Mining

Idaho has a long history of mining, but many of these mines have polluted streams and contaminated landscapes. According the the Environmental Protection Agency, 40% of watersheds in the West are contaminated by mining activity. We need the materials provided by mining, but the health of our communities also depends on providing clean water for our families.

The Idaho Conservation League works to ensure  that mining activities don’t threaten human health and Idaho’s clean water. We scrutinize proposed new mines, improving those that are acceptable and fighting those that are not in Idaho’s best interests.

Our Current Priorities

• Protecting the Boise River from industrial mining. More than 20% of Boise’s drinking water comes from the Boise River. Proposed mining operations in the headwaters could contaminate our river with arsenic, acid mine drainage or hazardous chemicals such as diesel fuel.
• Mosquito Gold wants to develop “the world’s largest open-pit accessible” molybdenum (or moly) mine in the Boise River headwaters near Idaho City. The CuMo Mine could dwarf the existing Thompson Creek mine near Clayton and threaten the Boise River watershed with billions of tons of potentially toxic mine waste. 
• Atlanta Gold has dropped plans for its large open-pit, cyanide leach mine on public land in favor of a series of smaller open pits and underground workings on private land. Atlanta operates a pilot water treatment facility to remove arsenic from past mining activity, but the facility is failing to meet water quality standards. In 2011, ICL successfully held Atlanta Gold accountable for illegally leaking arsenic into Boise River headwaters. 

• Protecting the Salmon River from destructive instream mining. The Salmon River is one of Idaho's crown jewels. From its headwaters in Central Idaho to its confluence with the Snake River in Hells Canyon, the clean, cold waters of the Salmon belong to all of us and are part of the reason we love Idaho. The river, one of America's longest undammed rivers, provides habitat for endangered populations of sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon, steelhead trout and bull trout. Because the state designated the river navigable, the bed is supposed to be "managed for the public good."
• A gravel mine in the bed of the Salmon River and commercial and recreational suction dredge mining projects reduce water quality, harm fish habitat, limit recreation, increase erosion and impair natural river hydraulics.
  
• Protecting Idaho children from mercury poisoning. Huge gold-processing facilities in Nevada emit toxic mercury into the air, which drifts over southern Idaho where the mercury settles into our waterways and makes Idaho fish unsafe to eat.
• Reforming the Mining Law of 1872. Mining on public land is managed under the archaic 1872 Mining Law. We want to level the playing field so local community concerns such as community drinking water, agriculture, fish and wildlife, and recreation are finally given equal consideration.
• Cleaning up toxic messes. In the phosphate-mining region of southeastern Idaho, toxic levels of selenium released by mining have contaminated the water and soil, killing livestock and poisoning fisheries. Those responsible need to follow through with commitments to clean up these poisoned streams and prevent future pollution.
• Protecting the South Fork Clearwater River from the Buffalo Gulch Cyanide Leach Mine near Elk City. This proposed gold mine threatens the domestic water supply of local residents and a critical waterway for salmon and steelhead.
• Safeguarding the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness from the Golden Hand Mine near Big Creek. Besides degrading the wilderness, reconstructing this long-abandoned gold mine could contaminate important spawning habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead.
• Monitoring the Idaho Cobalt Project near Salmon. This small underground cobalt mine has significantly raised the bar compared to past mining projects. We want to make sure that the mining company follows through with its commitments to protect water quality.