Latest update: On Monday morning (Aug. 30), we published an update (below) with a statement from Dustin O’Leary, spokesperson for Atlantic Gold and Atlantic Mining NS, subsidiaries of the Australian company St Barbara that owns the open pit Touquoy gold mine in Moose River, HRM. O’Leary stated that “there is no leak of any kind […]
The Examiner quizzed the four main political parties on gold mining issues. Here are their responses.
Nova Scotia is experiencing a 21st century gold rush. Unlike the three previous gold rushes in the province in the 1800s and 1900s, this one involves a whole new kind of destructive extractive industry — open pit gold mines so massive they can be seen from outer space. These mines leave behind mountains of toxic […]
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.
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 […]
Atlantic Gold plans to mine “paradise”
Citizens near Beaver Dam and Moose River raise the alarm about the high environmental costs of open pit gold mines in eastern Nova Scotia, the province’s “sacrifice zone.”
Debbie Marlborough lives just 15 kilometres as the crow flies — 50 kilometres by road — from the giant crater, massive tailings pond, and mountains of waste rock at Atlantic Gold’s Touquoy open pit gold mine in Moose River. She’s never been able to make herself go and see it. Marlborough says that even though […]
Atlantic Gold’s lobbying blitz
The company is now in court on charges of harming the environment, regulators are casting a wary eye at its plans for future environmental protection, and investors are getting worried, so Atlantic Gold has hired a lobbyist to fast track federal approval of its Nova Scotia projects.
Last year it was a propaganda blitz. For several weeks in the spring of 2020, Atlantic Gold, which operates an open pit gold mine in Moose River in the Halifax Regional Municipality and wants to open three more along the Eastern Shore, bombarded people in Nova Scotia with its PR. Atlantic Gold’s owner, Australia’s St […]
After reading a Halifax Examiner article, two cops showed up at an author reading at Mount Allison University
Joan Kuyek wrote a book about communities protecting themselves from mining companies, and so the RCMP sicced its Criminal Intelligence Section on her.
It was an innocuous event, as most book launches are, but the Royal Canadian Mounted Police didn’t think so, and two officers in plain clothes showed up at Hart Hall at Mount Allison University, apparently concerned by what they read in this Halifax Examiner story and in three Facebook posts advertising the launch. It’s a […]
Nova Scotia has laid charges for 32 environmental infractions against Atlantic Gold
Citizens raise concerns about environmental impacts of gold mining in Nova Scotia's moose country.
Much attention is focused on Crown land in Digby County that is threatened by logging operations. And last week, nine people from Extinction Rebellion were arrested while trying to prevent contractors in the employ of the WestFor consortium from accessing the public forest and moose habitat slated for cutting. But in another part of the […]
Whale sanctuary coming to Port Hilford
Morning File, Wednesday, February 26, 2020
News 1. Nova Scotia budget The Nova Scotia government has announced a budget for spending a projected $11.6 billion in revenue, with plans for a $55 million surplus in the 2020-21 fiscal year. The CBC’s Michael Gorman outlines the government’s announced highlights, including spending increases (the Nova Scotia Health Authority budget increases by $77.7 million) […]
Friends of St. Mary’s River say “NOPE” to Atlantic Gold
For many years, when the St. Mary’s River Association (or SMRA) held meetings in Sherbrooke on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, the group members’ purpose was primarily to report on the headway they were making in their efforts to achieve their vision of “Health for our river, the Atlantic salmon and our community.” Members would gather […]