Russia\'s Lake Baikal threatened by zinc mine

Tag : zinc

The proximity has opened up a debate in this resource-rich nation,pitting industrialists and job-hungry officials in Siberia againstecologists and government agencies in Moscow.
Experts say the Kholodninskoye deposit, which sits in a watershedflowing straight into Baikal, is the planet's third largest leadand zinc field.
Zinc is used in the production of galvanised steel, the automobileindustry, household batteries, vitamin supplements, fireworks andas a compound in some cosmetics.
MBC Resources, a subsidiary of Russia's privately owned Metropolgroup, has a licence to develop Kholodninskoye, which has anestimated 13.3 million tonnes of zinc and 2 million tonnes of lead.It has drafted a plan to develop the field and other metals in theregion at an estimated cost of $4 billion (2.2 billion pounds).
But ecologists in Buryatia region in Siberia, where Baikal lies,say development would despoil the biggest freshwater mass on earth-- already threatened by tourism and other industries.
"For us right now, this is problem number one," said SergeyShapkhayev, director of the Buryat/Baikal Land Use Programme inUlan Ude.
"The geo-hydrological structure there is very complex, lots ofunderground springs, subsoil water at different temperatures thatwould increase tailings volumes into the lake," he said.
Tailings are unrecoverable mining waste discharged as slurry.
In July, Russia's Natural Resources Ministry proposed a ban ondeveloping half of the Kholodninskoye deposit, saying mining woulddamage the lake, considered a national ecological reserve.
The government of Buryatia, which borders some 60 percent of thelake, hopes development will bring investment and jobs to theregion, and has strongly opposed the proposed ban.
RICH RESOURCE
At its deepest, Baikal is 1,637 metres and it is some 25 millionyears old. It holds about one fifth of the world's freshwater andis around 9,200 km (5,717 miles) east of Moscow.
The shoreline runs along an ancient rift valley for about 2,100 km(1,305 miles), roughly the distance from Moscow to Dusseldorf,Germany.
Buryatia authorities are keen to promote Baikal, which is home tosome of the world's rarest types of fish and plants, as a touristdestination. But it also wants mining development.
Buryatia President Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, appointed in 2007 by thenPresident Vladimir Putin, served as a crew member on a highlypublicised but ultimately unsuccessful submarine dive in July,aimed at reaching the bottom of Baikal.
The dive was financed by Mikhail Slipenchuk, Metropol's generaldirector. He says not developing the zinc and lead deposits wouldconstitute a missed opportunity for Russia, already flush with cashfrom an energy and commodities boom.
"This is 20 percent of Russia's (zinc) reserves. If we cross it offthe list, Russia will be the poorer for it," he said.
However, zinc prices have been sliding on weak demand and globaloversupply, with some analysts predicting little relief into 2010.
The metal is one of the worst performers in the metals complex thisyear. In August, it dropped to its lowest level since November 2005and is now trading around $1,745 a tonne, down almost 25 percentthis year.
Zinc stocks at the London Metal Exchange have jumped 80 percentthis year to 160,000 tonnes, and a Reuters survey of analystsshowed an expected surplus of about 281,250 tonnes this year,growing to 328,758 tonnes in 2009.
The industry has seen mine closures and output cuts as energy,labour and equipment costs rise -- raising questions about theultimate profitability of the Kholodninskoye project.
Undeterred, MBC recently signed a memorandum with Rusinvestpartner,a joint venture of state conglomerate Russian Technologies andmetals-to-oil firm Renova, under which Rusinvestpartner said itintended to buy stakes in projects to develop Kholodninskoye andanother lead and zinc deposit nearby.
Even if the ban on development does not proceed, there is clean-upwork to be done before any mining gets underway.
SOVIET LEGACY
Buryatia's Natural Resource Ministry said in July that MBC wouldhave to spend 2 billion roubles ($85 million) on cleanup oftailings plumes caused by Soviet-era prospecting.
Slipenchuk says the company will fund the clean-up but wants thisto be written into the licensing agreement.
He said Soviet test shafts sent tailings-laced underground waterinto the nearby Kholodnaya river which feeds Baikal.
"Either we spend several hundred million dollars setting theKholodninskoye deposit aside as a nature reserve, or we tightenregulations in the licensing agreement to make the holderresponsible for these deficiencies," Slipenchuk said.
Baikal is such a powerful symbol of ecological purity for Russiansthat in 2006, Putin ordered a giant oil pipeline to be routed awayfrom the lake, citing great risk to the environment.
But in spite of this, ecologist Shapkhayev said unregulated loggingand careless tourism construction were already causing damage, thatwould only be intensified by mining.
"Russian ministries think, mistakenly, that up to 2 milliontourists will come here, and that they need to build five-starhotels, mountain ski resorts ... and they dole out a large share offederal money for building the infrastructure," he said.
Shapkhayev said only around 20,000 tourists -- half from abroad --come to Baikal annually. Construction firms pop up seasonally tobuild poorly constructed lodgings with federal money, thendisappear without paying their workers.
"Until we come to terms with corruption, those kinds of problemswill happen more and more often," he said.
(Writing by Chris Baldwin, editing by Jon Boyle and Clar NiChonghaile)