Stikine River’s Transboundary Waters Could Be Affected By Nearby Mine’s Leaking Toxicants

Alaskans have been concerned about runoff from mines across the U.S./Canada border and potentially harming salmon and other anadromous fish in the transboundary rivers of the region. Now, the Canadian Red Chris Mine’s discharge or other similar failures could have a disastrous affect on the Stikine River and other local watrersheds, according to a Canadian report.

Here is some reaction, first from Salmon Beyond Borders:

New study shows Red Chris Mine waste dams, waste rock piles are leaking toxicants into the headwaters of transboundary Stikine River system

Salmon Beyond Borders calls for ban on mine waste dams on transboundary rivers

April 3, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JUNEAU, ALASKA—A disturbing report recently released by Canadian conservationists has revealed that Canada’s massive Red Chris copper-gold mine, located in Tahltan Territory in northern British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, is contaminating groundwater, creeks, and lakes in the upper reaches of the Iskut River, the largest tributary of the transboundary Stikine River. The Stikine, North America’s fastest free-flowing navigable river, flows into the United States at the community of Wrangell, Alaska. It is a critical salmon producer for both countries, serves as key habitat for a wide array of wildlife, and has been both home and a trade route for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

The report details an investigation conducted by Terrace, B.C.-based organization SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, mostly using data that is not readily available and was obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. Report findings include that critical fish habitat near the mine has been destroyed and the seepage of contaminants like selenium and copper from the Red Chris Mine’s waste facility and waste rock piles is higher than predicted and could negatively impact aquatic life. The levels of selenium detected in fish tissue in nearby lakes are increasing and could be harmful to the fish and to the humans eating them. At elevated levels, selenium can cause mutations and death in fish and other animals. The impacted water bodies are an important source of food, clean water, and ways of life for residents of Iskut and the surrounding communities in Tahltan Territory, Northwestern B.C.

Additionally, according to the report, the toxic seepage at the Red Chris waste facility also poses risks to the stability of the mine waste (“tailings”) dams that are close to 150-feet and 260-feet tall, respectively, and hold in the toxic, acidic waste at the mine. The failure of the Red Chris tailings dams are predicted to significantly deteriorate or destroy fish and wildlife habitat downstream and could result in the loss of human life.

“We’re deeply grateful to the Canadian researchers who worked tirelessly to bring this information to light,” said Salmon Beyond Borders director Breanna Walker. “While the toxic seepage of the Red Chris Mine tailings dams impacts highlighted by the report are localized at this point, it is a cautionary tale. This is exactly why almost every Southeast Alaska municipality and several Tribes have called for a ban on mine waste dams along the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk transboundary salmon rivers. This is not about the U.S. versus Canada; it’s about the chronic problems with modern large-scale mining and the lack of industry-wide standards and polluter pays policies that will adequately protect people and the environment.”

The tailings storage facility at the Red Chris Mine, co-owned by Newmont Corporation and Imperial Metals Corporation, has the same design as Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley Mine waste facility that failed in August 2014, sending 10,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth (6.6 billion gallons) of toxic sludge into the once salmon-rich Fraser River watershed. But the Red Chris waste facility is over six times larger than Mount Polley’s, and contains acid-generating waste. If and when they fail, the Red Chris Mine waste dams would likely adversely affect aquatic ecosystems and essential fish habitat even more significantly than what occurred at Mount Polley, given the larger volume and acidic nature of the Red Chris Mine waste.

“It’s mind-boggling that mining companies are allowed to build risky earthen mine waste dams in these pristine river valleys in the first place–especially since experts predict all tailings dams will eventually fail. The clean, cold salmon river systems of this region are the true wealth, not specks of gold and a giant lake of acidic mine waste that threatens the health of the entire Stikine-Iskut watershed,” said Salmon Beyond Borders advisor Heather Hardcastle.

SkeenaWild’s report comes in the middle of B.C.’s 30-day comment period, which closes April 10, 2025, on Red Chris co-owners’ proposed change of plans at the mine. Newmont Corporation and Imperial Metals Corporation propose to shift from open-pit mining to underground block-cave mining at Red Chris, to target low-grade ore bodies for copper and gold. Risks and uncertainties associated with block-cave mining include landslides and negative impacts to aquatic ecosystems, on top of the existing issues of toxic seepage and instability at the tailings storage facility as is outlined in the new report.

Background:

There are more than 100 Canadian gold-copper mines in some stage of operation, development, abandonment or exploration in the B.C.-Alaska transboundary region. Alaskans downstream face virtually all of the risks of Canadian mine projects while receiving none of the benefits. Multiple Tribes and almost every Southeast Alaska municipality have called for strong polluter pays laws and a permanent  ban on new failure-prone mine waste dams along the transboundary Taku, Stikine, and Unuk Rivers flowing from B.C. into Alaska.

The news that substantive pollution is coming from the Red Chris tailings dams builds on concerns from Alaskans that have been growing for seven decades. Canada’s Tulsequah Chief Mine, of which Teck Resources is the historical owner, has been leaching acid mine contamination, unabated, for almost 70 years into the transboundary Taku River system, which enters the ocean just south of Juneau, Alaska.

Alaskans also learned recently in the media that Canada’s Premier gold mine, whose decades-old mine waste dams are located less than a mile from the Alaska border in the transboundary Salmon River watershed near Hyder, Alaska, was just slapped with tiny fines for “major” permit violations. In several cases, heavy metals in wastewater released from Premier’s tailings dams exceeded permit limits by 660%.

While these instances of B.C.-based mining pollution have occurred on different scales and timelines, they collectively highlight the need for improved mining regulations, including stronger polluter pays laws and increased coordination with Tribes and communities downstream.

Salmon Beyond Borders is an Alaska-based campaign working with fishermen, business owners, community leaders, and concerned citizens, alongside Tribes and First Nations on both sides of the Alaska-B.C. border, to defend and sustain our transboundary wild salmon rivers, jobs, and way of life.

The Tlingit and Haida tribal organization also issued a press release:

Last week, a Canadian non-government organization released a report that revealed Canada’s Red Chris Mine, located in the traditional Tahltan Territory of northern British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, is contaminating the groundwater, creeks, and lakes in the upper reaches of the Iskut River, the largest tributary of the transboundary Shtax’héen Héeni (Stikine River). The Shtax’héen flows into the United States at the community of Wrangell, Alaska, the traditional territory of the Shtax’héen Kwáan Tlingit people. The Shtax’héen is a critical salmon producer – historically, one of the largest king salmon producing rivers in the world. 

Report findings include that critical fish habitat has been damaged and the containment of heavy metals is failing at the Red Chris Mine, potentially harming aquatic life and the communities dependent on salmon and clean water. Furthermore, as these heavy metals seep through the two tailings dams, the risk of catastrophic dam failure increases. It is predicted that these dams could destroy fish and wildlife habitat downstream and result in the loss of human life.

The tailings dams at the Red Chris Mine, co-owned by Newmont Corporation and Imperial Metals Corporation, have the same design as Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley Mine tailings dam that failed in August 2014, sending 6.6 billion gallons of toxic waste into the Fraser River watershed. It is essential to highlight that the Red Chris Mine waste facility is more than six times larger than Mount Polley’s and contains acid-generating waste. Furthermore, while Red Chris Mine is in operation, British Columbia’s government is fast-tracking proposal to ramp up copper and gold production at Red Chris and the development of the proposed Eskay Creek Gold Mine in the transboundary Unuk watershed. Gold is not a “critical mineral.” 

“What the world must know is that if any of these dams fail, we have no recourse. There is no way to compensate for the loss of a way of life. No way to hold mining companies accountable. No insurance company in the world has covered mine waste dams. We all know if the mining companies had to be insured, their practices would change…they, too, know the risks of these massive waste dams. We hope that our First Nations relatives and that our elected lawmakers will join us in the call for a ban on tailings dams for any new mines upstream from communities,” said Tlingit & Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson.

This report comes in the middle of B.C.’s 30-day comment period, which closes on April 10, 2025. Newmont Corporation and Imperial Metals Corporation propose to shift from open-pit copper and gold mining to underground block-cave copper and gold mining of low-grade ore at Red Chris and significantly ramp up production. Risks and uncertainties associated with block-cave mining include landslides and negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems, on top of the existing issues of toxic seepage and instability at the tailings dams as is outlined in the new report.

About Tlingit and Haida 

The Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is the largest federally recognized tribe in Alaska, representing more than 38,000 Tribal Citizens, and serving as the regional tribe of Southeast Alaska.