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Canyon Resouces, Inc.
Owner of the Kendall Mine and the McDonald Gold Project on the Blackfoot River, and initiator of the initiative to repleal Montana's ban on new cyanide mines.
About Canyon Resources
The Company
- Canyon Resources, a small mining company headquartered in Golden, Colorado is the owner and operator of the McDonald Gold Project.
- Canyon Resources has few financial resources. The company has lost $28 million in the last five years, including $6 million in 1995, $7 million in 1996 and $5 million in 1997.
- Canyon Resources purchased the mine from Phelps Dodge in September 1997, after Phelps Dodge determined that pursuing the mine project was not in the best interests of the company. After Canyon Resources purchased Phelps Dodge's share of the McDonald Gold Project,Canyon's stock price dropped by over 50%.
- Canyon Resources owns two other gold mines - the Fort Briggs gold mine in California and the CR Kendall mine near Lewistown MT. The Fort Briggs mine came into production in March 1997.
Canyon's Environmental Record
- The CR Kendall gold mine was purchased by Canyon Resources in the late1980s. The mine ceased operating in 1996, and has been undergoing reclamation ever since. The company's original mine proposal included a provision to bring in hazardous waste from out of state and store it in the mine pits. Opposition from neighboring landowners caused Canyon Resources to eliminate this from its plan.
- The CR Kendall mine has polluted surface and groundwater supplies downstream of the mine in violation of state law since 1994. Little Dog Creek exceeds state water quality standards for sulfate and selenium. The South Fork of Last Chance Creek exceeds state water quality standards for thallium and sulfate. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently calculating penalties for these ongoing water quality violations. The maximum penalty under the Federal Clean Water Act is $25,000 per pollutant per day.
- Numerous cyanide spills have occurred at the CR Kendall mine from plastic liner tears, pipeline breaks, and leaks from the gold recovery plant. These spills have contaminated local groundwater.
- DEQ filed a Notice of Violation against Canyon Resources in December 1997 for: 1) failure to follow its reporting schedule; 2) failure to comply with effluent quality limits for thallium, cyanide, arsenic and manganese; and 3) failure to conduct weekly sampling as required by its mining permit.
Reclamation Record
- The CR Kendall mine is the only Canyon mine undergoing reclamation. Although reclamation efforts began in 1996, the mine continues to contaminate surface and groundwater. Rainwater and snowmelt are leaching down through the mine's waste rock piles, becoming contaminated with heavy metals, and discharging into groundwater. This groundwater feeds directly into nearby springs and streams.
- As part of its reclamation efforts, Canyon Resources installed a groundwater collection system to intercept the wastewater, treat it, and discharge it into the mine pit. This has not proven effective for two reasons: 1) the groundwater collection system intercepts the water that would normally flow downstream, thus, dewatering the streams below the mine; and 2) some of the wastewater bypasses the collection system and continues to contaminate two nearby streams at levels that exceed state water quality standards.
- Neighboring farmers and ranchers filed water rights complaints against Canyon Resources in June 1998. In response, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation found that Canyon Resources does not have the appropriate beneficial use permit, and that the pumpback system is preventing water from moving downstream to satisfy prior water rights in violation of state law.
- One neighboring rancher has filed suit against the company in federal court for damages to his property due to water rights violations.