Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Mining for lithium can be incredibly water intensive. The process can involve releasing water from aquifers and leaving it to evaporate in what's known as salt flats. What's left is a variety of minerals and metals, including lithium, that is then gathered and processed. It's a common practice in South America, where Argentina, Chile and Bolivia are among the world's top producers.
Lithium in particular, she pointed out, leads to a significant amount of water extraction, and can lead to contamination of water supply, which can also impact ecosystems and the species that depend on them. Canada doesn't currently produce lithium, though it has about 2.5 per cent of the world's known lithium deposits. That's a tiny share compared to countries like Bolivia, Australia, Chile and Argentina, not to mention that China controls most of the world's processing capability.
In an expansive open-air pit 550 kilometres northwest of Montreal, 100-tonne trucks criss-cross the climbing roads, preparing for the mine to open. The chalk-white veins of those rocks have metals inside, including one of the most sought-after minerals in the world: lithium, a key component of electric car batteries. When production restarts at the La Corne, Que., lithium mine early next year, it is set to be one of the only functional lithium concentrate mines in North America and position Quebec as a Canadian lithium leader.
Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp. ("Nevada Sunrise", or the "Company") (TSXV: NEV) (OTC: NVSGF) is pleased to announce that highly-significant values of lithium have been detected in water samples collected from boreholes GEM22-01 and GEM22-02, drilled in the inaugural 2022 drilling program at its 100%-owned Gemini Lithium Project ("Gemini") located in the Lida Valley basin in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The water samples from both boreholes contain dissolved lithium in a calcium/magnesium carbonate-type brine that was not easily recognized on site during the drilling program due to the presence of high levels of suspended solids.
A proposed open-pit mine near a pristine water source in northern Quebec will get a full public review, Quebec's environment minister announced last week. But around 200 people still protested this weekend in Amos, 600 kilometres north of Montreal, saying they intend to make sure the provincial government keeps its promise.
The 500 residents of La Motte, Que., don't have have a gas station or even a convenience store, but they do enjoy some of the best-tasting drinking water in North America. So when an Australian mining firm began seeking approval to build an open-air lithium mine just a stone's throw from the community's water source, reactions were decidedly mixed in the town, located 50 kilometres northwest of Val-d'Or.
