enviroment BAPE rejects Bloom Lake mine tailings site expansion project
Operation of the Bloom Lake iron mine could continue until 2040.
Photo: Cliffs Natural Resources Operation of the Bloom Lake iron mine could continue until 2040.
Alexandre shields
11:46 a.m.
Environment
The BAPE recommends not giving the green light to the mine tailings expansion project of Quebec Iron Ore, the company that operates the Bloom Lake iron mine, near Fermont. Australian mining subsidiary Champion Iron says it will have to destroy lakes, streams, wetlands and woodlands to store the 872 million tonnes of tailings that will be produced over the next few years.
In a report published Friday morning, the Office of Public Hearings on the Environment (BAPE) concludes that the mining company "should review its project", since it "has not demonstrated that the solutions adopted for the management of mine wastes are those that minimize the impacts on wetlands and water bodies ”. The report thus underlines that the storage of 872 million tonnes of tailings would destroy in particular 151 hectares of lakes and rivers, including an 88 hectare lake.
According to the BAPE, which has gathered the opinions of independent experts, “the company has imposed criteria that are sometimes too severe, such as the distance from the mining site and the presence of ore under the pit, to eliminate alternatives for the disposal of its tailings and waste rock ”.
Unlike mining, the BAPE believes that "Quebec iron ore could find a solution to increase the storage capacity of its tailings and waste rock that would minimize its environmental footprint". The organization is also of the opinion that "the schedule of work would give sufficient time to the proponent to conduct the additional studies necessary to review the alternatives".
Operation until 2040
Quebec Iron Ore, a subsidiary of Australian mining company Champion Iron, acquired the Bloom Lake iron mine with the help of Investissement Qubec in 2016, after production ceased by the former owner, Cliffs Natural Resources. . The company, which posted revenues of $ 785 million in 2019, now hopes to continue mining the deposit until 2040, at a rate of 15 million tonnes per year. The raw ore will be exported by boat from Sept-les.
For the life of the mine, the company estimates its “storage needs” for tailings and waste rock at 1.3 billion tonnes, of which 872 million will have to be stored in new sites located near the pit. of the mine. However, the mining company emphasizes that "the available land space" is insufficient. "The various options studied under the terrestrial variant would not be economically viable under the project," according to what can be read in its impact study of nearly 5,000 pages.
When the project was presented at the start of the BAPE hearings last fall, the mining company confirmed that eight lakes would therefore be destroyed by the project. She also mentioned the areas of other watercourses and wetlands that would be destroyed, but without specifying the number.
During a briefing held by the BAPE in July 2020, the company mentioned a total of 160 "streams" destroyed, including intermittent streams. According to information sent to Le Devoir by the Ministry of the Environment about the rivers affected or destroyed, "the project is likely to affect 38 lakes and a pond", but also "41 streams". Added to this is a habitat loss of 11.2 km² for terrestrial wildlife.
Unlike some mining projects, Minerai de fer Qubec rejects the idea of gradually filling the pit with tailings. The storage of tailings or waste rock in the pit is "contraindicated in the circumstances so as not to jeopardize the exploitation of a potentially exploitable resource in the future", specifies the impact study.
Compensation
The mining company indicated that “compensation” projects have been developed for the wetlands and waterways that will be destroyed by the planned storage. The compensation plans have yet to be approved by the Ministry of the Environment.
However, these plans are incomplete, deplores the BAPE in its report. “To date, the plan proposed by the initiator is provisional and several of its components are still under development, under discussion or under evaluation by provincial and federal authorities. Although this practice seems acceptable to the ministries concerned, the committee is of the opinion that the Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change