Mining | Flying to the aid of… bats

The mining industry’s sustainable development efforts are not limited to water treatment, mine tailings treatment and greenhouse gas emissions. Mining companies also deploy approaches, often unknown, to preserve biodiversity.

What animal could be as emblematic as the bat to illustrate the underground cohabitation between man and nature? Before the Lamaque mine, in eastern Val-d’Or, was commissioned, the Eldorado Gold company launched a biodiversity inventory. On the site, the company has operated a gold mine since 2019, but it is also responsible for several old mines, all of which it will have to restore at the end of the operating period.

In this territory, Eldorado Gold has identified five species of bats, as well as hibernacula, which are small cavities where these flying mammals winter. Bats feed on insects, providing balance within the food chain. “We did not have to relocate any hibernacula to operate the mine, but we want to preserve what surrounds us,” explains Patrick Lavoie, environmental superintendent at Eldorado Gold.

Bat condos

The mining company has launched an awareness program for its employees, to enable them to identify bats, or any other species, and thus adopt good practices. “When certain birds settle down in the spring to nest, we organize ourselves so as not to disturb them,” illustrates Mr. Lavoie.

Eldorado Gold worked with students from the Papillon d’Or school in Val-d’Or, who had a project to build bat condos. “We actually needed it on our site to preserve bats,” explains Patrick Lavoie. Bat condos are small huts oriented to store as much heat as possible.

In the same vein, the mining company is deploying bat maternity wards, which are heated condos. “The maternity period of bats is a critical moment,” emphasizes Mr. Lavoie. This work allows us to know the needs of bats for future restorations. We need tools to restore and maintain these habitats conducive to biodiversity. » The success of the initiative has led Eldorado Gold to prepare to install bat maternity wards on its other mining sites in Quebec.

Reduce the mine footprint

Mining has numerous impacts on biodiversity, particularly on the mine site itself, but also indirect effects such as the fragmentation of the territory by the construction of the access road to the site, as well as by the dust movements.

“We can measure the footprint of a mine on biodiversity up to 200 meters on average, or even a little further,” says Nicole Fenton, professor of plant ecology and director of the Forest Research Institute. the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. “This can be seen in the composition of the vegetation and in the quantity of metals found in the flora and in the soil,” explains the researcher, who herself worked on the bat preservation project.

These impacts are very little studied in Canada. However, “the Canadian mining industry has clearly recognized that biodiversity is an important issue,” points out Nicole Fenton. She is pleased to note that “despite varying efforts among mining companies, many industry players are sincere in their desire to reduce their industry’s footprint on biodiversity.” Today, mining engineering services are recruiting specialists to work on biodiversity, she illustrates.

For 20 years, the Canadian mining industry has relied on the Towards Sustainable Mining Development (TSMD) initiative to improve its sustainable development practices. This program provides protocols and indicators to evaluate the progress of each mining company. Each company publishes its own indicators each year, and is subject to verification every three years by external auditors.

A precursor in certain areas, “the mining industry has been ahead of everyone in integrating indigenous communities into [ses] operations,” recalls Josée Méthot. And in this ongoing process, the Canadian mining sector has just added a new stone, by implementing a new indicator on fair, diverse and inclusive workplaces.