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Metal companies dump 180 Million Tons of toxic into water bodies every year

The amount of WHY TAILINGS tailings dumped ARE TOXIC into rivers, lakes, and oceans Naturally occurring elements in crushed rock become toxic could fill when exposed from mining: 1.3 million shipping containers arsenic Additives used in every year. lead processing: mercury petroleum byproducts sulfuric acid cyanide

WHAT’S AT STAKE

It’s cheap for companies to dump waste into oceans, rivers and lakes. But the ecological costs are high. Human health is at risk as metals and chemicals increase in concentration as they travel up the food chain.

Marine life dosed Contamination can spread from with toxic heavy Clogged river rivers to floodplains and affect metals and milling channels are forced grazing livestock. chemicals and to change course, smothered by and tailings have Mine wastes originally dumped murkiness from smothered and into rivers have contaminated suspended particles flooded vast areas home drinking water. cutting off the supply of wetlands and of water and oxygen. forests.

7 HOT SPOTS FOR TAILINGS DUMPING

Norwegian fjords Alaska Lower Slate Lake Canadian lakes Frying Pan Lake Turkey Black Sea

Papua New Guinea WHO DUMPS WASTE Luise Harbor INTO NATURAL Senunu Bay Pigiput Bay WATER BODIES? Chile Otomina and Ajkwa rivers Fly River Auga River Barrick (Canada) Basamuk Bay BHP Billiton (Australia/UK) Freeport-McMoRan and Gold (USA) Goldcorp (Canada) The top three mines that dump tailings into Newcrest Mining (Australia) bodies of water account for 86% of the tailings Newmont Mining (USA) 86% dumped into bodies of water each year: (UK/Australia) Teck (Canada) 1. Freeport McMoRan and Rio Tinto’s in West , Indonesia Vale (Brazil) 2. Newmont Sumitomo Mining’s in Indonesia Highlands Pacific (Australia) 3. Ok Tedi Mining Ltd.’s mine in Papua New Guinea PanAust (Australia)

earthworksaction.org 2016

Source: “Troubled Waters” 2012 report, Earthworks and MineWatch Canada