This tidbit was sent to me by a follower named Ross. It’s brief but interesting as it resonates well with our efforts toward protecting our Eastern Slopes.
Thank you Ross.
First Quantum Minerals, a Vancouver-based mining giant, is fighting with the government of Panama to re-open the Cobre Panama open pit copper mine that had been shut down, in part, because of strong opposition from environmental critics worried about its footprint on the tropical rainforest and water quality concerns.
Joana Abrego, a lawyer with the Panama Environmental Advocacy Centre, has stated “It’s starting to be recognized internationally that there are just some places on Earth where you need to protect biodiversity, you need to protect your sources of water, you need to protect the ecosystems that allow you to be climate-resilient and you cannot just exploit the critical minerals that are in these places”.
Open pit copper mines are little different from open pit coal mines and her message of environmental advocacy in Panama is as relevant in Alberta as it is a continent away.
First Quantum is proposing to plant two trees for every tree removed in an attempt to curry favour with the locals. This is just as preposterous as the mitigation efforts proposed by Northback to reclaim Grassy Mountain, following mountain top removal to mine its coal. And although we were not promised trees, we did get a golf course!