Sulfide Mining Dangers

Sulfide Mining and Water Don’t Mix.

When mining activities expose sulfide bearing rock to air and water it decomposes releasing among other chemicals, sulfuric acid which causes acid mine drainage and heavy metal acid rain. Sulfide mining differs greatly from the oxide rock mining that has historically been done in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Sulfide mining is a time bomb especially in a water rich environment like Michigan. Acid mine drainage percolates through the groundwater and can cause irreparable damage decades after the mines have played out and closed and the nearby towns have become ghost towns. Sulfide mines dating back to Roman times are still leaking acid drainage some 2000 years later. The sulfide bearing rock ore body being explored runs from Northern Minnesota, to Wisconsin to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and down into the tip of Michigan’s mitten. In fact, mining companies have been buying up the mineral rights for thousands of acres of land in Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes. Mining engineers say dozens of mine sites could be opened, exploited and closed all within the next decade. History and science show that sulfide mines almost always pollute both acid mine drainage and heavy metal acid rain that is devastating to fresh water, fish, aquatic life and surrounding plant and wildlife. Sulfide mining kills rivers, lakes, streams and ponds — virtually any water into which it seeps. The heavy metal acid rain caused by sulfide mining and processing can spread the environmental damage hundreds of miles from the mining and processing sites. Water knows no boundaries and pollution to one Great Lake invariably affects them all. It is clear sulfide mining poses a threat to not only Michigan’s water but to the water of the entire Great Lakes watershed. Contact us to get involved!