To keep this hole dry and the ore accessible, miners will have to pump out 10,000 to 15,000 gallons of water every minute. That's enough water to fill a competition swimming pool every fifteen minutes. After mining, the joint venture will leave the pit to partially fill with degraded water. Its size, its location, and its use of a chemical that has caused environmental disasters at mines worldwide, leave serious doubts. The Cyanide Folly Cyanide is a highly toxic substance, even in minute amounts.
Mining companies spray cyanide over huge heaps of low-grade ore to extract gold.
Every mine that uses this heap-leach method has leaked cyanide into nearby streams and aquifers where it can persist for a long time. In Summitville, Colorado, a cyanide heap-leach mine had a disastrous leak. Even in dilute solutions, cyanide kills fish and other life forms. A leak of this chemical poison into the Blackfoot could finish the river for decades. Today, this native trout has vanished from most of its range and its numbers continue to dwindle.