MINING THE PAST FOR DIRT
I am writing to correct misinformation in a Nov. 5 letter by Barbara Silburt. Ms. Silburt admits in her letter that her understanding of gold mining stems from a tour of the historical Montague gold district, where mining took place from 1863 to 1940 (157 to 80 years ago).
We agree that historical mines did not take proper care of the environment — no industry did back then. It was an era long before environmental science or understanding of human impacts on the environment.
Misconceptions about modern gold mining stem from the historical era. However, historical sites like these have nothing to do with modern mining. It is now a sophisticated, science-based activity that takes proper care of the environment. For example, Nova Scotia gold mines have not used mercury since the early 1900s. Before getting operating permits, mining companies must now get government approval of reclamation plans and post reclamation bonds (money in escrow, basically) that ensure funds are available to reclaim sites. Modern mines even sometimes fix issues with historical sites by cleaning up tailings or stabilizing land that was left unusable by the pickand-shovel mining of the distant past.
Ms. Silburt is concerned about acid rock drainage (ARD), something that is easily prevented in the modern era. Anyone who drove past the new highway 102-103 interchange in the past couple years saw ARD being prevented — the hill in the middle of the interchange was built to stop that chemical reaction from occurring.
Mining and quarrying is Nova Scotia's highest-paying resource industry. According to Statistics Canada, our average total compensation (wages plus benefits) is $87,000 per year. An entry-level job like haul truck driver pays an average of $25 per hour. Gold exploration and mining are creating hundreds of high-paying jobs for Nova Scotians, mainly in rural areas. We encourage Nova Scotians to get information about mining from experts — from government and industry sources that know the industry and the sciences that underpin it. Misinformation based on the distant past only makes it harder to rebuild Nova Scotia's economy and create the jobs that Nova Scotians need.
Sean Kirby is executive director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia