MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

Working Together to Save Lake Baikal

The Mongolia/Buryatia Mining Exchange was a first-of-its-kind opportunity for citizen leaders from neighboring, but isolated, regions in Mongolia and Buryatia to meet, work together, and lay a foundation for future cooperation. The exchange was planned and conducted in cooperation with the Buryat Regional Organization on Baikal (BRO-Baikal), Ulan-Ude, Russia; the Mongolia Nature Protection Coalition (MNPC), Ulan Bataar, Mongolia; Pacific Environment, San Francisco, CA; Baikalwatch, San Francisco, CA; and Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC). Activities during the three-week exchange focused on developing programs to address mining and mineral development activities in the basin of the largest tributary to Lake Baikal, called the Selenge River in Mongolia and the Selenga in Russia.

The first part of the Exchange was hosted by MNPC and one of its member organizations, Ardin Elich, in the town of Yeroo in north central Mongolia, along a river of the same name which flows into the Selenge/Selenga River south of the Mongolia/Russia border. The Exchange used the recently completed community center, a two-story log building with a kitchen and meeting room on the first floor and sleeping quarters on the second. Sharing excellent meals in such a comfortable setting helped the participants from Mongolia, Russia, and the United States (U.S.) establish a warm relationship.

Exchange participants also toured nearby placer gold mines upstream of the town and its fishing areas, prepared meals together on the bank of the Yeroo tributary affected by the mines, and spent hours seeking common ground by sharing the history and goals of our programs. The trip to the gold mine at headwaters of the Yeroo River was a true eye-opener, as none of the leaders had previously visited a five-mile-long mined-out river valley. We noted a lack of effective sediment control that caused significant turbidity problems in the watershed. The problem could easily be addressed by using available equipment to install a system of “baffles” to direct and slow the water flow in the sediment control ponds, and raise pond outflow pipes to the highwater mark to reduce the amount of sediment discharged from the gold washing and separating operations.

Ardin Elich’s and MNPC’s commitment to youth education and leadership development was demonstrated by the participation of middle school student government leaders – elected by their peers rather than administrator-appointed as was the previous practice – in the working meetings. The student leaders described the water quality testing they have conducted as collecting and identifying “bugs” – macroinvertebrates – in the Yeroo River, and determining the quality of the water based on the type of aquatic bugs. The students also made beautiful traditional craftwork that showcased their talent and provided income.

The exchange allowed BRO-Baikal and MNPC to recognize shared interests: reducing the impacts of current and future mining and other resource development projects on local communities, building public involvement in development decision-making, developing youth education and leadership capacities, and protecting water resources. The outlook for future collaborations between BRO-Baikal and MNPC is as bright as a full moon over the treeless steppe around Yeroo.

The Exchange program moved north from Mongolia to Buryatia as participants traveled on the Trans-Mongolian railroad to its junction with the Trans-Siberian mainline in Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Buryat Republic, a “state” or “province” level region of the Russian Federation. The Buryat portion of the Exchange focused on current and proposed mines in the Buryat Republic, including the operating Khiagda uranium mine and the proposed Ozernoe and Kholodninskoe lead and zinc mines. Khiagda is the second most productive uranium mine currently operating in Russia. Ozernoe and Kholodninskoe are among the ten largest lead-zinc deposits in the world. All three are major sources of concern for BRO-Baikal, the Buryat Center on Environmental Expertize (BCPEE), and their friends and colleagues in communities near the mines related to potential impacts on effects on surface and ground water, air releases and social and economic effects.

One of the goals in Buraytia was to continue the dialogue among citizen organization members, regulatory agency staff, and mining company officials regarding the environmental management of current and proposed mineral developments. This dialogue began in two previous exchanges in 2005 and 2006. The activities included a trip to the Khiagda mine site; meetings in Ulan-Ude with staff from East Siberian Metals (ESM, a subsidiary of Metropol and the primary owner of the Ozernoe and Kholodninskoye deposit); meetings with Rosprirodnazor (the Russian environmental monitoring agency) staff; and a seminar involving regulatory staff, company officials, researchers, and the participating organizations.

The visit to the mine included a tour of the operating in situ leach well field and meetings with site managers and representatives of the regional environmental agencies. Mine staff stated that perimeter monitoring wells showed no increases in contaminants, but monitoring data show a rising amount of sulfate concentrations in the aquifer above the underground ore zone used for the employee drinking water supply. The in situ mining method injects high concentrations of sulfuric acid into the ore zone. Since there are no other sources of sulfate contamination, “excursions” of the leaching fluid are the apparent cause.

A major point of concern at the seminar was the potential for acid drainage at Ozernoe and Kholodninskoe. Both deposits were explored extensively during the Soviet period – activity that identified more than 100,000,000 tons of ore at each site. Geologic investigations found that more than 20% of the ore at each of the sites is composed of potentially acid-generating sulfide minerals. Heavy metal acid drainage has already been recognized from samples of orange-stained water flowing from two of the existing exploration adits (tunnels) at Kholodninskoe.

Another concern regarding the Kholodninskoe deposit results from its location within the “Central Ecological Zone.” The Zone is composed of the portions of the Lake Baikal Basin within 50 - 80 kilometers of the Lake itself. ESM’s initial “pre-feasibility study” proposes a conveyor system to carry ore 25 kilometers or more north of the mine site to insure that ore processing and tailings disposal activities can to be conducted outside the Zone. But it also proposes the block-caving method for ore extraction, a mining method where ore is blasted to rubble, resulting in voids 200 meters or more tall after the ore is fully extracted. The underground caverns left by block-caving can cause subsidence, leading to open holes in the surface above. The potential impacts of subsidence, as well as the potential heavy metal-laden acid drainage, could have significant consequences for the Zone, since the Kholodninskoe deposit is located in the headwaters of the Kholodnaya River, less than 80 kilometers from the northern shore of the Lake near the town of Nizhneangarsk.

The discussion of these problematic and potential contentious issues was not a barrier to positive relationship building. Following the seminar, company staff proposed a framework for BRO-Baikal, SRIC, and ESM to begin to work together to address acid drainage at the Kholodninskoe site, opportunities for renewable energy, and other shared interests. The exchange produced several beneficial results including: positive collaboration among Mongolian and Buryat community organizations, continued dialogue on technical issues related to mining impacts in Buryatia, and recognition of several significant, and challenging, issues regarding the proposed mines. These results provide a basis for future efforts to address the environmental impacts of mining.

The Buryatia/Mongolia Mining Exchange was made possible by a grant from the Trust For Mutual Understanding based in New York City. It was coordinated by Paul Robinson (SRIC), Lena Chernobrovkina (BRO-Baikal), and Sendema Shirapova (BCPEE). Additional participants also included Bob Moran, consulting geochemist and geohydrologist from Colorado, and Ivan Weber, a sustainability consultant from Utah.