A rotten déjà-vu? Two gold mines - one designer

Cluj-Napoca, 7 august 2014 – One of the worst mining accidents in recent years occurred in Canada where the tailings dam (TMF) of the Mount Polley gold and copper mine failed. Since 4 August, over 10 million cubic meters of water and 4.5 million tons of toxic slurry have been escaping into river and lakes situated in B.C’s Cariboo district. The town of Likely, at the head of Quesnel Lake, is situated near the mine. Authorities have declared a state of emergency. According to Canadian news agencies the toxic slurry could contain cyanide (sodium cyanide is often used in gold extraction), sulfuric acid (used for copper extraction) and mercury. Mount Polley tailings dam is a rock-fill dam, the same type of TMF proposed at Rosia Montana and Certej.

Superficial analysis of environmental conditions and TMF locations by mining company consultants together with the complicit attitude environmental authorities’ have in several cases generated the premises for such accidents. The designer of the Mount Polley TMF is Knight Piésold, the very same company that carried out site investigations for the TMF proposed for Rosia Montana and concluded that both the overburden and underlying cretaceous sediments are very impermeable and therefore precludes the need for a formal liner system in the TMF basin. The TMF facility proposed at Rosia Montana is situated 2km a-monte from Abrud, a town with 5000 inhabitants.

The environmental disaster at Mount Polley is far from being an isolated case. It is but the most recent in a long chain of mining accidents caused by tailings dam failures. Two of these major accidents occurred in Romania with the Baia Mare accident in 2000 and Certej accident of 1971 which cost the lives of 89 people. The toxic waste escaping from Mount Polley’s TMF is sufficient to fill 4000 Olympic swimming pools. At the time of writing the toxic slurry continues to pressure the towns of Quesnel and Likely. The environmental authorities of the Cariboo regional district have declared a state of emergency and requested people not to drink or use any water from the district.

While the authorities are currently investigating the cause of the dam failure, a spokesperson for the Canadian ministry for the environment declared that during the month of May 2014, five warnings were issued to the mine owner for exceeding permitted levels of wastewater in the tailings dam.[3] Moreover, Bev Sellers the First Nations leader said their concerns regarding the security of the TMF facility were continuously ignored.

 "This is the unvarnished reality of modern mining. It generates disasters that are neither justifiable nor excusable. During the design phase, mine proposals are presented as infallible. Consultants emphatically underline that they will use the latest technology, which apparently never fails. This is also the case with Rosia Montana Gold Corporation (TSX:GBU) which claims that the << dam foreseen was reviewed in detail in terms of risks. Experts, both Romanian and international, have confirmed that it is 100 times safer than existing tailings dams throughout the world >>. Our experience has been that once a large accident occurs mining companies declare bankruptcy. It’s the locals that are ultimately left with the damage. This is what happened in Baia Mare in 2000," said Tudor Brădăţan, a representative Mining Watch Romania network.

"I have followed the statements by the First Nation’s leader and the locals from Likely who are trying to understand what is happening. Catastrophes such as this one are painful, but the most difficult aspects are the consequences for the locals. During these difficult moments my thoughts are with those living in the region affected by the accident,” said Eugen David, president of Alburnus Maior.

For more information please contact Roxana Pencea, mobile: 0040-723024300, email: alburnusmaior@ngo.ro

Video images of the Mount Polley accident

Further information about the mine accident

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Alburnus Maior Association is an NGO based in Rosia Montana, Alba county, Romania, which represents the interests of those inhabitants in Rosia Montana and Bucium villages who are against the Rosia Montana mining project and refuse to sell their properties to allow the mining development. The Association was established on 8th September 2000 and is against the open cast mining project proposed by Rosia Montana Gold Corporation company (the Project), based on social, environmental, economic and cultural heritage grounds. The proposed project would use cyanide and is envisaged to be the largest open cast mining site in Europe.

The Association initiated and coordinates the Save Rosia Montana Campaign against this mining project; within its 13 years of life so far this campaign became the largest social and environmental movement in Romania.