16 MDMER regulations I Flashcards
what are the connections of environmental practitioners?
what is the connections between this lecture and the next?
what are the purposes of this lecture and the next?
to provide an overview of the metal and diamond mining effluent regulations (MDMER) and associated monitoring requirements
what is the outcome of this lecture?
students should be able to answer the following:
-who administer the MDMER?
-what is the intent (objective) of the MDMER?
-under what conditions does MDMER apply?
-what are the main elements of MDMER and what are the requirements of each element?
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what and where are all the mining zones in canada?
what is the table of the capital expenditures for mineral resource development in 2020 (in millions)?
what is the table of value of canadian mineral production by region (excluding petroleum and natural gas)?
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what is canada’s world ranking in mineral production (2020)?
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what is the table of metal mining establishments in canada by mineral and region?
what cannot happen without mining?
the transition to a green economy cannot happen without mining
what is the Fisheries Act (1868)?
-among other things, this Act is intended to protect fish habitat and prevent pollution
-it prohibits the deposit of deleterious substances into waters frequented by fish unless authorized
deleterious substance (as defined in the Fisheries Act) means:
-any substance that, if added to any water would degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the quality of that water so that it is rendered deleterious to fish or fish habitat or to the use by man of fish that frequent water, or
-any water that contains a substance in such quantity or concentration, or that has been so treated, processed or changed, by hear or other means, from natural state that it would, if added to any other water, degrade or alter or form part of a process of degradation or alteration of the quality of that water so that it is rendered or is likely to be rendered deleterious to fish or fish habitat or to the use by man of fish that frequent that water
what is considered the deposition?
deposit
-any discharging, spraying, releasing, spilling, leaking, seeping, pouring, emitting, emptying, throwing, dumping or placing
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what is the fish habitat?
-spawning grounds and nursery, rearing, food supply and migration areas on which fish depend directly or indirectly in order to carry out their life processes (everything, not just physical location)
what is the MDMER?
metal and diamond mining effluent regulations (MDMER)
-Canada’s metal mining liquid effluent regulations were promulgated in 1977 under the authority of the Fisheries Act and updated in 2002 (metal mining effluent regulations or MMER)
-objective: these regulations were designed to limit the deposit of deleterious substances into waters frequented by fish from new, expanded, and reopened metal mines and diamond mines
what is the application of MDMER?
-the MDMER applies to all metal or diamond mines in Canada that have effluent discharge exceeding 50 m^3 per day and discharge a deleterious substance
-MDMER apply to all of Canada, but not all provinces have metal and diamond mines
what is mine water effluent?
water that is pumped from or flows out of any
-open pit
-underground workings
-solution chambers
what are hydrometallurgical facility effluent?
-acidic leaching
-solution concentration
-recovery of metals by means of aqueous chemical methods
-tailing slurries
-and anything else
what is milling facility effluent?
-crushing or grinding of ore or kimberlite;
-processing of uranium ore or uranium enriched solution
-processing of tailings
what is the final discharge point?
what are tailings? what is overburden?
tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore
-tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed
what are tailings impoundment?
the owner or operator of a mine may deposit waste rock, acutely lethal effluent or effluent of any pH and containing any concentration of deleterious substance into a tailings impoundment area that is either:
a) a water or place set out in schedule 2; or
b) a disposal area that is confined by anthropogenic or natural structures or by both
what is the authority to deposit in water?
the owner or operator of a mine is authorized to deposit and effluent containing any deleterious substance in any water if:
a) the concentration of the deleterious substance in the effluent does not exceed the maximum authorized concentrations that are set
b)the pH of the effluent is equal to or greater than 6.0 but is not greater than 9.5; and
c) the effluent is not acutely lethal
what is effluent monitoring (compliance)?
i) chemistry (a and b)
ii) acute toxicity
what is the chemistry of effluent monitoring?
i) chemistry
under the MDMER, authorized effluent concentration limits are set for:
-metals: arsenic, copper, lead, nickel, zinc
-cyanide
-un-ionized ammonia (NH3, which is a neurotoxin and is found in explosives)
-total suspended solids (TSS)
-a defined range for pH
-radiation from radium-226
what is the acute toxicity of effluent monitoring?
-mines are required to monitor the acute lethality of effluent to rainbow trout (96h) and daphnia magna (48hr) in accordance with prescribed reference methods (freshwater)
-if depositing salty effluent to a marine environment, also test threespine stickleback (96hr) and acartia tonsa (48hr)
what is the table of MDMER authorized limits of deleterious substances?
all metal/diamond mines are required to conduct ________________
environmental effects monitoring programs to identify any adverse effects of their effluent on fish, fish habitat, and the use of fisheries resources
what was the tipping point to enact the Fisheries Act?
sawdust was major reason for fisheries act
-fishing was very big in 1880’s so boat industry was massive, which needed large amounts of wood
-put alot of sawdust into river (woodwaste)
-river would blow up due to methane pockets from sawdust
