Revised Final Environmental Study Report (24 MB) - Gold Canyon ...

Gold Canyon Resources Inc: Final Environmental Study Report Review
March 30, 2013
Underwater drilling by GCU has been occurring within the Springpole area for many
years, without monitoring or environmental assessment. Drilling activities are
associated with causing increased leaching of heavy metals into water, thus
potentially explaining why there are higher levels of heavy metals observed within
Springpole study area.
http://www.safewater.org/PDFS/resourcesknowthefacts/Mining+and+Water+Pollution.p
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3) Toxicity testing only analyzed 3 surface water sites for acute toxicity to Daphnia
magna and Oncorhynchus mykiss, using pass/fail assessment.
Fish were not assessed for high levels of detected phosphorous, mercury,
cadmium and iron, which were detected as high from surface water analysis;
Deep water samples were not assessed for acute toxicity to Daphnia magna and
Oncorhynchus mykiss;
Reference material used to interpret toxicity results are outdated; 1989, 2000;
Should have conducted a combination of toxicity tests on varied species;
o Subchronic toxicity
o Chronic toxicity
o Carcinogenicity
o Reproductive toxicity
o Developmental toxicity
o Neurotoxicity
o Genetic toxicity
Even though toxicity testing was extremely limited, the technical report made the
following statement: “Toxicity tests performed on water collected from Springpole Lake
indicated that it was non-lethal to the species Daphnia magna and Oncorhynchus mykiss, as
no mortalities were reported. This suggests that Springpole Lake is currently capable of
supporting a healthy aquatic ecosystem with no acute toxicity (Aquatic Baseline Report
2011, page 79).”
As stated previously in this report, lack of data and poor methodology do not provide
justification to arrive at conclusions not supported by the evidence, as was the case with
the aquatics baseline studies.
Aside from water quality issues, there is the potential for deforestation to lead to other
potential water related issues, causing alteration and destruction to aquatic habitat;
increased sedimentation, erosion, etc. The below table summarizes all the issues
identified within the ESR which pose a serious risk to aquatic habitat, and are not
insignificant.
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