title: Heap leach cyanide irrigation and risk to wildlife: Ramifications for the international cyanide management code.
abstract: Exposed cyanide-bearing solutions associated with gold and silver recovery processes in the mining industry pose a risk to wildlife that interact with these solutions. This has been documented with cyanide-bearing tailings storage facilities, however risks associated with heap leach facilities are poorly documented, monitored and audited. Gold and silver leaching heap leach facilities use cyanide, pH-stabilised, at concentrations deemed toxic to wildlife. Their design and management are known to result in exposed cyanide-bearing solutions that are accessible to and present a risk to wildlife. Monitoring of the presence of exposed solutions, wildlife interaction, interpretation of risks and associated wildlife deaths are poorly documented. This paper provides a list of critical monitoring criteria and attempts to predict wildlife guilds most at risk. Understanding the significance of risks to wildlife from exposed cyanide solutions is complex, involving seasonality, relative position of ponding, temporal nature of ponding, solution palatability, environmental conditions, in situ wildlife species inventory and provision of alternative drinking sources for wildlife. Although a number of heap leach operations are certified as complaint with the International Cyanide Management Code (Cyanide Code), these criteria are not considered by auditors nor has systematic monitoring regime data been published. Without systematic monitoring and further knowledge, wildlife deaths on heap leach facilities are likely to remain largely unrecorded. This has ramifications for those operations certified as compliance with the Cyanide Code.
authors.affiliation: Donato Environmental Services, PO Box 175, Athelstone 5076, South Australia, Australia. Electronic address: ddonato@rbe.net.au.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Donato
authors.affiliation: Donato Environmental Services, PO Box 175, Athelstone 5076, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Madden-Hallett
authors.affiliation: Donato Environmental Services, PO Box 175, Athelstone 5076, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Donato Environmental Services, PO Box 175, Athelstone 5076, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gursansky
mesh_terms: D057914:Agricultural Irrigation; D000820:Animal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D058448:Biota; D003486:Cyanides / Q000633:toxicity*; D006046:Gold; D008906:Mining; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012834:Silver; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D003486:Cyanides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D012834:Silver; D006046:Gold
keywords: Cyanide; Gold mining; Heap leach; International cyanide management code; Silver mining; Wildlife risk