Although the archaic 1872 Mining Act allows U.S. mining companies to get away with a lot, Canada’s laws are even worse when it comes to holding mining companies accountable. Tintina Resources is based in Canada. Not only that, but it’s based in British Columbia where an auditor general recently issued a report that slammed British Columbia’s mines monitoring and inspection program.
The “richest acre” is Camp Baker
For “Throwback Thursday” – a social-media thing where people post about things in the past – Tintina Resources posted a photo of a Montana historic-point sign informing travelers about the Smith River Valley. Tintina Resources loved that the sign says the Smith River Valley contained the “richest acre of ground in the world” if you were one of the 1960s gold-placer crowd.
While the claim is debatable – no source is given for the quote and the world is a pretty big place – the Smith River Valley does still contain a rich acre. That would be Camp Baker, where each year about 5,500 river lovers gather over the course of about seven months to launch on their own adventures of the Smith River.
Drink a beer for the Smith River
On May 22, head on over to the Ten Mile Creek Brewery at 48 N. Last Chance Gulch in Helena from 5-8 p.m. to get your Smith River pint glass and a beer for $10. Now’s the time to step up to help save the Smith and it’s not bad when you can get a beer to boot.
Modern mining? Company sell-outs
Let’s say – just hypothetically – that there was a mining company out there run by people who could guarantee that a small mine wouldn’t cause any environmental problems. This is obviously hypothetical because no such company or mine exists. If it did, it would be good, but there would be no guarantee that company would own the mine throughout its lifetime. In the world of capitalism, mining and fluctuating metal prices, mines often swap hands and nothing guarantees that the new owner will have the same priorities.
Mines threaten agricultural water
“Water sustains life. Water sustains agriculture.”
Those are the words of Clint McRae, Rosebud area rancher who raises cattle near Colstrip. In this video, Clint voices his concern about the leaking coal ash ponds near his ranch that threaten Rosebud Creek and other water that his cattle depend on. The sulfates in the water are more than 8 times higher than what is safe for cattle.
Animas tale shows preferring jobs to safeguards can court disaster
Amazing how disasters change people’s ambivalence toward mines.
According to this High Country News story, “Silverton’s Gold King reckoning,” the Colorado mining town of Silverton has regretted its original choice to oppose federal mine clean-up after the ancient mine had already created a pollution problem.