Mine tailings water 'very close' to drinking quality, company says
I have to comment on this one.... ""It's very close to drinking water quality, the water in our tailings," says Imperial Metals president, Bryan Kynoch.
This is exactly the problem in Canada. People trust our drinking water quality standards, without knowing that those standards are set so ridiculously low, that it can be compared to a mine's waste water.
Notice also how he uses the word 'standards', because they are standards, not laws. They are not legally enforceable laws.
Basically, your tap water can be 'very close' in quality to a major mining operation's tailing pond, and by Canadian 'standards' this is considered 'safe'.
We think 'waste water' and 'drinking water' don't belong in the same sentance. Do you?
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Last year, Imperial Metals Corp. reported that tailings from its Mount Polley copper-gold mine contained thousands of tonnes of copper, zinc, phosphorus and managanese along with:
138 tonnes of cobalt.
71 tonnes of nickel.
3.6 tonnes of antimony.
84,831 kilograms of arsenic.
38,218 kilograms of lead.
8,695 kilograms of selenium.
562 kilograms of mercury.
995 kilograms of cadmium.
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