Yukon NDP raises worries over Newmont’s mining work in other nations

Key takeaways:

South of Dawson City, Newmont’s Coffee Gold project cleared an environmental review in March.
Newmont Corporation wants to construct an open-pit gold mine in the White Gold district south of Dawson City.
NDP MLA Emily Tredger stated it’s a ‘big oversight’ that the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) can’t inspect issues about the firm that happens outside the region’s borders.

According to the NDP’s house leader, the Yukon government should consider Newmont Corporation’s questionable track record in other nations.

“Accusations of human rights abuses have pursued this corporation wherever they go,” said Emily Tredger, citing a laundry list of problems over how the firm has operated in Peru.

“While the local mining industry keeps going for honest, sustainable practices, this government lets multi-billion-dollar parent firms that commit human rights abuses outside of Canada do business in the region.”

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the Yukon government should consider Newmont Corporation’s questionable track record in other nations

South of Dawson City, Newmont’s Coffee Gold project cleared an environmental review in March. The company offers to make a large gold mine capable of producing approximately 67 million tonnes of ore over the project’s 24 years, including closure and reclamation.

The company is probably years away from beginning construction because Newmont has many regulatory burdens, including getting a water license and a quartz license. Tredger said it’s not only alleged human rights abuses but environmental offenses that spoil the reputations of some of the top mining companies in the world, and there’s no way to vet – or consider – issues that haven’t occurred on Yukon’s soil.

Tredger said the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) couldn’t review problems outside the region’s borders. She calls that a “big oversight,” equivalent to providing some of the wealthiest firms in the world with free passes in the Yukon.

Source – cbc.ca