FNWARM NR and Report: The $64,000 question – Why does BC promote placer mining? – Report calls for moratorium on placer mine claims and work permits

Press Release

The $64,000 question – Why does BC promote placer mining?

Forget TV reality shows – placer mining is a huge economic failure, environmental mess:

Report calls for moratorium on placer mine claims and work permits

Williams Lake, BC: Tuesday March 28: New research shows BC’s thousands of placer mines pose a serious threat to people’s health, clean waters and fish, yet they are rarely monitored or subjected to environmental enforcements, and generate negligible revenues.

BC received a mere $64,945 from in royalties from placer operations in 2015 (the last year available at time of study). This would not even pay for a single senior mine inspector, says the study by BC’s Fair Mining Collaborative (FMC). The data also indicates many placer mines may lose money – the amount of gold recorded is relatively low, given the large number of operations.

Placer mining—the practice of mining for gold in and near streams and riverbeds—is expanding rapidly across BC, where the province allows prospectors to stake claims on private land, salmon watersheds, and Indigenous lands, leaving local communities to cope with mercury contamination and other hazards.

“The government’s own figures show there is absolutely no economic argument to support allowing this industry priority and free rein,” said Bev, Sellars, Chair of First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining (FMWARM), which commissioned the study. “Yet BC continues to treat placer mining rights as more important than the health of our lands, waters, people, fish and wildlife, and our Title and rights,” said Ms. Sellars. “This is more compelling proof that BC’s mining regime needs to be reformed and land use planning improved.”

The report lists several recommendations, endorsed by FNWARM, which call for a moratorium on new placer mine claims and work permits until the system is reformed in partnership with First Nations.

FMC conducted a detailed analysis of the BC government’s own data and regulations—information that directly contradicts BC Mines Minister Bill Bennett’s recent defense of the industry and system.

In January, Ms. Sellars used online staking laws to stake a claim on Mr. Bennett’s property near Cranbrook. Ms. Sellars was not required to give notice to Mr. Bennett, and now has legal rights and mining interests on his land. Mr. Bennett responded by defending placer mining, telling the Vancouver Province: “It’s the most progressive system in the world and it’s been very, very successful.”

Yet his government’s records indicate placer mining produces little gold on average for miners and virtually no revenue for BC taxpayers, while the environmental impacts and risks significant and are poorly regulated, said FMC Executive Director Amy Crook. FMC’s research found 542 placer mines with active work permits in 2015, and another 2917 placer claims reporting work. Officially recorded gold production in 2015 was a little under $13 million .

Samples taken downstream of placer mines have found arsenic, cadmium and other cancer-causing minerals that exceed drinking water guidelines. Yet placer mining faces far less oversight than major mines.

“The government data shows most placer mine sites are never inspected and riparian setbacks and fish habitat protection laws are un-enforced by Ministries, and ignored by some placer miners,” said Ms. Crook. “And historic placer mining has likely left a legacy of mercury contamination, which may risk human health when disturbed by current mining activity .”

FNWARM’s Sellars said: “We commissioned this study because so many First Nations territories are covered with abandoned and operating placer mines – with claims staked for many more – and we know they are a big problem. We also wanted to alert the public, because the toxins and other hazards of placer mining float downstream and threaten many BC residents.”

“Some placer operations can cover large areas and do a lot of damage – have you ever watched Gold Rush or Yukon Gold?” said Ms. Sellars “And large or small, their sheer number make them a significant environmental threat, particularly when the effects of their discharged waste on waters is combined with permitted effluence from the provinces big mines.”

The study notes placer mines, like their much bigger cousins, can introduce mercury or methyl-mercury into rivers and lakes, and that disturbance can reactivate toxins buried in sediment from previous operations. “This is a huge concern for First Nations as we depend on the salmon,” Sellars said.

The FMC identified recommendations, endorsed by FNWARM, to reform placer mining in BC. They call for implementing a moratorium on any future placer claim staking and work permits until the process can be reformed.

They call for engaging First Nations as full partners in designing new placer mining legislation and regulations. And they state that all placer mining must be contingent on respecting the principles of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and reflect the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Report’s calls to action.

The FMC and FNWARM also propose specific reforms to environmental regulations for placer mining, including requiring annual inspections for all placer mines, dramatically improving government monitoring and transparency around placer mining operations and taking several additional steps to protect the environment and communities from the hazards of placer mining.

Report: http://www.fairmining.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/BCPlacer_Environment_Economic.pdf

Media contacts:

FNWARM: Bev Sellars: Ph: 1-250-267-6924. Or Media@FNWARM.com

FMC: Amy Crook: 1-250-871-3627

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