Within Cameco's Saskatoon corporate office is a life-sized sculpture
entitled ‘Discovery – Mining and Nature in Harmony,' which accurately
shows the hand-in-hand relationship mining has with nature. The
sculpture depicts two miners – a prospector and an underground worker
– working on opposite sides of a massive rock, alongside a wolf,
a bear cub and under the watchful eye of a raven.
Perhaps more so than anyone else – because of their intimacy, proximity
and working relationship with nature – Saskatchewan's mining industry
is well aware of nature's role, importance and beauty. Much like
the hunter, who despite harvesting nature's wildlife is among the
greatest conservationists society has to offer, miners know they
owe their livelihood to the bounties that Mother Nature provides.
And that is why Saskatchewan's mining industry pays such intricate
detail to the environment in which it works.
Steps are taken to ensure the environment is not carelessly disregarded.
In fact, as time and technology advance, regulations are adapted
to see that contemporary practices meet the stringent environmental
expectations that government places on the industry.
"The Saskatchewan government put in place a requirement that
formalized engineering plans for decommissioning that had to be
developed and approved by the end of the first quarter 1997,"
notes Wayne Fraser, director, environment for Hudson Bay Mining
and Smelting who also serves as a director for the SMA and chairs
the environmental committee of the Mining Association of Canada.
"And coupled with that is the requirement for a sufficient
financial bond or instrument to be in place by March 31, 1999, that
would ensure that the (decommissioning) work was done by the company,"
he continued. "Failing that, it will be done using the funds
that had been set aside. In the past, there have been suggestions
on the public's behalf that companies will not act responsibly;
a mechanism is now in place to ensure that (decommissioning) will
happen."
Although the principles of decommissioning have remained constant
over the years, the methods by which this decommissioning is performed
have changed.
"The things that people are becoming more aware of is that
there certainly are things that they can do in the planning and
construction phase to make things a lot easier at the end of the
day," Fraser says. "Of particular interest in that area
is handling of things such as potentially chemically unstable rock
that could deteriorate and generate acid."
"We're all very aware now of the things you have to do and
should do with those kinds of materials."
Although every sector of the mining industry is astutely aware
of their effects on the environment, perhaps none is more so than
the uranium sector.
Adhering to strict regulations from the provincial government,
Saskatchewan's uranium mining companies are also regulated by agencies
such as the Atomic Energy Control Board.
"With our three operations – Key Lake, Rabbit Lake and McArthur
River – all three of them treat and discharge effluent to the environment,
once it meets stringent standards," says Bob Phillips, manager,
environmental protection with Cameco. "What the public sees
is the effluent leaving the end of the pipe and the monitoring data
that's seen at that point."
"But there's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that is done
to ensure that the quality of that effluent is good before it leaves
the end of the pipe, and to study its impact on the receiving environment,"
Phillips continues.
Key Lake and McArthur River sites treat their effluent with a batch
process where the discharge fills a pond, which is sampled and monitored
closely to ensure it is within regulatory requirements before it
is ever released. If not, the water is re-treated.
During release, it is again sampled and these sample results must
be reported to the respective agencies.
Rabbit Lake uses a more conventional flow-through system, which
involves treating the effluent in two stages as it goes through
a system of ponds and pipes before it is released to the environment.
The first treatment is in the mill and the other, about two kilometres
away, in the middle of a pond system. Samples are collected after
each treatment. After the first, it is known whether the effluent
meets regulatory requirements.
"At the operations, we've taken the proactive approach to
ensure the effluent meets requirements," Phillips says, adding
Cameco holds itself to more stringent expectations so that "in
all cases, it meets the limits that are established by the agencies."
"Looking at all of the sites, and the parameter which is the
highest, the radium content within the discharge at Key Lake is
about one-quarter the allowable limit," Phillips notes. "All
the rest of them are less than that."
Overall, mining has been environmentally conscious for decades
but this awareness has intensified and practices have become more
stringent industry-wide over time.
"The coal mining industry has probably been more responsible
for a longer period of time because the land they disturb is generally
much more visible," notes Fraser. "They've been doing
extensive rehabilitation work for as much as half a century."
"Now the entire industry is playing from the same song sheet,"
says Fraser. "Our future depends on what we've done in the
past. If we expect higher levels of public acceptance, then we have
to continue to do the best that we can."
Story courtesy of: Sunrise Publishing and the Saskatchewan Mining
Journal
