Bienvinedos! The mine that we were given to research is the Buenavista del Cobre mine of mexico owned by Grupo Mexico and German Larrea Mota Velasco, the second richest man in mexico. The mine is located in the the northern part of Mexico near the city of Cananea in the state of Sonora. The Buenavista del Cobre Mine is among the world's largest open pit mines for copper in terms of reserves. Buenavista del Cobre Mine is considered Mexico’s worst environmental disasters in modern times because of a spill of more than 40,000 cubic meters of copper sulfate acid into public waterways near Cananea.
Our mine occupies Cananea which is a city of the state of Sonora in northern Mexico. Cananea is nicknamed the copper city in Spanish. This city is a rural/desert city with sub-humid Mediterranean climate where mining and industrial jobs are very popular. The type of mining that takes place in the Buenavista del Cobre Mine is open pit mining. German Larrea Mota Velasco owns this mine, making him the 2nd richest man in Mexico. (Estevez 2014)
Here at the Buenavista del Cobre mine, high grade ore, gold, silver, copper, and Molybdenum are mined. (Buenavista Del Cobre Expansion - BNamericas)
The minerals like gold and silver are used for things like jewelery, and coins, while Molybdenum is used for things like missle and aircraft parts, and copper is commonly used for many things like electrical generators, motors, electrical wiring, and radio and TV sets.
The mineral extraction methods used at this mine are those of open pit mining, also known as strip mining, where layers of earth and rocks are scraped away to get to the coal buried underneath. Doing this leads to soil erosion, destroys habitats, landscapes, and forests. It can pollute waterways when it rains by washing the sediments into waterways, and can create lots of dust and noise pollution. (Mining Impacts 2010). These extraction processes of the mine were to blame for massive tailings release in 2014 when a tailings dam failed at the mine and 40 million liters of copper sulfate were released into Rio Sonora. The mine's operators are not only blamed for the release but the incident was also not immediately reported to authorities. 3 million pesos or $230,000 are looking to be applied as the penalty. More control, emergency systems, and detection systems were recommended to be put in place since 88 schools in the northern Mexico state had to be shut down because of the dangers of contaminated water. ("Recent Tailings Failure in Mexico and Canada “justify Expensive and Time Consuming Permitting Process” 2014). People in the affected communities do agricultural and farming work and they now have trouble selling goods because of fears of contamination. (Wilton, Jen) “The are leaving us to die slowly,” claim residents in a Contributoria article titled “Mexican Mining Disasters- The Human and Environmental Cost.”
Overall the Buenavista del Cobre Mine has had a very negative impact on the environmental health and people around it. The fact that the mine tailing dam failed and a public water way was filled with toxins hindered the living and agricultural practices of many residents. The mining company came to an agreement with the federal government to support the community with water supply and resolve damages from the accident (Wilton 2015). According to the article “Mexico's 'worst Environmental Disaster in Modern Times,” by Jen Wilton, some residents are worried because they are yet to see this help. Despite this, hopefully this community recovers soon and miners are more aware of accidents like this happening. Precautions should be taken more seriously and control should be ready if something were to go wrong in any type of mine.
Wilton, Jen. "Mexico's 'worst Environmental Disaster in Modern Times'" New Internationalist All Posts RSS. 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
Estevez, Dolia. "No Apology From Mining Tycoon German Larrea For Worst Ecological Disaster In Mexico's History." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2 Sept. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
"Buenavista Del Cobre Expansion - BNamericas." BNamericas. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
"Mining Impacts." Greenpeace International. 15 Apr. 2010. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
"Recent Tailings Failure in Mexico and Canada “justify Expensive and Time Consuming Permitting Process”." Rosemont Mine Truth. 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
"Contributoria." Mexican Mining Disasters. 1 Nov. 2014. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
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