Concerns over arsenic raised at Yukon Water Board hearing
California company wants to re-work tailings at old Whitehorse Copper Mine
CBC News
Posted: Jan 17, 2013 7:07 PM CST
Last Updated: Jan 17, 2013 8:27 PM CST
Related
Related Stories
The Yukon Water Board is raising concerns about a potential spike in arsenic levels in underground water.
The issue came up at board hearings into a California company’s plan to mine magnetite from the tailings at the old Whitehorse Copper Mine.
“It's a pretty simple process actually. We pick up the tailings, add water to produce a slurry, then we run that slurry over magnetic drums. The magnetic particles, which are the magnetite, get attracted to the drum and the other particles get washed away. So now we've separated the magnetite from all the rest of the tailings. The rest of the tailings goes back into the hole that we took it out of basically,” said Chuck Eaton, the president of Eagle Industrial Minerals.
Chuck Eaton, the president of Eagle Industrial Minerals, wants to use the magnetite his company extracts from the old tailings, and sell it to Asia where they will use it to make steel. (CBC)Eaton wants to sell the magnetite to Asia, where it is used to make steel.
Part of Eagle's plan involves moving waste rock from what are called Valleys A and B into something called the Old Pond.
Right now, A and B do not leak any metals, but the Old Pond does.
The Yukon Water Board's technical advisor, Cord Hamilton, wants to know if that has implications for increased arsenic leakage.
"Now we're going to take the tailings from A and B Valley and reprocess them in Old Pond and stack them back up there. What should we expect for arsenic going forward, seeing that we've continued to release arsenic over 40 years? What's going to happen now," Hamilton asked.
Scott Davidson, of Access Consulting a consultant for the company, told the hearing the Eagle will be re-working the surface of Old Pond to ensure water runs off and doesn't work its way through the tailings.
He said any arsenic leaching should not be much different than what is happening now, which is within safe levels for drinking water.
The proposed project would last for 12 years, and then the company’s goal would be to re-vegetate the area.
The old mine has been shut down for the past 30 years – all that is currently left of it is 20 tonnes of waste rock, an old pit and the tailings ponds, which Eagle Industrial Minerals wants to mine.
Share Tools
Latest North News Headlines
- Cree election not publicized enough, says youth chief
- One James Bay Cree Youth Chief says the nominations for regional Cree leadership are low because of a lack of publicity. more »
- Man charged in Pond Inlet sexual assault
- A 21-year-old man has been charged in a case of sexual assault reported six months ago in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. more »
- Boats collide, killing 77-year-old woman
- A 77-year-old woman is dead after two boats collided outside Trout Lake, N.W.T., Wednesday afternoon. more »
- Police deem N.W.T. woman's death suspicious
- The RCMP in Fort Resolution, N.W.T., are treating the death of 23-year-old Melissa Payne as suspicious. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Toronto mayor fired chief of staff for telling him to 'go away and get help'
- CBC News has learned the details of what precipitated the firing of Mark Towhey as Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's chief of staff — and it was advice from Towhey that Ford needs to 'get help.' more »
- Federal Court won't remove MPs over robocall allegations
- The Federal Court says it won't throw six MPs out of their seats over allegations of widespread vote suppression through automated robocalls in the 2011 federal election. But Judge Richard Mosley did find that fraud occurred in the election. more »
- Alleged Ford crack video seller not responding to calls
- The journalist who broke the story alleging Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was recorded on video smoking crack cocaine says he may never be able to get his hands on the evidence. more »
- Bridge collapse on Washington interstate drops cars into water
- An Interstate 5 bridge over a river north of Seattle collapsed Thursday evening, dumping vehicles and people into the water, the Washington State Patrol said. more »
- Japanese plane makes unscheduled landing in Whitehorse
- Police deem N.W.T. woman's death suspicious
- Boats collide, killing 77-year-old woman
- Charges laid in worker's fall at N.W.T. hydro site
- Iqaluit cab driver not guilty in dispute with laundromat owner
- Cree election not publicized enough, says youth chief
- Body of missing Fort Resolution, N.W.T., woman found
- Man charged in Pond Inlet sexual assault
- Yukon couple hold record for longest marriage in country

