NOPE (No Open Pit Excavation)

Watch video and listen to Dave Gunning sing "For All The Gold" 

https://youtu.be/BAi-WW7_FuM

An open pit gold mine is being proposed along the banks of the St. Mary’s River, near the community of Sherbrooke. If the mine were to go ahead it will impact pristine river habitat, and is counterproductive to the community’s efforts to restore the past damage to the river while trying to creating an eco-tourism draw to the area.

All the water courses in the area end up in the river. Water used by the proposed mine will be pulled from Archibald Lake which is a very important drainage basin for St. Mary's River.  Runoff from the site will contain toxins such as arsenic, mercury, and other heavy metals, posing a direct threat to the fish and other wildlife of the river.  A large tailings impoundment is proposed with an earthen wall 130 feet three km's long above the McKeen drainage basin. The Mckeen drainage basin is the most significant salmon spawning habitat in the watershed.  Where this drains into the river is the most important and productive habitat within the entire system. Chemical spills and leaching from other gold mines have contaminated rivers so badly that they may never recover.

Trucks carrying ore from the site to a processing facility further down the Eastern Shore will increase road traffic, adding to this source of mortality for wildlife, and adding a health and safety risk to the people of the area. It is unacceptable to endanger the aquatic species, groundwater, tourism, and quality of life in the small community of St Mary's.

The St. Mary’s River hosts 4 federally and provincially listed Species at Risk, all of which would be threatened by the mine. The St Mary’s River contains some of the last unspoiled habitat available for these species, and this habitat is right beside the proposed mine site! The St. Mary’s River Association, working with partners, have spent over 3 million dollars on Atlantic salmon recovery efforts, and this work is finally helping salmon return to the river. Let’s not let this work be in vain!

There is no doubt that folks in rural areas like St. Mary's need jobs. It seems like we have all been waiting for a boost to our small community’s economy for years, but the few jobs this temporary mine project could bring are not worth the high, everlasting price of contaminating the river. We need to find long term solutions to our economic problems that build on the natural features the St. Mary’s amazingly still has, and not go after short term benefits that come at a very large cost. Progress should not be at the expense of our community's water, and the vision the community has crafted for a future that centers on a healthy river, Atlantic salmon recovery, and Eco-tourism.

It’s time to stop this proposed mine, so please put your name on our petition. Talk to municipal counselors, provincial MLAs, and MPs about your disapproval of this proposed gold mine and the threat it poses to our environment.

Donations can be sent to:                https://www.stmarysriverassociation.com/donations.html                                            If donating please indicate N.O.P.E. donation