I have a Return to Written Question 29-17(5), asked by Mr. Yakeleya on March 11, 2015, regarding impacts and benefits of mining.
Mr. Yakeleya asked the following questions:
1. Which mining companies contribute to non-
profit organizations
in
the
Northwest
Territories, and how much do they contribute?
Mining companies generally have an interest in contributing to community and local non-governmental organizations and support of community-driven initiatives. The Mining Association of Canada, through its program entitled “Towards Sustainable Mining," provides companies with a set of tools and indicators to ensure that key mining risks are managed. Social investment contributions are also committed to by mining companies through participation and impact benefit agreements.
It is not possible to provide exact dollar figures for financial contributions and/or in-kind support for NGOs only because programs and events may involve several organizations, and reporting on community support varies by company. For example, companies may list organizations and programs supported, but not dollar figures for each contribution.
In the NWT for the fiscal year 2012-2013, a total of $23 million was contributed by the three producing diamond mines. This dollar figure includes contributions made to individual events, festivals, traditional activities, raffles, community organizations, schools and support provided under private agreements.
Additional information on the programs and organizations that have received funding from the diamond mines can be found on page 11 of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines' "Measuring Success 2014: NWT Diamond Mines Continue to Create Benefits" report.
Mining exploration companies also contribute to non-profit organizations by providing financial, in-kind and volunteer support. These contributions are often made on a case-by-case basis from companies headquartered in various jurisdictions; therefore, there is no readily available summary available to speak to total contributions.
2. How many NWT residents who work for mining
companies active in the NWT live in communities other than Yellowknife?
Statistics on workforce residency provided by mining companies generally differentiate between northern and southern workforce and seldom include community details in their reports. Exploration companies typically seek to hire NWT residents to support and lead field research programs; however, exploration companies are not required to report on workforce residency. The Government of the Northwest Territories does have access to workforce residency data through its socio-economic agreements.
Available numbers on workforce residency indicate that in 2013 a total of 642 person years were
contributed by NWT residents working at the Diavik Diamond Mine and Snap Lake Mine together.
Yellowknife residents provided 482.9 person years, and all other NWT communities provided 159.1 person years to both mines in 2013.
During the first half of 2014, Dominion Diamond Mines (2012) Inc. reported that Yellowknife
residents provided 260.05 person years, and the communities 77.2 person years for the Diavik Mine. These numbers do not include contractor employment, which may include staff hired from NWT communities other than Yellowknife.
The Ekati Mine does not report employment by community, and in its 2013 SEA report, Ekati reported that 59 percent of employees were northern based, and of those, 60 percent were northern Aboriginals and 40 percent were northern non-Aboriginal.
Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a document entitled "Workforce Residency at Diavik Diamond Mine and Snap Lake Mine (2013)."
3. How many lakes have been lost to diamond
mines and how much water was drained from NWT lakes to accommodate diamond mines?
There are three diamond mines that are currently operating in the NWT and one mine currently under construction. These are:
Ekati Mine: To date, open pit mining is underway at five out of a total of eight kimberlite pipes located under small lakes. Some underground mining is also underway. The Jay Pipe Project is currently in environmental assessment.
Diavik: To date, open pit and underground mining has occurred at two out of the three kimberlite pipes located in shallow, near shore areas of Lac de Gras. The last pit, referred to as A21, will be developed in the coming years.
Snap Lake Mine: Fully underground mining of one kimberlite dike beneath Snap Lake.
Gahcho Kue Mine: Currently under construction and will require dewatering of sections of Kennady Lake to access three kimberlite pipes.
Of the three operating diamond mines, only one mine, Ekati, has drained entire lakes in order to conduct mining operations. Diavik only dewatered near shore lake sections that were cut off by ring dikes.
In total, five small lakes and two sections of another lake have been drained, accounting for removal of approximately 21,105,882 cubic metres of water.
Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a document entitled "Water Volumes at Ekati and Diavik Diamond Mines."
4. How many fish were lost when these lakes were
drained, and what has been done to compensate for the loss of fish habitat?
The approval to conduct fish-out activities and drain lakes was granted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, or DFO. These approvals were provided years before the recent changes to the Fisheries Act. DFO provided a Harmful Alteration, Disruption or Destruction, or HADD, authorization to those developments that triggered a Fisheries Act Section 35 authorization. The authorizations provided approval to drain a lake but also required compensation to ensure that DFO's No Net Loss Policy was achieved. That meant that DFO collected money to alter or augment fish habitat in other areas to compensate for the loss of habitat from draining entire lakes to mine kimberlite pipes. DFO should be contacted if additional details are required about the HADD and DFO's fish habitat augmentation efforts.
Regarding the number of fish removed from the lakes prior to draining them, DFO required that a fish-out plan be submitted for approval. The detailed information is retained by DFO. Generally the development plans required that fish be removed from the lakes prior to draining. Fish were measured and catalogued for monitoring and research purposes. Many of these fish were provided to local communities as per agreements made at that time. In addition, in some instances efforts were made to move fish to other lakes in order to reduce the number of fish lost.
Again, DFO should be contacted to provide additional details for all water bodies where fish-out activities occurred at the diamond mines.
Later today, at the appropriate time, I will table a document entitled "Number of Large Bodied Fish Removed from Lakes at the Ekati Diamond Mine."
5. What is the impact of winter roads to the
diamond mines on caribou herds?
Studies from Alaska, Norway and other regions have shown that caribou and reindeer tend to avoid roads and transmission lines up to a distance of about four to five kilometres, although the effect depends on the level of traffic. Relatively narrow roads with little traffic may act as a partial barrier when newly built, but caribou will eventually cross the road and get used to crossing the road. Roads with greater levels of traffic, especially large trucks, are avoided more than roads with limited traffic. In Norway, roads that are side by side with transmission lines are avoided more than single roads and may act as more complete barriers to caribou movement. Roads can also enable greater levels of hunter harvest, if the road is through an area that is used heavily by caribou.
Winter roads to Gameti and Wekweeti made hunter access to Bathurst caribou by pickup truck fairly
easy up to 2010, even when the herd had declined to lower numbers. Areas accessible by truck can result in heavier harvests than areas accessible only by skidoo.
Satellite radio-collar locations of Bathurst caribou since 1996 have indicated that there have been generally few caribou wintering near the winter roads to the existing diamond mines at Ekati, Diavik and Snap Lake; however, distribution of Bathurst caribou and caribou from neighbouring herds varies from one winter to the next.
Nevertheless, caribou can also be affected by a wide variety of natural and induced factors that include insect harassment, disease, weather, climate change, predation, harvesting, increased energetic costs related to avoidance of industrial development, such as roads, mines, communities and cumulative effects.
Officials from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and the NWT diamond mining companies participate in the ENR-led Bathurst Caribou Management Plan, and also participated in the Bathurst/Bluenose-East Barren-ground Caribou Technical Working Group that was tasked with reviewing information about the two herds and drafting recommended conservation actions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.