drink downstream.

A report on AMD from Alaska states that:

Logarithmic increases in metal levels in waters from sulfide-rich mining environments are common where surface or groundwater pH is depressed by acid generation from sulfide minerals.Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Fish Health and Ecology: A Review

A logarithmic increase is the sort I showed in a graph the other day. In that case we were looking at surface area as a rock is broken into smaller and smaller pieces. The result of all that extra surface area is skyrocketing levels of metals reaching the groundwater.

Will Taseko build the 1 Billion dollar "pond" liner that the federal review panel suggests it will need to prevent groundwater?

How should we know, they won't say... the company line is, "let us build this mine and THEN we'll plan our mitigation strategy".

Meanwhile, publishers like the Williams Lake Tribune suggest that the mine is being held up by "professional environmentalists" and "obstructionist aboriginal groups", as if these two had nothing better to do than prevent "progress".

I see Taseko Mines is advertising in the Tribune, no doubt to ensure favourable coverage!

Tom Fletcher of BC Local News disses Federal Review Panel

Tom Fletcher writes for Black Publishing, and he recently wrote an article dissing the Federal Review Panel as simply keeping people in Ottawa in business:

...they rearrange the same scientific data into nice big binders in French and English, taking an Ottawa amount of time to do so... B.C. VIEWS: Ottawa make-work costs real jobs

According to Mr. Fletcher, "obstructionist aboriginals" and "professional environmentalists" simply don't want any more mines, pipelines or power projects. Funny, since the TNG is at work on a bioenergy project for the Chilcotin. As Fletcher says,

 They apparently want B.C.’s vast hinterland to depend entirely on taxpayer-funded welfare, supplemented with politically correct public works like hiking trails, all paid for with money borrowed against those of us still lucky enough to work in the private sector, our children and grandchildren.

I despise this sort of  special interest rhetoric, it's simply sycophantic, brown-nosing partisanship, it's Tom Fletcher employed by Black Publishing to dispense nonsense to the masses.

And it works: if you read the comments after his articles, his writings lead to frequent discussions demeaning aboriginal people and their beliefs and values.  Commentors are quick to criticize anyone in opposition to the mine as being anti-free enterprise and pro-welfare bum. Racism lies close to the surface in these discussions, and commentors use stereotypes to paint First Nations people as hypocritical and adverse to modernization.

http://www.bluecorncomics.com

Alisha's Economics Blogs!

This is from Alisha's Economic Blogs!, which you can find here:

Alisha's Economics Blogs!
JAN 23, 2010
Gold and Copper Mines in B.C.

Economics Blog #4
By: Alisha Tupchong

Gold and Copper Mines in B.C.

Summary of the Event

Taseko Mines Ltd.’s $800-million copper-gold Prosperity project was environmentally approved of by the British Columbia provincial government during the week prior to January 15, 2010. The Prosperity project, which pumps out copper and gold from the earth, is scheduled for construction this summer as it joins Copper Mountain Mining Corp.’s similar $440-million project. The demand for mining industries has increased recently, as there is more money to be made now than before. Copper is a metal highly demanded by China because it used widely in manufacturing. Back in the 1990s, the price of copper was less than $1 (U.S.) per pound; now, copper is around $3.40 a pound. While environmental controversy and poor relations with first nations communities have slowed development in the past, companies like Taseko Mines Ltd., who now have environmental approval by the provincial government, will be able to carry out their mining activities as demanded. The price of gold is also looking strong, according to the Energy and Mining Minister, breaking $1100 (U.S. per ounce). Now, all there is left to wait for is the approval of the federal government in the next several months.

I added the following comment to her blog:

Bill Layton said...
Hello Alisha,

I appreciate your economic viewpoint on minerals and strategic choices, but where do you account for the environmental impacts of mines like "Prosperity", and the effects they will have on those who live (and have lived) next to them?

I have been following this mine for some time, and created a simple blog to follow the issue: http://prosperity-mine-vs-fish-lake.blogspot.com/

I am amazed at how little the "outside world" cares about what this mine will do to the land, the lakes it is set to destroy, and the aboriginal people who have made use of both for at least 7500 years. It's all stock promotion and strategy, and the "indians" can go to hell because they are hypocritical anyways.

Any thoughts? and when Taseko has not had to make any accounting for how it will care for and repair the land, and ensure the toxic acid mine waste does not reach groundwater or streams, after the mine is finished, who accounts for those costs? What's a hundred million dollars when your tailings pond leaks, the dam breaks, and your downstream fisheries are "impacted"? Who accounts for the cumulative impact on an already threatened salmon population? Who accounts for the risk? And what about already-established rights and title of aboriginal people, especially here where the Xeni Gwet'in people have shown in court they hold title to this land?

January 24, 2010 11:00 AM

Google Alert - taseko mines, prosperity mine

Here is some of the latest news

Google Blogs Alert for: taseko mines, prosperity mine

B.C. government approves controversial Prosperity gold-copper mine ... By Metals Place B.C. government approves controversial Prosperity gold-copper mine project. Taseko Mines Ltd's ambitious $800-million Prosperity gold-copper project cleared a major hurdle Thursday with the awarding of a provincial environmental ... Metals News - Metals Place - http://metalsplace.com/news/

Alisha's Economics Blogs!: Gold and Copper Mines in B.C. By Alisha Tupchong Taseko Mines Ltd.'s $800-million copper-gold Prosperity project was environmentally approved of by the British Columbia provincial government during the week prior to January 15, 2010. The Prosperity project, which pumps out copper and gold from the earth, is scheduled for construction this summer as it joins Copper Mountain Mining Corp.'s similar $440-million project. The demand for mining industries has increased recently, as there is more money to be made now than ... Alisha's Economics Blogs! - http://limabeansandcoconuts.blogspot.com/

Google Web Alert for: taseko mines, prosperity mine

Mineweb - Taseko Mines receives environmental approval for ... Taseko Mines receives environmental approval for Prosperity gold-copper mine. Shares in the Canadian miner jumped 18% on the news ...

TASEKO MINES LTD - T.TKO , NYSE TGB Mining Company Database TASEKO MINES LTD - T.TKO , NYSE TGB ... Prosperity Provincial EA review due to be complete in October and EA Approvals Federal ...

Taseko project receives environmental OK | Mining & Extraction ... After clearing a key environmental permitting hurdle, Taseko Mines Ltd. is ... assessment certificate for Taseko's proposed Prosperity Mine last week. ...

Taseko Announces a New 7.7 Million Oz Gold and 3.6 Billion Lb ... 2 /CNW/ - Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE Amex: TGB) (Taseko or the Company ) ... Prosperity now has the largest gold/copper reserve base of any mining ...

PROSPERITY PROJECT ENVIROMENTAL APPROVAL - TASEKO MINES LIMITED ... Taseko Mines announced that the company received the environmental assessment certificate for its proposed Prosperity Gold- Copper Project from the BC ...

Fresh off the wire

Mining company Taseko Mines maintains that Prosperity Mine is inevitable.....

Google News Alert for: taseko mines, prosperity mine

IRW-Press: Taseko Mines Ltd.: Taseko Receives Provincial Approval To Proceed ...
OfficialWire (press release)
Taseko will host a conference call for analysts and investors to
discuss the Prosperity Project on Tuesday, January 19, 2010. Details
will follow later ...
See all stories on this topic
(AMM) Taseko project receives environmental OK
Metalbulletin.com (subscription)
After clearing a key environmental permitting hurdle, Taseko Mines
Ltd. is moving forward with relevant permitting on its Prosperity
gold-copper project in ...
See all stories on this topic
Silver Investing News
Mining to Bounce Back in BC
Silver Investing News
... and Taseko Mines' Prosperity copper-gold project near Williams
Lake. Thirty new mine development projects were submitted for
government approval in 2009 ...
See all stories on this topic

Google Blogs Alert for: taseko mines, prosperity mine

Taseko Mines – The Best Is Yet To Come « Grandich's Blog
By Peter Grandich
Taseko Mines – The Best Is Yet To Come. Posted by Peter Grandich at
10:06 AM on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010. Originally recommended on
4/29/09 at $1.40, TGB eventually became a client of mine but remained
in the model portfolio because it ... First and foremost, the news on
Prosperity is extremely bullish. Unless something changes in the 11th
hour, the ability to build a mine at Prosperity is truly a company
maker (not that they didn't have one already in Gibraltar) and ...
Grandich's Blog - http://grandich.agoracom.com/
Taseko Mines – The Best Is Yet To Come - Gold Speculator
By RssFeed
First and foremost, the news on Prosperity is extremely bullish.
Unless something changes in the 11th hour, the ability to build a mine
at Prosperity is truly a company maker (not that they didn't have one
already in Gibraltar) and lots ...
Gold Speculator - http://www.gold-speculator.com/
Official Conference Opening – Hon. Randy Hawes Presentation | The Core
By admin
At New Afton and Copper Mountain, mine construction is underway as we
anticipate what will be British Columbia's next major metal mine. And
just last week, Taseko Mines Limited received a provincial
environmental assessment certificate ...
The Core - http://blog.amebc.ca/
How Bad is The Record?: Even After This Campbell Pushed Ahead
By Gary E
Williams Lake, November 12, 2009 – A team of mining experts reviewing
Taseko Mines Ltd.'s proposed Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine Project has
concluded that the information provided to date "does not permit a
reasoned evaluation of ...
How Bad is The Record? - http://howbadtherecord.blogspot.com/

--
Sent from my mobile device

A Brief Explanation of Acid Mine Drainage

I've been reading up on acid mine drainage, the thing that will pose the greatest danger to the environment, should Prosperity go ahead.

The rocks that contain the metals Taseko wants also contain chemicals called sulphides. The  plan is to pile waste rock in the tailings pond... you know, where Teztan Biny or Fish Lake is today. The problem with waste rock is that you are taking a massive chunk of bedrock and breaking it into little pieces and bringing it to the surface. Now, instead of having a little bit of rock exposed you have a massive amount of surface, all of which is exposed to air, water and microbes.

I made a little graph of how surface increases as you break something down into smaller pieces...

To quote the Wikipedia entry:

After being exposed to air and water, oxidation of metal sulfides (often pyrite, which is iron-sulfide) within the surrounding rock and overburden generates acidity. Colonies of bacteria and archaea greatly accelerate the decomposition of metal ions, although the reactions also occur in an abiotic environment. 

These microbes, called extremophiles for their ability to survive in harsh conditions, occur naturally in the rock, but limited water and oxygen supplies usually keep their numbers low. Special extremophiles known as acidophiles especially favor the low pH levels of abandoned mines. In particular, Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a key contributor to pyrite oxidation.

In other words, mine tailings are a Pandora's box full of toxic chemical stew. Like nuclear waste (though not radioactive), they will create this toxic stew for centuries. So when critics complain that the environmental effects of a mine last well past the mine's life, this is why.

Mining companies like Taseko don't really address this issue because it would suggest they aren't actually in complete control of the environment they propose to create. And they aren't...

How can the Toxic Stew leave the tailings pond? Easy, it can:

• leak through the dam holding it back
• the dam can break (see this link for a list of dam breaks List of Tailings Dam Breaks)
• enter the groundwater through cracks in the rock

Mine tailings are forever, and turning Teztan Biny into a tailings pond means perching a toxic stew directly 

above what is for all intents and purposes a pristine watershed critical to a broad spectrum of people, animals and ecosystems.

Campbells Rubber Stamp Decision On Fish Lake Denounced By Whites And Natives Alike

Campbells Rubber Stamp Decision On Fish Lake Denounced By Whites And Natives Alike

Tsilhqot'in National Government denounces "rubber stamp" of approval from BCEAO for Taseko Mines project Monday Jan 18, 2010
	January 18, 2010, Williams Lake -- The Tsilhqot'in National Government denouced the BC Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) decision to grant an evnironmental assessment certificate (EA) to Taseko Mines Ltd. for a proposed massive mine at Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), an area where the Tsilhqot'in Nation holds proven Aboriginal hunting and trapping rights.

http://howbadtherecord.blogspot.com/2010/01/campbells-rubber-stamp-decision-on-fish.html

“I find it ironic that the province claims it has done „due diligence‟ in terms of consulting with First Nations,” stated Chief Ivor Myers, Yunesit‟in (Stone) First Nation. “The Province rejected all of our efforts to meet with them to set up a consultation process that would work for our people and our communities. Despite government and company efforts to put a positive spin on this, we do not agree with the proposal. Investors should be aware that this project is not a done deal.”

The above blog entry has a good article on how Campbell's government has never listened to the concerns of the Xeni Gwet'in or other neighbouring bands about Taseko Mines' Prosperity Mine proposal.

Bill

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