There are an estimated 11,000 hectares of mine tailings in Canada, many leaking acidic water into the environment. The industry spends millions monitoring this very serious environmental problem and treating the runoff water, usually with lime. But companies cannot stand guard over their tailings forever with a bucket of lime. Long-term solutions can only be found through scientific research.
In response to this need, the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology (canmet), in co-operation with a number of Canada’s largest mining companies (namely: Cominco, Falconbridge Ltd., Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting, Inco Ltd., Noranda Inc., and Sherritt Gordon Mines) and several provincial governments is spearheading a national research project called Reactive Tailings Study, or rats for short.
It has been designed to enable mining companies to: predict in the future which tailings are likely to become acidic; prevent and control acid water; treat existing acidic runoff; and devise standards for predicting, measuring and sampling drainage from tailings and old mine dumps.
The project is estimated to cost about $10 million and take five years to complete. The federal government and companies involved have indicated their willingness to put up one-third of this cost but the provincial governments have yet to show a firm commitment to the project in terms of people and labs.
Considering the importance Canadians place on maintaining a clean environment, we think this program is ripe for the support of those responsible for acting in the public interest. RATS needs the best brains this country has to offer.
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