In the waning days of the Bush administration, the Cronies who have not yet gorged on the teat of the commonwealth are beginning to be fed. Expect more of the following, as the lame dick duck does all he can to take care of his buddies through the next 8 years of wandering in the wilderness.
Case in point; authorization of the largest open pit cyanide heap leach gold mines in the United States - the Cortez Hills Expansion Project on Mt. Tenabo.
And for those who don't know what Mt. Tenabo is, it is a holy site to the Native American Shoshone Nation. A virtual equivalent of pit mining on top of Golgotha (Calvary) or in the garden of eden (but hey, we sprayed that with depleted uranium too didn't we?)
so, what is open pit cyanide heap leach mining? Well, you see, when you spray minerals containing gold with a solution of cyanide, you get lots of AuCN, which is to say the cyanide bonds to the gold and gives you a soluble salt of gold.
how bad is it? From Earthworks
Cyanide Use
Cyanide is extremely toxic. One teaspoon of a 2% solution can kill a person. In general, fish and other aquatic life are killed by cyanide concentrations in the microgram per liter range (part per billion), whereas bird and mammal deaths result from cyanide concentrations in the milligram per liter range (part per million). [2]
The mining industry uses large quantities of cyanide: over 180,000 metric tons each year. And the mining industry often uses this cyanide irresponsibly. Open pit cyanide heap leach mining involves spraying a cyanide solution over heaps of ore -- then collecting the now mineral rich cyanide solution from the bottom of the heaps. This process happens in the open environment. The result: spills. For example:
* Grouse Creek, Idaho. A 40-minute cyanide spill at the Grouse Creek gold mine in Idaho resulted in the contamination of a nearby creek at 1.31 parts per million, 60 times higher than levels toxic to fish.
* Zortman-Landusky Mine, Montana. 52,000 gallons of cyanide solution poisoned the drainage that supplies fresh drinking water for the town of Zortman. A mine employee discovered the accident when he noticed the smell of cyanide in his tap water at home.
* Homestake, South Dakota. Six to seven tons of cyanide-laced tailings spilled from the Homestake Mine into Whitewood Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota, resulting in a substantial fish kill.
Furthermore, cyanide reacts with many other elements and is known to breakdown into several hundred different cyanide-related compounds. Despite the risks posed by these breakdown compounds, mines are not required to monitor or report these chemicals. Evidence does show that cyanide compounds can linger in plant and fish tissues and can persist in the environment for long periods of time.
How would you like that in your back yard? How would the Jews or the Muslims like it on temple mount? Or Christians like it on the Church of the Holy Sepulchure, supposedly built upon the tomb where Christ was buried?
But give us yet another chance to screw over an American Indian nation for a little gold....apparently it's still fair game, despite the fact that no treaty in existence ever gave the land to the federal government, but why should we let a little illegality get in the way?
From the Environmental News Service, via commondreams:
The permit was granted on November 12, and the $500 million mine construction project could begin as early as this week
"After years of determined opposition from Western Shoshone, the U.S. Department of Interior, through its Bureau of Land Management approved one of the largest open pit cyanide heap leach gold mines in the United States on the flank of Mount Tenabo," the plaintiffs said in a joint statement.
They described the area as "well-known for its spiritual and cultural importance to the Western Shoshone" and "home to local Shoshone creation stories, spirit life, medicinal, food and ceremonial plants and items" which "continues to be used to this day by Shoshone for spiritual and cultural practices."
and why? there's gold in them there hills.
The Cortez property is expected to begin producing in the first half of 2010, with average annual production increasing to about 1.0 million ounces of gold for each of the first full five years of production.
but at what cost:
The planned open pit mine on Mt. Tenabo will cover over 900 acres to a depth of 2,000 feet. New waste disposal and processing facilities are planned, including a cyanide heap-leaching facility, consisting of 1,577 million tons of waste rock, 53 million tons of tailings material, and 112 million tons of spent heap leach material.
The mine through an extensive groundwater pumping system will dewater Mt. Tenabo and "permanently destroy approximately 6,800 acres of land on and around Mt. Tenabo, over 90 percent of which is classified as federal 'public' land."
Larson Bill, vice-chairman of the South Fork Band Council, asks, "How are we, as a nation, showing our values, if we allow a transnational corporation to destroy this 'church' for all time, just to get 10 years worth of gold."
and
But the plaintiff groups point out that the "FEIS predicts that at least 22 springs or seeps, and at least one perennial stream, will suffer the loss or complete elimination of their flows." They maintain that these are waters that "are sacred to Western Shoshone people and are an integral part of their exercise of their religion."
The plaintiffs also complain that the air pollution from the mine would violate legal standards when it comes to fine particle emissions. Health effects associated with exposure to PM25 fine particle emissions "include premature death, aggravation of heart and lung disease and asthma attacks," they point out.