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Public paying the price to clean up old gold mines

Anaconda Mining says the province indemnified it from any liabilities associated with the toxic historic tailings in Goldboro, and plans to mine around them, while Nova Scotians pay to clean them up.

March 23, 2022 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

  The gold rush in Upper Seal Harbour near Goldboro began with the discovery of gold in 1892 by a fellow named Howard Richardson. For the next 65 years, gold miners dug rock out of the earth in what was known as the “Richardson Belt” on the banks of Gold Brook Lake in Guysborough County. […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Anaconda Mining, arsenic, CBC, Dartmouth, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR), Department of Public Works, Eastern Shore, Gold Brook, Gold Brook Lake, gold mining, Goldboro, Goldenville, Guysborough County, historic mines, Howard Richardson, indemnification, Kevin Bullock, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Lower Seal Harbour gold district, mercury, Michael Gorman, Mike Parsons, mine remediation, mine tailings, Montague gold mines, Municipality of the District of Guysborough, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC), Nova Scotia Lands, Orex Exploration, Pieridae Energy, SEDAR, Sherbrooke, Upper Seal Harbour gold mining district

Anaconda Mining joins the gold rush on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore

Part 1. What do we know about its plans for a new open pit mine in Goldboro (and haven't we been here before)?

February 10, 2022 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

Gold exploration and mining companies are lining up to get at Nova Scotia’s gold, as the province undergoes a fourth gold rush. In 2017, Atlantic Gold opened the province’s first-ever open pit gold mine in Moose River, with plans to open three more along the Eastern Shore, in what it peddled to investors as its […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: acid rock drainage, Anaconda Mining, arsenic, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Aurelius Minerals, CN Tower, corporate capture, Dartmouth, Department of Energy and Mines, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, Eastern Shore Forest Watch, ESTMA, expropriation, Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), focus report, Fogarty’s Cove, FOIPOP, Geological Survey of Canada, gold, Gold Brook Lake, gold mine, Goldboro, Goldenville, historic tailings, history gold mining districts, Howard Richardson, Joan Kuyek, Joel Bakan, Kevin Bullock, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Lloyd Hines, man camp, Margaret Miller, Maritime Launch Services, Meguma Gold, mercury, Mi’kmaq Grassroots Grandmothers, Mike Parsons, mine tailings, Mineral Resources Act, Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), MiningWatch Canada, Montague Mines, Moose River, Morien Resources, Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG), Natural Resources Canada, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, open pit gold mine, Pieridae Energy, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), reclamation plan, regulatory capture, St Barbara Ltd, Stan Rogers, The Corporation, Toronto, Touquoy gold mine, Transport and Infrastructure Renewal, Unearthing Justice, Vernon Pitts, Vulcan Resources, waste rock

Who benefits from Atlantic Gold’s Nova Scotia operations?

Firm with gold mines on the Eastern Shore pays no taxes and low wages to its employees while it gets large government subsidies and maximizes profits. Oh, and it will leave toxic mine tailings that will be with us forever.

June 21, 2021 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

In mid-May, Laird Brownlie, head of external affairs for Australia’s St Barbara Ltd that acquired Atlantic Gold and its mining operations in Nova Scotia in 2019 for $722 million, sent out an email — a “special bulletin” — about the company’s proposed modifications at its Touquoy open pit gold mine in Moose River. Brownlie’s message […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation Tagged With: Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Australia, Barb Bryden, Brenna Reynolds, Burkina Faso, Charlier Parker, clay borrow pit, Cochrane Hill, corporate taxes, Craig Hudson, Darrell Dexter, DDV Gold, Deborah Bayer, Department of Energy and Mines (DEM), Dustin O’Leary, Earthworks, Eastern Shore, Ellen Moore, Environment Act, Environmental Approval, environmental charges, Environmental Impact Statement, Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), Fifteen Mile Stream mine, Fisheries Act, FOIPOP, Frances Willick, Freedom of Information request, fuel taxes, gold mine, Highway 7, IAMGOLD, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), industrial approval, information session, James Wilt, Jennifer Henderson, Jim Millard, John Perkins, KPMG, Laird Browlie, land expropriation, Leonora mine, LinkedIn, Lloyd Hines, MacGregors Industrial Group, Mario Fortunato, Mi'kmaq, mine tailings, Mineral Resources Development Fund, Minerals Incentive Program, Moose River, Moose River Consolidated Project, Moose River Gold Mines Provincial Park, Moose River Road, Natural Resources Canada, NDP, net smelter royalty rate, net value royalty rate, Nova Scotia Environment (NSE), NS Power, open pit gold mine, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Paul Palmeter, Pieridae Energy, PNG Mineral Resources Authority, PowerPoint, proposed Beaver Dam mine, RCMP, Robert Grant, royalties, Sara Wallace, Sherbrooke, Simberi mine, St Barbara Ltd, St. Mary's River, Stantec, Steve Streatch, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), tailings management facility (TMF), taxes, The Narwhal, Touquoy mine, Transportation and Active Transit (TAT), United Nations Human Development Index, United Steelworkers union, waste rock storage area

Pieridae’s pipe dream

Pieridae Energy’s plans for a liquified natural gas plant in Nova Scotia sit in the sweet spot of an elaborate Rube Goldberg financing machine that requires Shell Oil offloading some aging gas wells in Alberta to a cash-strapped energy company living on the hope of sky-high gas costs in Germany years from now.

April 13, 2021 By Joan Baxter 4 Comments

If the Halifax Examiner inbox is anything to go by, there is no shortage of critics of Pieridae Energy and its plans to pipe natural gas into Nova Scotia, build a $10-billion liquefied natural gas plant in Goldboro on the province’s Eastern Shore, and then ship the LNG to Germany, a project the Halifax Examiner […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, News Tagged With: Alberta, Alberta Energy Regulator, Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project, Alfred Sorensen, Andrew Nikiforuk, Andy Gheorghiu, carbon offsetting, climate emergency, Environment Minister Randy Delorey, Environnement Vert Plus, Erikson National Energy, Fortum, fracked gas, Fracking, German Ministry of Economics and Energy, Germany, Goldboro LNG plant, greenhouse gas emissions, James Millar, Ken Summers, Larry Hughes, liquefied natural gas, Mark Dorin, Mark Horrox, natural gas, Nova Scotia Environment, Pascal Bergeron, Pieridae Energy, Polluter Pay Federation, Premier Iain Rankin, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Quebec Environmental Law Centre, Regan Boychuk, Shell Canada, SLAPP, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, The Tyee, Third Eye Capital, Thomas Ciz, Uniper, US Department of Energy

The Goldboro Gamble

Part 2: Germans and Canadians join to oppose proposed Nova Scotian liquid natural gas plant that “nobody needs."

October 20, 2020 By Joan Baxter 4 Comments

In Part 2 of this two-part series about the Goldboro LNG project, the Halifax Examiner delves into some of the opposition to the proposal, where it is coming from, and what the project means for Nova Scotia.  When Pieridae Energy announced in 2018 that it had received “written confirmation of eligibility in principle” for “prospective” […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: Alfred Sorensen, Allan Murphy, Andy Gheorghiu, Canadian Propane, Citizen’s Oil and Gas Council, Constantin Zerger, Food and Water Action Europe, Geoffrey Morgan, Goldboro LNG plant, Guysborough Communities Coalition, Guysborough Journal, Helen Murphy, James Millar, Ken Summers, KfW IPEX, Larry Hughes, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Mike Sawyer, Netukulimk, Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition (NOFRAC), Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin, Pieridae Energy, Regine Richter, Shell Canada, Sustainable Development Goals Act, Umwelthilfe, Uniper, Urgewald

The Goldboro Gamble

Part 1: For nearly a decade, Alfred Sorensen has been assuring us that the multi-billion Goldboro LNG plant is a done deal. But his supposed German financiers aren't as certain as Sorenson pretends, and his company struggles to find a secure source of gas.

October 19, 2020 By Joan Baxter 5 Comments

Recent news that Calgary-based Pieridae Energy’s has found a new engineering firm for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Goldboro, and worked out an agreement with a Calgary firm and the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs to build and operate a huge work camp at the site, has prompted headlines that suggest […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: AIMCo, Alberta Energy Regulator, Alfred Sorensen, Andrew Nikiforuk, Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, Bear Head LNG, Bechtel, Black Diamond Group, Chief Terrance Paul, Citizen’s Oil and Gas Council, Duke Energy, Environment Minister Randy Delorey, Goldboro LNG plant, Greta Thunberg, Kellogg Brown & Root, Keltic Petrochemicals, Kitimat, Korbinian Wagner, Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, lobbyist registry, Mike Sawyer, Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan, Nigel Bankes, Pieridae Energy, Press Progress, Roger Taylor, Sean Lewis, Shaun Fluker, Shell Canada, Stephen Lund, The Tyee, Uniper Global Commodities, Wskijnu’k Mtmo’taqnuow Agency Ltd

St. Barbara still intends to acquire Atlantic Gold

The violent arrest of John Perkins has put the critical spotlight on gold mining on the Eastern Shore, but for the mining companies, operating in low-regulation and low-royalty Nova Scotia is, well, a gold mine.

June 3, 2019 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

St. Barbara Limited, the Australian gold mining company that recently announced it was acquiring Atlantic Gold in a $722 million dollar deal, seems to be unfazed by the RCMP’s violent arrest of a citizen last week at a public information session Atlantic Gold was hosting in Sherbrooke (covered by the Halifax Examiner here and here). […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: Andrew Bell, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Gold and RCMP, Atlantic Gold information session, Ben Wilson, Bonnie Sutherland, David Brady, Ducks Unlimited Canada, Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, Extractive Industries Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), gold mining, John Perkins, Lee Millett, Lisa Croteau, Maryse Belanger, Mining Journal, Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, No Open Pit Excavation (NOPE), Nova Scotia Nature Trust, Paul Sobey, Pieridae Energy, Sobey family, St. Barbara Limited, Steven Dean, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), Tony Woodfine

The corporate kleptocracy takes aim at Nova Scotia

Morning File, Friday, August 31, 2018

August 31, 2018 By Joan Baxter 5 Comments

Hi, I’m Joan Baxter, a Nova Scotian journalist and author. Some of my books are actually quite upbeat, proving that I’m not always a bearer of bad news. News 1. Abandoned tidal turbine Jennifer Henderson updates the situation of the abandoned tidal turbine in the Minas Basin in this article for the Examiner. After a […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Aaron Beswick, Alfred Sorensen, Allan Murphy, Ardath Whynacht, Bianca Mercer, big oil and public money, Bruce Nunn, Burnside jail protest, climate change, Darren Porter, David Patriquin, dead porpoise, El Jones, Fracking, Glyphosate, Goldboro LNG plant, Helen Murphy, herbicide spraying, Jessica Chin, Joan Baxter, Josh Healey, Ken Summers, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Marla MacInnis, Matthew Boyd, Maurice Reed, NOFRAC Nova Scotia, Paul McLeod, Peter Watts, Pieridae Energy, prisoner protest, Robert Devet, Sandra Hannebohm, Sarah Gillis, Sarah Ritchie, Stacey Rudderham, Stephen Kimber, Swissair crash, tidal turbine abandoned, Will Weissart, worst roads in Canada

PRICED OUT

A collage of various housing options in HRM, including co-ops, apartment buildings, shelters, and tents
PRICED OUT is the Examiner’s investigative reporting project focused on the housing crisis.

You can learn about the project, including how we’re asking readers to direct our reporting, our published articles, and what we’re working on, on the PRICED OUT homepage.

2020 mass murders

Nine images illustrating the locations, maps, and memorials of the mass shootings

All of the Halifax Examiner’s reporting on the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020, and recent articles on the Mass Casualty Commission and newly-released documents.

Updated regularly.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Two young white women, one with dark hair and one blonde, smile at the camera on a sunny spring day.

Episode 79 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne, is published.

Grace McNutt and Linnea Swinimer are the Minute Women, two Haligonians who host a podcast of the same name about Canadian history as seen through a lens of Heritage Minutes (minutewomenpodcast.ca). In a lively celebration of the show’s second birthday, they stop by to reveal how curling brought them together in podcast — and now BFF — form, their favourite Minutes, that time they thought Jean Chretien was dead, and the impact their show has had. Plus music from brand-new ECMA winners Hillsburn and Zamani.

Listen to the episode here.

Check out some of the past episodes here.

Subscribe to the podcast to get episodes automatically downloaded to your device — there’s a great instructional article here. Email Suzanne for help.

You can reach Tara here.

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Recent posts

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