Expanding Tailings Pond at Copper Mountain Mine ‘Flirts with Disaster’ for B.C., Washington – The Energy Mix: Much of the impetus for new mine development in B.C., and the
tailings ponds that follow, is being driven largely by demand for raw
materials for the renewable energy equipment, electric vehicles, and
batteries needed to reverse carbon pollution from that other well-known
form of extractive resource development, fossil fuels. “When proponents
wax lyrical about the new energy economy, we tend to focus on sunshine
and sea breezes,” he writes. ” But a new energy economy will also
require mountains of minerals. One of the most essential is copper,” and
“until a more circular economy arrives, we have to use virgin ores,
often mined in foreign nations.”
The op-ed lays out the tragic environmental damage that has resulted
from past tailings pond failures, including the 2014 collapse at the
Mount Polley copper mine, when 6.6 billion gallons/25 billion litres of
toxic waste flooded into sockeye salmon spawning grounds and fresh water
supplies.
Expanding Tailings Pond at Copper Mountain Mine ‘Flirts with Disaster’ for B.C., Washington – The Energy Mix: Much of the impetus for new mine development in B.C., and the
tailings ponds that follow, is being driven largely by demand for raw
materials for the renewable energy equipment, electric vehicles, and
batteries needed to reverse carbon pollution from that other well-known
form of extractive resource development, fossil fuels. “When proponents
wax lyrical about the new energy economy, we tend to focus on sunshine
and sea breezes,” he writes. ” But a new energy economy will also
require mountains of minerals. One of the most essential is copper,” and
“until a more circular economy arrives, we have to use virgin ores,
often mined in foreign nations.”The op-ed lays out the tragic environmental damage that has resulted
from past tailings pond failures, including the 2014 collapse at the
Mount Polley copper mine, when 6.6 billion gallons/25 billion litres of
toxic waste flooded into sockeye salmon spawning grounds and fresh water
supplies.Read More