Modern treaties, increased self-government, new environmental assessment rules, co-management bodies, and increased recognition and respect of Indigenous rights make it possible for northern communities to exert some control over extractive industries. Whether these industries can increase the well-being and sustainability of Canada’s Arctic communities, however, is still open to question. Extractive Industry and the Sustainability of Canada’s Arctic Communities delves into the final research findings of the Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic project which attempted to determine what was required for extractive industry to benefit northern communities. Drawing on case studies, this book explores how northern communities can capture and distribute a fairer share of financial benefits, how they can use extractive activities for business development, the problems and possibilities of employment and training opportunities, and the impacts on gender relations. It also considers fly-in fly-out work patterns, subsistence activities, housing, post-mine clean-up activities, waste management, and ways of monitoring positive and negative impacts. While extractive industries could potentially help improve the sustainability of Canada’s Arctic, many issues stand in the way, most notably power imbalances that limit the ability of Indigenous Peoples to equitably participate in their governance. Extractive Industry and the Sustainability of Canada’s Arctic Communities emphasizes the general need to determine how new institutions and processes, which are largely imported from the south, can be adapted to allow for a more authentic participation from the Indigenous Peoples of Canada’s Arctic.

The frontiers of extraction are expanding rapidly, driven by a growing demand for minerals and metals that is often motivated by sustainability considerations. Two volumes of International Development Policy are dedicated to the paradoxes and futures of green extractivism, with analyses of experiences from five continents. In this, the second of the two volumes, the 22 authors, using different conceptual approaches and in different empirical contexts, demonstrate the alarming obduracy of the logic of extractivism, even - and perhaps especially - in the growing support for the so-called green transition. The authors highlight the complex and enduring legacies of resource extraction and the urgent need to move beyond extractive models of development towards alternative pathways that prioritise social justice, environmental sustainability, democratic governance and the well-being of both humans and non-humans. They also caution us against the assumption that anti-extraction is anti-extractivist, that post-extraction is post-extractivism, and they critically attune us to the systemic nature of extractivism in ways that both connect and transcend any particular site or scale. This volume accompanies IDP 15, The Lives of Extraction: Identities, Communities, and the Politics of Place.

Describes operational activities and associated environmental concerns of this industrial sector. The document applies to the complete life cycle of mining, from exploration to mine closure, and environmental management practices are recommended to mitigate the identified environmental concerns. The recommended practices in the Code include the development and implementation of environmental management tools, the management of wastewater and mining wastes, and the prevention and control of environmental releases to air, water and land. The Code of Practice will be adopted by Environment Canada and others as a guidance document that recommends environmental protection practices for the mine life cycle. The Code applies specifically to metal mines but will provide useful guidance for all sectors of the mining industry.

Mining activities significantly impact the environment; they generate huge quantities of spoil, promote deforestation and the loss of agricultural production, as well as releasing contaminants that result in the loss of valuable soil resources. These negative impacts are now being recognized and this book shows how corrective action can be taken. The introduction of sustainable mining requires mitigation strategies that start during the mine planning stage and extend to after mineral extraction has ceased, and post-closure activities are being executed. Reclamation of Mine-impacted Land for Ecosystem Recovery covers: methods of rejuvenation of mine wasteland including different practices of physical, chemical and ecological engineering methods; benefits of rejuvenation: stabilization of land surfaces; pollution control; aesthetic improvement; general amenity; plant productivity; and carbon sequestration as well as restoring biodiversity and ecosystem function; best management practices and feasible solutions to the impacts of mining which will reduce the pollution load by reducing the discharge rate and the pollutant concentration; reduce erosion and sedimentation problems, and result in improved abandoned mine lands; and ecosystem development. The authors explain how mining impacts on soil properties and how soil carbon reserves/soil fertility can be restored when mining has ceased. Restoration involves a coordinated approach that recognizes the importance of key soil properties to enable re-vegetation to take place rapidly and ecosystems to be established in a low cost and sustainable way. This book’s unique combination of the methods for reclamation technologies with policies and best practice worldwide will provide the background and the guidance needed by scientists, researchers and engineers engaged in land reclamation, as well as by industry managers.

Mine reclamation plan consists of ensuring that the physical structures that remain after mine closure do not impose a long-term hazard to public health and safety and the environment, which includes ensuring that the land and watercourses are returned to a safe and environmentally sound state and to an acceptable end use, considering the Best Available Technology Economically Achievable (BATEA).

The mining industry continues to be at the forefront of colonial dispossession around the world. It controls information about its intrinsic costs and benefits, propagates myths about its contribution to the economy, shapes government policy and regulation, and deals ruthlessly with its opponents. Brimming with case studies, anecdotes, resources, and illustrations, Unearthing Justice exposes the mining process and its externalized impacts on the environment, Indigenous Peoples, communities, workers, and governments. But, most importantly, the book shows how people are fighting back. Whether it is to stop a mine before it starts, to get an abandoned mine cleaned up, to change Laws and policy, or to mount a campaign to influence investors, Unearthing Justice is an essential handbook for anyone trying to protect the places and people they love.

The Northern Water Resources Studies Program is one of two programs funded by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) to deal with mining and the environment. Over the past two years, the Water Resources Division of DIAND has sponsored a series of workshops to review the current state of knowledge about the interactions between northern mineral development and aquatic ecosystems, to identify critical information or research gaps, and to devise a study program to fill those gaps. This report summarizes the findings of these workshops. It describes the environment of the Northwest Territories and Yukon; mineral development in the North and the potential impact from exploration, mine site development and operation, and closure and reclamation; and research needs and prospective studies on water resources, hydrological and physical processes, and biological and ecosystem processes.