Gold's 20,000-year scar
Published by MAC on 2004-03-17
Gold's 20,000-year scar
March 17, 2004
Sulfuric acid runoff could last thousands of years ... the Newmont mine.
On a high-desert mountain where prospectors first struck it rich in the 1860s, the world's largest gold mining company plans a major expansion that critics say could pollute the environment for tens of thousands of years.
Newmont Mining's proposed US$200 million Phoenix project would cover nearly 25.5sq/km of northern Nevada. The Environmental Protection Agency agrees with a watchdog group's claims that the Denver-based company is dramatically underestimating the potential costs of environmental risks.
"They are predicting acid will drain off the site for 20,000 years," said hydrologist Tom Myers. Newmont has acknowledged that sulfuric acid could leak from the mine well into the future.
The huge open pit is carved into the side of Battle Mountain.
Dozens of mines have opened and closed there in the 140 years since miners first tapped the minerals beneath the 2460m peak.
Nevada ranks third in the world in gold production behind South Africa and Australia.