‘No Dirty Gold’ campaign against destructive mining singles out proposed Alaskan mine

Jewelry retailers want you to think carefully about any gold you might be giving this Valentine's Day. Jewelers such as Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds and Fortunoff oppose "dirty gold" and so they are speaking out against a mine planned in Alaska adjacent to the world's largest sockeye salmon run, reports Margot Roosevelt of the Los Angeles Times. (Photo by our friend Luis Sinco of the Times shows a rig Northern Dynasty Minerals is using to drill core samples.)

The group announced yesterday that "it opposes the massive gold and copper Pebble Mine planned for Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed," Roosevelt writes. "The jewelers' 'Bristol Bay Protection Pledge' marks a new front in the 'No Dirty Gold' initiative waged by environmental and human rights groups against destructive mining practices."

To date 28 companies have endorsed the campaign's "Golden Rules" about protecting ecosystems. The supporters include the 10 largest jewelry retailers as well as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Wal-Mart is considering joining the protection pledge as well. "An estimated 80 percent of the gold used in the U.S. is for jewelry," Roosevelt writes. "And gold mines -- typically huge open pit operations where tiny veins of metal are ground from millions of tons of rock -- produce an average of 76 tons of waste per ounce of gold." In the past, jewelry retailers had lobbied for mining regulations; this is the first time that they have come out against a specific mine. The proposed Pebble Mine is a partnership of Vancouver, Canada-based Northern Dynasty and London-based Anglo American.

Sean McGee, a spokesman for the Pebble Mine, told Roosevelt, "There is a lot of common ground between the Dirty Gold camp and the approach we are taking. We support high environmental standards for mining. If the fisheries can't be protected, we won't advance the project." (Read more)

"Pebble is controversial due to its massive size and its location at the headwaters of two of the five major river drainages that feed Bristol Bay's world-class salmon fisheries," reports Elizabeth Bluemink in the Anchorage Daily News. "If developed, it could be the largest gold-copper mine in the world, providing hundreds of jobs in a region where jobs are scarce, according to the mining companies involved. However, the companies have not yet finished exploring the deposit, north of Iliamna, and they haven't submitted any plans to state officials to develop a mine."