Canadian Mine Exploration Company Looks to Mine in Mid Coast

Submitted by Tony-Flags t3_119221t in Maine

A Canadian mining exploration company named Exiro came to Union and Warren last week to announce they have a lease to explore known (and unknown presumably) potential deposits of nickel, cobalt and copper.

The area they want to explore touches six ponds/lakes, all of which flow into the St George River, which flows through Union, Warren and Thomaston, and ultimately to the ocean.

The mining they are proposing is deep shaft mining that creates a large amount of sulphuric waste water, essentially battery acid. In the proposed mining area, 100% of residents rely on groundwater wells for their water supplies. The risk is simply too great.

We are asking people to reach out to their state representatives, no matter what district they are in, and to contact your Congressperson, again, in either district.

If you want to get involved, you can contact Citizens Against Residential Mining Activity (CARMA) at carma.maine@gmail.com

Thanks

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Comments

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TarantinoFan23 t1_j9k0k4y wrote

This will destroy maine and make a few people rich. But I am sure a lot of people will like it because destroying the environment makes liberals cry.

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ralphy1010 t1_j9k566g wrote

Cutting ones nose off to spite their own face is one of the most Maine moves ever.

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Adventurous_Gap_2092 t1_j9zfk3t wrote

I thought they were going to double osmosis the water and release it elsewhere? Mining has to happen. Is it better if it happens in other countries with slave labor and minimal environmental restrictions? Out of sight out of mind? I think this company is being careful but the insurance grant isn't long enough. They should sign a forever contract to keep cleaning up should something go wrong...and the water filtration needs to continue indefinitely . Maine taxpayers should be foot that bill.

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slothscantswim t1_j9mqubv wrote

Okay, who should I start harassing with letters?

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SadExtension524 t1_j9m557b wrote

If they can do that, why can't the people with the lithium deposit mine theirs?

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Hefty_Musician2402 t1_j9mjcrl wrote

Wait I’m not up to speed. Did the lithium people get denied? If so, that’s a ridiculous double standard. I’d rather NO mining but if it HAS to be done, I’d rather it at least benefit our economy

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JillStencil t1_j9ov27e wrote

Pembroke faced a similar issue and the town opted for a moritorium. Leaders there have language and resources to help other towns adopt mining moritoriums in their towns.

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Adventurous_Gap_2092 t1_j9zlnk5 wrote

Those metals are needed for the very machine you typed that on.

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Mainecunt t1_j9rg1ih wrote

Update: ive contacted the mining company as i have a large tract of land in the survey zone snd they are sending a rep out to talk to me tomorrow! Fingers crossed i can sell them my mineral rights for mucho $$$$! Drill baby drill! I just want to thank Rmaine for bringing this to my attention, yes north, south, white oak, seven tree, and the saint george river may be forever tainted but you mother fuckers wanna go all electric so i may as well take advantage while i can

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otakugrey t1_j9neus8 wrote

I'm seeing a lot of downvoting in here. Why is mining work bad? Everyone around me has seen good jobs go away and get replaced with a smaller number of low-wage tourism jobs. Everyone wants normal jobs again but everyone in this thread seems against it. I'm lost.

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lucianbelew t1_j9nlk5t wrote

The mining they are proposing is deep shaft mining that creates a large amount of sulphuric waste water, essentially battery acid. In the proposed mining area, 100% of residents rely on groundwater wells for their water supplies. The risk is simply too great.

In case you missed it the first time around.

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Tony-Flags OP t1_j9p20zi wrote

They bring in their own people from away for the good paying mining jobs, you know, people that are already trained and specialized in the industry. They aren't going to train a bunch of people from Union or Warren to do specialized mining jobs like explosives engineering for blasting for example.

At the town meeting they came to they said the jobs that would be provided would be cooks, cleaners, a few drivers, and nurses for all the miners that get injured. Someone pointed out that the area is already suffering a lack of cooks, cleaners and all sorts of health care professionals.

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ppitm t1_j9ls5ku wrote

> The mining they are proposing is deep shaft mining that creates a large amount of sulphuric waste water

So you're proposing strip mining instead?

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Majestic-Feedback541 t1_j9k9075 wrote

Ok, but why can't a Maine owned and operated company be created to do this? I say created because I honestly don't know if there's any mining companies in state.

Wouldn't that help create jobs, and boost our economy better than an outside company coming in?

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hosmosis t1_j9knijw wrote

A Maine owned/operated company likely wouldn’t resource mine in areas that would ruin the standard of living for fellow Mainers. That’s why out of state companies are pursuing this; because this specific initiative requires that you don’t care about the livelihood of the region after you make the profit.

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WayneSkylar_ t1_j9omp4c wrote

No exaggeration, 60+% of all global mining firms are Canadian. If mining is gonna happen, it will almost always be Canadian companies.

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DrGordonFreemanScD t1_j9ookz1 wrote

Create jobs. Make waste. Let government (AKA you and me) pay for cleanup. Rich people laugh at us all the way to the bank.

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Mainecunt t1_j9mgjta wrote

I live in the mining area, gonna contact the company to see if they want to buy the land/ mineral rights. Time to get rich bitch!

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Tricky-Ad8731 t1_j9k7n13 wrote

Whatever device you wrote your post on only exists because of mining projects like this.

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pm_me_ur_cutie_booty t1_j9ka0sw wrote

So we should poison people's drinking water for smart phones. Got it.

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Technical-Role-4346 t1_j9l4m55 wrote

No! We should poison other people’s water so we can have smart phones and electric cars

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respaaaaaj t1_j9l7eux wrote

Yeah why mine in the richest parts of the world where environmental protection laws are strong and prevention and cleanup technology is easily accessible when you can do it in poor countries where none of those things are true but no one in rich countries gives a shit about what happens to the people there

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psilosophist t1_j9m2aiw wrote

Oh good the living representation of the Matt Bors comic is here.

Way to go, Mr. Gotcha. May you rest easy tonight, knowing your noble mission was accomplished.

You really got ‘em.

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EngineerAugust t1_j9kd856 wrote

Object to mining? Stop using all electronics and you can live in the Stone Age. We need mining for the renewable energy industry and modern electronics to operate.

Maybe it’s possible the mining can be done in an environmentally sustainable way?

So sick of the NIMBY crowd.

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Tony-Flags OP t1_j9khqbu wrote

I'm all for things like more housing being built, more local industry, and yes, I would be fine with multi-unit housing units going in across the street from me, or next door. My road has trucking companies on it, car repair lots, multi-family housing, a waterproofing company, multiple commercial farms, all of that. Its fine. Great.

What am I not happy about? Having my water supply potentially poisoned forever if there is a big spill. This mine would be a drop in the bucket for global nickel production and will serve nothing more than to line the pockets of foreign mining corporations who will promptly fuck off and never come back here again. The St. George River is a wonderful natural resource that deserves to be protected. If blocking mining here causes your smartphone price to go up by 1/100th of a cent, then so be it.

If caring about the environment and local farmers and yes, my ability to live on my property and grow a garden to feed myself and my family is NIMBYism, then so be it.

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geomathMEW t1_j9l33hn wrote

or maybe, just maybe, the planned obsolescence of our electronic goods is afforded some blame. we would need far less of these materials if the components were built to last. we would need less mines if we did this.

personally, i make my devices last about a decade at least. and they work fine, while everyone i know need a new phone or computer every other year.

it sounds like the opposite of what youre told to do, but just never do any updates. i really feel like the updates, while you are told it is just endless security fixes, are really just there to bog down your device to require you get a new one.

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thirtythreeandme t1_j9knzwt wrote

Lol… NIMBY is now the catch all for shaming anyone for having reasonable boundaries. If we can’t create things without destroying our natural world then we need to rethink how we’re living. Also- do you even live in an area where the water could be contaminated?

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indyaj t1_j9l3v3j wrote

>Maybe it’s possible the mining can be done in an environmentally sustainable way?

LOL. No. There is no such thing as mining in an environmentally sustainable way. There's mining and then there's clean up. What happens in between is devastating to the environment, real estate values, recreation, etc.

We can't have mines everywhere and there are mine-able materials everywhere. Just because we have a gas station in the neighborhood doesn't mean we need a refinery next to it.

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Wear_Overall t1_j9mypvf wrote

I’m so sick of myopic greed-heads who are all-too-willing to destroy the lives of others just to line their own pockets.

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TarantinoFan23 t1_j9l4ldh wrote

The mining can absolutely be done in a safe way. But nobody would mine because it would cost too much. So if you see a mine that is profitable, it is because it is not safe.

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psilosophist t1_j9m23w4 wrote

“Maybe it’s possible the mining can be done in an environmentally sustainable way?”

Has there even been an example of environmentally sustainable extractive industry? Kind of goes against the whole “destroying tons of earth and using caustic chemicals to separate small amounts of minerals from large amounts of rock” process that involves mining.

Also not sure if you’ve been informed but mining companies don’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to caring about…much of anything, including environmental protection or worker safety.

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