Background on Gold Mining Bill

Photo provided by our Partners at VaLCV.

There is currently a proposed open-pit gold mine in Buckingham County, near the historic community of Union Hill and the James River. With few regulations in Virginia to shield water quality and public health from a large-scale mining operation, HB2213 hits the pause button on this project.  It gives state agencies the time they need to study the environmental and health impacts that gold mining could have on Buckingham and communities downstream.

This bill gives the Department of Minerals, Mines and Energy, Department of Environmental Quality and Virginia Department of Health until December 1, 2022 to complete their study and implements a moratorium on the issuance of new permits for mining operations over 10 acres through July, 2023.

A map from the Va DMME shows current and potential gold mining sites in the Commonwealth.

Reasons to Support a Gold Mining Study

  • Open pit gold mining and onsite processing of gold contaminate water supplies of local and downstream communities. According to the US EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory, metal mining is the nation’s #1 toxic polluter.
  • Large-scale open pit gold mines form mountains of waste rock that can leach toxic concentrations of acids and heavy metals into surrounding soil and water.
  • Modern gold mining practices need to exhume tons of earth for mere grams of gold. The average gold ring generates more than 20 tons of waste.
  • Processed gold mining waste rock, referred to as tailings, contain up to three dozen toxins including mercury, arsenic, cyanide, lead, acids, heavy metals and petroleum by-products.
  • Tailings are often stored as a wet slurry in large ponds, where, much like in coal ash ponds, flooding, and leaching of contaminants pose significant, longstanding risks to both local groundwater and regional watersheds.
  • Tailing ponds at the 4,550-acre Haile gold mine in South Carolina, similar in size and scope as the project in Buckingham County, stretch over 500 acres.
  • Potentially affected communities stretch along the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, from Fairfax to Appomattox County.
  • Without sufficient legal guidelines and strengthened regulatory oversight, the human and environmental health risk, as well as the cost of bonding, reclamation, closure, and long-term monitoring of mining sites, will burden Virginia’s communities and taxpayers.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

HB2213 passed the House of Delegates 55-45 (2/5).  The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Rules (2/10).

To show your support, visit the Friends of Buckingham County’s Action Page for all of the resources you need to protect Virginia from the dangers of commercial gold mining, including:

  • Calling your State Senator (sample script included)
  • Emailing your State Senator (draft email included)
  • Writing a Letter to the Editor (tips included)
  • Advocating on social media (content included)
  • Subscribing for updates

Support for this bill is led by our Partners at the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. Thank you for your advocacy!