Status report on the performance of mines subject to Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations in 2021

A summary of effluent releases of final discharge points for metal and diamond mines located in Canada.

Executive summary

This report presents a summary of the performance of Canadian mines in 2021 with respect to the prescribed limits and requirements of the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations (Regulations). The annual report provides information on:

Approval for release does not signify that the content reflects the views and policies of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).

The owners and operators of mines provided the statistics contained in this report to ECCC. The Regulations require that owners or operators report information to ECCC, including:

ECCC compiled the compliance statistics presented in this report. They are based on the information provided in monitoring report submissions and do not include unreported data.

In 2021, 5 diamond mines and 143Footnote 1Footnote 2  metal mines in Canada were subject to the Regulations. During the year, 4 mines became subject to the Regulations and no mine became a recognized closed mine. Seven mines subject to the Regulations did not provide 1 or more monitoring reports. The total number of exceedances for deleterious substances and pH reported by mines was 188. For acute lethality tests, owners reported 8 failures for fish and 90 failures for invertebrate species.

Schedule 2 of the Regulations lists water bodies designated as tailings impoundment areas. In 2021, no waters or places were listed in Schedule 2 of the Regulations.

The report provides an explanation of the 2021 data sets published on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal.

ECCC enforces the Regulations in accordance with the Compliance and Enforcement Policy for the Habitat Protection and Pollution Prevention Provisions of the Fisheries Act.

For all purposes of interpreting and applying the law, users should consult the Regulations. Please consult the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations, as registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council and published in Part II of the Canada Gazette.

More information on the Regulations is available on the Metal and diamond mining effluent web page.

Acronyms and abbreviations

As            arsenic

Bq/L         Becquerel per litre

BC           British Columbia

CN           cyanide

Cu            copper

DM           Daphnia magna

ECCC        Environment and Climate Change Canada

FDP          final discharge point

ID            facility identification

m3           cubic metre(s)

MB           Manitoba

mg/L        milligram(s) per litre

NB           New Brunswick

NH3          un-ionized ammonia

Ni            nickel

NL            Newfoundland and Labrador

NS           Nova Scotia

NT           Northwest Territories

NU           Nunavut

ON           Ontario

Pb            lead

QC           Quebec

Ra-226      radium 226

RT           rainbow trout

SK            Saskatchewan

SS            suspended solids

TIA          tailings impoundment area

YT            Yukon

Zn            zinc

List of tables

Table 1. Number of exceedances for deleterious substances and pH from 2012 to 2021

Table 2a. Performance summary: fish acute lethality tests in 2021, by region

Table 2b. Performance summary: invertebrate species acute lethality tests in 2021, by region

List of figures

Figure 1. Number of mines subject to the Regulations from 2012 to 2021

Figure 2. Location of mines subject to the Regulations in 2021

Figure 3. Total number of exceedances for deleterious substances and pH, against number of mines from 2012 to 2021

1. Introduction

The Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations (Regulations) aim to reduce threats to fish, fish habitat, and the use of fish by humans by improving the management of deleterious substances in metal and diamond mining effluent.

Effluent must meet concentration-based limits for arsenic, copper, cyanide, lead, nickel, zinc, suspended solids, radium 226, and un-ionized ammonia. Effluent must have a pH that is between a minimum and maximum level and must not be acutely lethal. The Regulations require effluent testing and reporting, as well as environmental effects monitoring studies.

Owners and operators of mines subject to the Regulations must report information to ECCC, including effluent monitoring results. The statistics in this report are based on data provided to ECCC by the owners or operators of mines. These statistics do not include data that were not reported to ECCC.

The Regulations also include an authorization for the use of water frequented by fish for mine waste disposal if certain conditions are met. Authorization requires an amendment to Schedule 2 of the Regulations. Owners or operators of mines can request an amendment to Schedule 2 of the Regulations. This would designate a water frequented by fish as a tailings impoundment area.

For additional information, visit the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent web page.

1.1 Amendments to Regulations

The Government of Canada made various amendments to the Regulations that came into force in 2021.

Starting on June 1:

Starting on December 1:

2. Purpose

The purpose of this report is to summarize effluent quality data and compliance of mines subject to the Regulations, as reported to ECCC. This report also summarizes the water bodies that were newly designated as tailings impoundment areas under the Regulations. The report provides an explanation of the 2021 data sets published on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal. This report includes data reported to ECCC within the past 10 years, where appropriate, to support trends-based analysis.

ECCC compiled this summary to inform the regulated community, other stakeholders, and the public on the performance of mines subject to the Regulations. The material is for informational purposes only. For all purposes of interpreting and applying the law, users should consult the Regulations. The Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations are registered by the Clerk of the Privy Council and published in Part II of the Canada Gazette.

Approval for release does not signify that the content reflects the views and policies of ECCC.

3. Overview

3.1 Mines subject to the Regulations

A metal or diamond mine becomes subject to the Regulations when it:

In 2021, 143Footnote 1Footnote 2  metal and 5 diamond mines in Canada were subject to the RegulationsFootnote 3 . Figure 1 shows the number of facilities subject to the Regulations from 2012 to 2021Footnote 4 .

Figure 1. Number of mines subject to the Regulations from 2012 to 2021

 

Long description

A stacked column graph displaying the number of metal and diamond mines subject to the Regulations between 2012 and 2021. The figure shows that the total number of metal mines generally increases from 117 in 2012 to 148 in 2021. The number of diamond mines remains constant at 5 mines for the years 2018 to 2021.

Figure 2 shows a map illustrating the locations of mines subject to the Regulations.

A list of mines subject to the Regulations is available on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal in the Identification Report document. This document includes the following information:

Please consult the Data Dictionary for additional information related to this document.

Figure 2. Location of mines subject to the Regulations in 2021

Long description

A map of Canada with the locations of mines subject to the Regulations in 2021. The mines are indicated with small blue circles. They are distributed throughout Canada and mostly concentrated in Ontario and Quebec.

3.2 Mines with new regulatory status

Each mine subject to the Regulations is required to report information to ECCC until it becomes a recognized closed mine. Four mines became subject to the Regulations in 2021:

All 4 mines became subject to the Regulations after June 1, 2021. No mine became a recognized closed mine in 2021.

3.3 Final discharge points

A final discharge point (FDP), in respect of an effluent, means an identifiable discharge point of a mine beyond which the operator of the mine no longer exercises control over the quality of the effluent. Mines are required to manage all their effluent and only to discharge effluent through FDPs.

A list of FDPs of mines subject to the Regulations is available on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal in the Final Discharge Points document. This document lists all the FDPs associated with each mine and their geographical coordinates.

4. Performance of mines

4.1 Reporting requirements

Owners or operators of mines subject to the Regulations are required to provide quarterly and annual monitoring reports until the mine becomes a recognized closed mine. Quarterly reports are due not later than 45 days after the end of the calendar quarter. Annual reports are due by March 31 of the following year.

Of the 148Footnote 1Footnote 2  mines that are subject to the Regulations, 7 mines provided no quarterly or annual effluent monitoring reports in 2021:

4.2 Prescribed deleterious substances and pH

The Regulations include provisions to allow the discharge of metal and diamond mine effluent into water frequented by fish, subject to certain requirements. The Regulations authorize the deposit of effluent that contains a deleterious substance if:

Owners and operators of mines are required to conduct regular monitoring of effluent and report information to ECCC. Reported information includes, for each FDP:

ECCC publishes effluent quality results, as reported by operators of mines, on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal. The frequency of testing varies depending on the individual mine and its performance. Under the Regulations, operators test the effluent at each FDP weekly for deleterious substances and monthly for acute lethality. The operator of a mine is required to record the results of all tests. The frequency of testing can be reduced to once per quarter in the following instances:

For deleterious substances, ECCC compares the individual test results for each substance with the maximum authorized concentration in a grab or composite sample set out in the Regulations. All test results in a month for each substance are used to calculate monthly mean concentrations for each FDP. ECCC evaluates the performance by comparing the monthly mean concentrations to the maximum authorized monthly mean concentration limits set out in the Regulations. Those monthly mean concentrations reported to ECCC that are above the prescribed limits represent reported exceedances.

For pH, ECCC compared the individual test results for each grab sample with the prescribed range. ECCC evaluates performance by determining how many grab samples are within the prescribed range.

 

Figure 3 shows the total number of exceedances for deleterious substances and pH against the number of mines subject to the Regulations from 2012 to 2021.

Figure 3. Total number of exceedances for deleterious substances and pH, against number of mines from 2012 to 2021

Long description

A clustered column - line chart displaying the total number of exceedances and the number of mines subject to the Regulations between 2012 and 2021. The column chart displays the total number of exceedances for deleterious substances and pH on the primary Y-axis. The line chart displays the number of mines subject to the Regulations on the secondary Y-axis. The figure shows that the total number of exceedances fluctuates slightly, but with a general increase from 2012 to 2021 and a marked increase from 142 in 2020 to 188 in 2021. The total number of mines generally increases from 117 in 2012 to 148 in 2021.

Table 1 shows the number of exceedances for each of the deleterious substances and pH from 2012 to 2021. In 2021, there was an increase in exceedances for several parameters compared to 2020; exceedances for un-ionized ammonia were also reported.

Table 1. Number of exceedances for deleterious substances and pH from 2012 to 2021

Substance/ Parameter 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Arsenic 2 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Copper 3 4 4 1 2 0 0 1 1 1
Cyanide 5 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Lead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3
Nickel 5 3 9 2 1 1 7 28 19 22
Zinc 4 3 6 0 1 2 9 25 15 17
SS 51 30 35 29 30 30 35 59 32 29
Radium-226 1 7 4 5 6 2 0 3 4 2
Un-ionized ammonia NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 11
pH Low 2 3 10 10 10 3 12 115 69 100
pH High 1 1 3 1 2 0 4 8 1 1
Total 74 57 73 49 52 38 68 240 142 188

Note: NA = Not applicable

Table A1 in Appendix A lists the following for 2021:

4.3 Fish and invertebrate toxicity

The Regulations require that effluent be non-acutely lethal. Acute lethality refers to tests of effluent on mortality rate to fish (rainbow trout or threespine stickleback) and invertebrates (Daphnia magna or Acartia tonsa). The biological test methods publications web page provides more information on the methods prescribed by the Regulations to determine acute lethality.

Tables 2a and 2b summarize the acute lethality tests results. Metal and diamond mines subject to the Regulations conducted a total of 1,403 fish acute lethality tests. Of those tests, 6 mines reported 8 acute lethality tests that resulted in greater than 50% fish mortality. Mines also conducted a total of 1,487 invertebrate acute lethality tests. Of those tests, 11 mines reported 90 tests with greater than 50% mortality.

ECCC publishes the acute lethality test results as reported by operators of mines on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal. ECCC publishes the data in three separate files:

No Acartia tonsa results were reported to ECCC in 2021.

Table 2a. Performance summary: fish acute lethality tests in 2021, by region

Region* Total # of Tests # of Tests with >50% Mortality # of Mines that Reported a Failure
Atlantic 222 1 1
Ontario 260 0 0
Pacific-Yukon 194 1 1
Prairie-Northern 206 0 0
Quebec 251 6 4
Total 1403 8 6

Table 2b. Performance summary: invertebrate acute lethality tests in 2021, by region

Region* Total # of Tests # of Tests with >50% Mortality # of Mines that Reported a Failure
Atlantic 235 7
2
Ontario 279
1
1
Pacific-Yukon 193
0
0
Prairie-Northern 231
1
1
Quebec 549
81
7
Total 1487
90
11

* Regions are classified as follows: Atlantic region includes the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. Pacific-Yukon region includes the province of British Columbia, and Yukon Territory. Prairie-Northern region includes the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, and the territory of Nunavut.

Table A2 in Appendix A lists the following for 2021:

5. Water or place designated as tailings impoundment areas

The Regulations authorize the deposit of mine waste (such as waste rock, tailings, and effluent) into a tailings impoundment area (TIA) that is either:

Water bodies are listed in Schedule 2 via a regulatory amendment of the Regulations. Various requirements must be met before the Minister of the Environment can recommend the amendment to the Governor in Council. The proponent must demonstrate that the proposed option to use water bodies frequented by fish to dispose of mine waste is the best option from an environmental, technical, economic and socio-economic perspective. The proponent must also develop and implement a compensation plan to offset the loss of fish habitat. Additional information is available on the Tailings impoundment areas web page.

At the end of 2021, Schedule 2 contained 64 listings that are associated with 27 metal mines. A complete list of waters or places that have been designated as TIAs is available on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal here. In 2021, Schedule 2 of the Regulations was not amended to list any new waters or places as TIAs.

6. Compliance and enforcement

ECCC’s Enforcement Branch enforces the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act and accompanying regulations to protect and prevent harm to fish, fish habitat or human use of fish. ECCC enforces the Regulations in accordance with the provisions of the Compliance and Enforcement Policy for the Habitat Protection and  Pollution Prevention Provisions of the Fisheries Act. The policy sets out a range of possible responses to offences that can be used by enforcement officers. These include warnings, directions, ministerial orders, injunctions, prosecution and civil suits by the Crown for the recovery of costs. When there is evidence of an alleged violation, an enforcement officer considers the nature of the alleged offence, effectiveness in achieving the desired result with the alleged offender, and consistency in enforcement in order to determine the appropriate response.

Appendix A: Performance summary of mine effluent not meeting effluent quality standards

This appendix summarizes the number of exceedances reported by operators of mines subject to the Regulations in 2021. The summaries include site identification (that is, mine/mill name and final discharge point name) and number of months of discharge. Table A1 summarizes the distribution of the non-compliant parameters for prescribed deleterious substances and pH. The column headings for each substance and pH include the effluent quality limits for those parameters. Table A2 summarizes the results of acute lethality tests.

Prescribed deleterious substances exceedances represent the number of monthly mean concentrations that exceeded the prescribed limits for a given month. pH exceedances represent the number of months that the pH range was exceeded. The parameters included are arsenic (As), copper (Cu), cyanide (CN), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), suspended solids (SS), radium 226 (Ra-226), un-ionized ammonia (NH3), and pH.

Table A1. Exceedance summary for facilities subject to the Regulations in 2021: prescribed parameters and pH

Mine Name Final Discharge Point Name As Cu CN Pb Ni Zn SS Ra-226 NH3 pH < 6 pH > 9.5
Bellekeno Mine KV-43 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Bonanza Ledge Mine Sediment Control Pond (SCP-NAG) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Caribou Mine Polishing Pond Discharge 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 3 1 1
Copper Mountain Mine SW38 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
David Bell Mine DBMX Sedimentation Pond 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Division Meadowbank East Dike Discharge 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
DSO Timmins Project Outlet of Sedimentation Pond 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Ekati Diamond Mine Seep-019 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Ekati Diamond Mine Seep-391 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Endako Mine H-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 0
Giant Mine Surveillance Network Program (SNP) station 43-1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
HBMS Chisel Lake Mine Chisel Treatment Plant Effluent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
La Mine Niobec Effluent d'urgence 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
La Mine Niobec Effluent Pluvial 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Mine de Fire Lake Effluent final FL-7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Mine de Fire Lake Effluent Final FL-BC (Fossé B et Fossé C) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent ES-DLR-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent ES-DLR-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 0
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent ES-DLR-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent ES-DLR-7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 0
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent HS-2 TEMP 0 0 0 0 4 12 0 0 0 0 0
Mine de Mont-Wright SA-6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Mine Elder EL-02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Mine Géant Dormant GD-E03 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Mine Raglan DIR-Z3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
New Britannia Mine SWM10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Projet Nunavik Nickel Effluent final Méquillon 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Red Chris Mine NRDD 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. - HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE 166 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. - HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE Aiguillage Sud 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. - HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE Ancienne Croix 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 0
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. - HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE Rh Léo 0 0 0 0 11 0 3 0 0 0 0
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc.- Complexe  de Sorel-Tracy 2.5 Effluent des Poudres 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc.- Complexe  de Sorel-Tracy Effluent final QIT (point 1.4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Silvertip Mine Effluent Discharge 1 (ED1) 0 0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
True North Gold Mine End Of Pipe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Usine Vaudreuil Émissaire B 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Wabush Mines - Scully Knoll Lake Inflow 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Wabush Mines - Scully Tailings Line Emergency Dump Basin 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Wolverine Mine Portal Water Treatment 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Young-Davidson MWPFD 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Total - 2 1 0 3 22 17 29 2 11 100 1

Table A2. Exceedance summary for facilities subject to the Regulations in 2021: acute lethality tests

Mine Name Final Discharge Point Name Rainbow Trout Total Rainbow Trout Fail Threespine Stickleback Total Threespine Stickleback Fail Daphnia magna Total Daphnia magna Fail
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent ES-DLR-3 11 0 0 0 14 3
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent ES-DLR-5 11 0 0 0 19 16
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent ES-DLR-7 11 0 0 0 19 13
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent final MS-7 3 0 0 0 3 1
Mine de Mont-Wright Effluent HS-2 TEMP 16 1 0 0 15 3
Mine de Mont-Wright SA-6 11 0 0 0 11 1
Mine Raglan DIR-UT 7 0 0 0 13 6
Casa Berardi Effluent final- Point A 6 0 0 0 6 1
La Mine Niobec Effluent d'urgence 4 0 0 0 4 2
La Mine Niobec Effluent final 12 0 0 0 19 19
La Mine Niobec Effluent Pluvial 10 0 0 0 10 3
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. - HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE 209,4 13 0 0 0 13 1
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. - HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE Ancienne Croix 26 0 0 0 25 3
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc. - HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE Rh Léo 54 0 0 0 55 4
Voisey's Bay Mine Site Treated Effluent Final Discharge Point 5 0 0 0 19 6
Mine Matagami Effluent final (WLD) 13 1 0 0 13 0
HBMS Flin Flon Metallurgical Complex North Weir 4 0 0 0 4 1
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane inc.- Complexe  de Sorel-Tracy EFF2.2-P84 13 2 0 0 13 0
Wolverine Mine Wolverine Mine TSF 3 1 0 0 3 0
Projet Nunavik Nickel Effluent final Méquillon 6 2 0 0 6 4
DSO Timmins Project Outlet of Sedimentation Pond 2 1 0 0 0 1 1
Caribou Mine Nolin Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant 13 0 0 0 13 1
Nolin Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant Nolin Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant 3 0 0 0 7 1
Touquoy Mine SW-14 13 1 0 0 13 0
Total - 269 8 0 0 318 90

Appendix B: Regulatory data available on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal

ECCC publishes data submitted by operators of mines subject to the Regulations on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal. ECCC has developed a Data Dictionary that includes a list and description of the data fields included in the dataset. Please consult the Data Dictionary for additional information on the data published.

Listed below are the data files published on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal in the order they are included in the Annual Report by ECCC. Descriptions of the data contained in each file are listed as sub-bullet points.

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