Moose River open pit gold mine approved

A controversial open pit gold mine has been approved for Moose River, the same area made famous by a 1936 mine collapse.

The Nova Scotia Environment Department announced its decision Friday morning to allow DDV Gold Ltd., a subsidiary of Australia-based Atlantic Gold, to go ahead with the projectin the Halifax Regional Municipality after completing a provincial environmental assessment.

The company applied to open the Moose River mine last March. It is expected to employ 150 people.

Environment Minister Mark Parent said there will be strict conditions governing the operation to allay fears of people who live along the Eastern Shore about the potential pollution to rivers and a protected wilderness area.

"I'm very confident, or I wouldn't have signed off on it,"Parent said.

He said it's important to recognize that there is a place for mining as long as people continue to want gold rings.

Among the conditions imposed by the Environment Department are acquiring conservation land near the gold mine within four years, a detailed waste management system to deal with the cyanide and tailings and a contingency plan to address any malfunctions or failures.

The mine operation will also have to take weekly samples of surface water in the area and set up a ground water monitoring program.

DDV Gold will be expected to come up with a moose management plan for the site as well as a plan for keeping other wildlife away from the mine site.

One year before work on the gold mine wraps up, the company will have to file a decommissioning plan that includes landscaping and reforestation.

DDV Gold must also create a community liaison committee for guidance on the project before any work begins.

But a spokeswoman with a citizen's group on the Eastern Shore isn't impressed and said the mine has been approved without a proper assessment.

Overhaul urged

Barbara Markovitz said the province's environmental assessment process for high-risk industries is in need of a complete overhaul before irreparable harm is done to the province.

"We do not want the Eastern Shore, or any part of Nova Scotia, to turn into a sacrifice zone a place where residual toxicity stays permanently in the land for hundreds, thousands of years after the five years of jobs are gone," she said.

The open pit mine is expected to operate for seven years, including the time for site reclamation.

The new gold mine will open near the Moose River Gold Mines museum, which commemorated the 1936 accident that killed one man.

On April 12, 1936, the roof of the mine collapsed, trapping three menabout 45 metresdown for 11 days. Two of the men lived through the ordeal, while the third man died on the seventh day of being trapped underground.

The entire event was broadcast by J. Frank Willis of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) to more than 650 radio stations throughout North America and was picked up by the BBC and broadcast to Europe.