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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.”

March 21, 2021 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News Tagged With: Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Barbara Markovits, Brighter Community Planning & Consulting, carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, Chrystal Fuller, climate change, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Debbie Marlborough, Dustin O’Leary, Eastern Shore, Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, Fifteen Mile Stream mine, Harry Kelly, Highway 224, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), Killag River, Lawrence Goodland, mine tailings, Moose River, Moose River Consolidated Project, Moose River gold mine, Moose River Road, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia Department of Transport and Infrastructure Renewal, Nova Scotia Environment, Nova Scotia Salmon Association (NSSA), Scraggy Lake, Sherbrooke, St Barbara Ltd, St. Mary's River, Touquoy mine, Veronica Chisholm, West River Sheet Harbour, wildlife

Sacrificing wild Atlantic salmon for gold

A project that is undoing environmental damage from acid rain finds itself under threat from a gold mine proposed for Beaver Dam.

March 4, 2021 By Joan Baxter 6 Comments

We’re standing on the snow-covered banks of the Killag River beside the lime doser, a white silo that has been calibrated with intricate controls to apply just the right amount of lime into the river every day. Edmund Halfyard, a biologist working with the Nova Scotia Salmon Association, tells me that the “right amount” — […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: acid rain, acidification, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Atlantic Salmon Federation, Atle Hindar, Beaver Dam, Cameron Flowage, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Craig Jetson, Dustin O’Leary, Edmund Halfyard, environmental charges, Fifteen Mile Stream mine, gold mine, Greenland, helicopter, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), Jeff Hutchings, Jillian Leonard, Keef Brook, Killag River, lime doser, liming, Marinette, Mi'kmaw Conservation Group, Mike Crosby, Moose River Consolidated Project, Moose River gold mine, Newfoundland, Northern Pulp, Northern Timber, Norway, Nova Scotia Power, Nova Scotia Salmon Association (NSSA), NS Department of Lands and Forestry, proposed Beaver Dam mine, smolts, Species at Risk, St Barbara Ltd, St. Mary's River, Tent Brook, Touquoy mine, Trout Nova Scotia, US Clean Air Act, West River Sheet Harbour, wild Atlantic salmon

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.

February 5, 2021 By Joan Baxter 5 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Aaron Beswick, Alex Barkley, Archibald Lake, Archibald Lake Wilderness Area, Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency (ACOA), Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Beaver Dam, CBC, Chronicle Herald, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Craig Jetson, Credit Suisse, Darmouth Provincial Court, DDV Gold, Department of lands and Forestry, Dustin O’Leary, Eastern Shore, Environmental Impact Statement, Fifteen Mile Stream mine, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Freedom of Information request, Friends of the St. Mary’s River, Goldman Sachs, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, J.P. Morgan, Joel Bakan, John Perkins, Krista Gillis, lobbyist, Lobbyists Registration Act, Margaret Anne McHugh, Maryse Belanger, Mi'kmaq, Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), Mitchell Glawson, Mogran Stanley, moose, Moose River, Moose River Consolidated Project, Narrative Research, NATIONAL Public Relations, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), NOPE campaign, Nova Scotia Environment, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, open pit gold mine, Ottawa, proposed Beaver Dam mine, protected wilderness areas, Sean Kirby, Sherbrooke, St Barbara Ltd, St. Mary's River, The Corporation, Tiéoulé Traoré, Touquoy mine, Tracy Barron, Wilderness Areas Protection Act

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Keonté Beals. Photo: Keke Beatz

Episode #21 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

The young R&B artist Keonté Beals — Tara’s former NSCC student, by the way — started out singing in church in North Preston and performing popular covers before digging into who he is an artist. On his debut album KING, he sings about love, loyalty, and authenticity. He zooms in for a chat about its creation, his children’s book, and how not even a pandemic can keep him down.

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month.

Please subscribe to The Tideline.

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.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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Recent posts

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  • Rankin refusal: No straight answers on Northwood April 16, 2021
  • Group asks for more funding for grief counselling: “Canadians have been robbed of goodbyes” April 16, 2021

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