Responsible Mining and the Path Forward

Key Findings

• Water Contamination:

Seepage from Red Chris Mine waste has led to increasing concentrations of toxins like selenium and copper in nearby creeks and lakes. These substances can affect aquatic life, including fish and the communities that rely on them.

• Tailings Management:

The Red Chris tailings facility has faced several challenges that could make a dam failure more likely. Increased safety measures and emergency preparations will be crucial for reducing risks to people, water, and fish habitats.

• Future Expansion:

The mine’s underground expansion is shifting toward more gold production, a non-critical mineral. While underground mining has fewer environmental impacts than open pit methods, Red Chris’ existing problems with pollution and tailings risks still must be addressed.

A Path Forward

A key learning from our assessment of Red Chris is that government mining oversight remains weak. Regulations fail to require companies to have adequate environmental monitoring or to prevent environmental effects, independent expert advice is often ignored, and the scope and scale of development neglects precautionary planning.

Newmont, the company that took over ownership after the time period covered by the report, has begun addressing key problems at the site under the leadership of the Tahltan Nation. While this is encouraging, improved BC regulation is required to avoid these problems at future mines.

Development and conservation are not opposing forces—stronger regulations and responsible precautionary planning can ensure that economic growth does not come at the expense of wild salmon, clean water, and public safety. Public transparency about mining risks and impacts and collaborative dialogue with industry and government is necessary, especially now that BC’s plan to fast-track the Red Chris Mine expansion and other mining development risks overlooking these important issues.