The proposed Stibnite gold mining project, of the Canadian-owned Midas Gold Corporation, would disturb 3,423 acres of land adjacent to Idaho’s South Fork of the Salmon River, one of the most pristine wilderness areas left in the lower United States. The South Fork is a major tributary to the Salmon, a Wild and Scenic designated river, the ancient fishing and hunting grounds of the Nez Perce, Shoshone, Bannock, and Paiute tribes, and a critical habitat for endangered species including Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and threatened Bull Trout. The Midas Gold Corporation has claimed that it will clean up issues left by previous mining operations, while simultaneously lobbying at the state and federal level to roll back environmental policies that would hamper its plans. Reese Hodges, a native Idahoan and whitewater paddler, details the past and proposed actions of Midas and explains why the mine will almost certainly destroy decades of restoration work done by the Nez Perce and U.S. Forest Service. This article was originally posted on Idaho Rivers United, which has created a user-friendly form to submit your comment to the U.S. Forest Service by October 28.

CEO Laurel Sayer recently announced that Midas Gold Corporation took “a necessary step to protect Midas Gold from being held responsible for alleged water pollution from lands owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service”, referring to the lawsuit filed by Midas against the U.S. Forest Service on August 18th, 2020, for Clean Water Act violations on the East Fork South Fork Salmon River. Historic mining in the Stibnite Gold Project area left tributaries of the East Fork South Fork Salmon River with elevated levels of contaminants. including heavy metals and sediment.

A minor, but important correction; the Forest Service does not own National Forest lands. We, the people, collectively own our public lands. The Forest Service is the administrator that acts on behalf of the public. In essence, this action by Midas claims that this pollution is the responsibility of the people of the United States, not the mining industry that caused it. 

In 2019, the Nez Perce Tribe filed a lawsuit against Midas Gold for violating the Clean Water Act by allowing the same pollution to continue in the East Fork South Fork Salmon River, where Midas holds mining claims and hopes to extract nearly 5 million ounces of gold. Midas responded with an attempt to have the case dismissed, but was denied by the court. 

This raises a critical question: if Midas doesn’t want to be responsible for mining pollution on public lands now, will they in the future after dumping their waste in Payette National Forest? 

Midas Gold’s Stibnite project would occur mostly on undisturbed public land, extracting gold from 3 open pits with cyanide leach processes, and depositing 100 million tons of contaminated mining materials behind a 400-foot high dam in the undisturbed Meadow Creek valley, burying critical habitat for Bull Trout and Chinook Salmon. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for the unavoidable impacts; looming risks of tailings dam failure, acid mine drainage, and cyanide spills are another story.

Midas Gold representatives repeatedly claim that the Stibnite Gold Project will “address legacy environmental issues left by previous mining operators”.  Also, Midas Gold’s PR team often reminds people that “actions speak louder than words”. So, let’s take a look at the actions that Midas Gold Corporation has taken to date:

• Midas lobbied the Trump administration for permission to write their own Biological Assessment, a critical component of the federal environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act. 
• Midas lobbied at the state level to change Idaho code and allow a Corporate Guarantee as a financial assurance for cleanup of the project. If Midas goes bankrupt (which often happens to mining companies near the completion of mining operations), a Corporate Guarantee is worthless and would leave taxpayers with the cleanup bill. 
• Midas lobbied at the state level to change Idaho code regarding the use of cyanide for processing ore, a critical regulation for protecting water quality. 
• Midas filed a motion to stay and dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Nez Perce Tribe for illegally releasing pollutants into the EFSF Salmon River. 
• Midas filed a lawsuit against the Forest Service in August 2020, for pollution that comes from their own mining claims. 
• Midas promoted a misleading article from The Daily Caller, that made the false claim that “environmentalists are trying to block the cleanup of an abandoned Idaho mine that is leaking arsenic, antimony and other toxins into nearby rivers and streams.”

The lawsuit filed on August 18, 2020, by Midas Gold against the U.S. Forest Service, in addition to these other actions, undermines their own efforts to demonstrate transparency, goodwill, and that more mining can fix the problems caused by mining. 

Midas Gold continues with immense effort to convince Idahoans that their project will restore salmon to the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon River. IRU, along with many partner organizations, our members, and more, are skeptical. But what does the science tell us?

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Stibnite Gold Project, provides an answer to this ongoing debate.  The Stibnite Gold Project, as proposed by Midas Gold Corporation, will adversely impact Endangered Species Act listed Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and Bull Trout.

Unfortunately for Midas, this contradicts their narrative of a plan to “restore the site”. A critical premise for building support for their proposed project is to clean up legacy mining impacts, and restore fish passage for salmonids past the Glory Hole, or Yellow Pine Pit, to the upper East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River. Following years of scientific studies and environmental impact analysis recently published in the DEIS, the results demonstrate that even with backfilling the Glory Hole and stream restoration efforts, the irreversible damage caused by the Stibnite Gold Project will result in a net loss of suitable habitat for Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, and Bull Trout. The primary causes are destruction of habitat, increases in water temperatures, and decreases in streamflow from mining activities. That’s just if everything goes as planned. But as history has shown, most modern gold mines pollute water with accidental spills of contaminants.

Midas Gold has repeatedly made the false claim that they are the only entity capable of restoring the upper EFSF Salmon River. So, if actions speak louder than words, let’s take a brief look at the actions of other parties involved and truly invested in protecting and restoring the South Fork of the Salmon River:

The Nez Perce Tribe continues to work extensively to restore declining Chinook Salmon populations, and currently spend nearly $2.8 million a year to protect salmon and habitat in the South Fork Salmon River basin. Multiple government agencies have spent over $7 million on-site restoration since 1997, including removal of 35,000 cubic yards of tailings and restoration of 3,200-foot section of lower Meadow Creek. Upon successful completion of the project, former Krassel Ranger District Fish Biologist Mary Faurot stated, “Now that it’s cleaner up here, we’re feeling better about working on fixing the barrier down below (nearly vertical rocks left from mining operations which fish cannot get past)…and maybe getting back some populations of species like Chinook, steelhead, migratory bull trout, and migratory cutthroat.”

Both federal agencies and the Nez Perce Tribe have indicated that the restoration of fish passage at the Yellow Pine Pit (Glory Hole), which is on private land, is a near team possibility and priority. The tribe even submitted a fish passage project proposal to the 2007-2009 Northwest Power and Conservation Council Fish and Wildlife Provincial Review and was approved for funding, but the private land became inaccessible for the project when acquired by Midas Gold Corporation. Government agency and tribal efforts to restore the Stibnite area stopped in 2012, when new mineral exploration began by Midas Gold Corporation. 

Midas Gold’s Idaho team has done many positive things in the Valley County community in efforts to build alliances and support. When it comes to the claim that another large scale gold mine can “restore the site” at Stibnite, it’s clear that their actions, both to date and proposed, don’t pan out. If Midas Gold Corporation truly believes that they can “restore the site”, they need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a much better plan to do so.

From Idaho Rivers United: The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Stibnite Gold Project shows that Midas Gold Corporation’s proposal, if permitted, will disturb 3,423 acres of land (75% of which is public land) and miles of the South Fork of the Salmon River. In addition, over 13,000 acres of public land will be inaccessible during the nearly 20 year project lifecycle. The proposed project will harm ESA listed Bull Trout and Chinook Salmon by destroying critical spawning and rearing habitat, and will threaten irreplaceable recreational resources downstream of the project site. In response to the release of the DEIS, we urge you to make your voice heard.  Share your disappointment with the U.S. Forest Service’s failure to conduct a rigorous and fair environmental review and its dismissal of potential impacts to the Stibnite area using the comment tool at Idaho Rivers United. The U.S. Forest Service is accepting comments until October 28.

This article was originally posted on Idaho Rivers United and was shared with the author’s permission. For more information about protecting the South Fork and other river conservation efforts visit: Idaho Rivers United, American Whitewater, and Save the South Fork.