ESG

"You can send a robot"

The US Environmental Protection Agency has flagged sending robots in to investigate abandoned mines to assess or help prevent environmental risks.

Staff reporter
Treatment ponds in Colorado

Treatment ponds in Colorado

An EPA team investigating the former Gold King mine in Colorado in 2015 accidentally triggered a spill of about 11 million litres of mine wastewater that contaminated a river system and affected three states.

The Bonita Peak Mining District has since been named a Superfund site which allows federal funding to help with the clean-up.

The EPA told local media they were considering using robots to investigate poorly documented historic mines, and possibly help prevent or clean-up blow-outs if they occurred.

"You can send a robot into an area that doesn't have good air quality," EPA project manager for the Superfund site Rebecca Thomas told the Denver Post.

She said the EPA would test any technology before deploying it and the public would have a chance to comment.

"So when I say we want to take risks, we do, but we want to take calculated, educated risks and not worsen water quality," she said.

The EPA has previously described tackling the national environmental issue of abandoned mines as "one of the toughest challenges" it faced and said the scale of the problem was striking, with at least 161,000 abandoned hardrock mines in the western US states and Alaska.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

A growing series of reports, each focused on a key discussion point for the farming sector, brought to you by the Kondinin team.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Investor Sentiment Report 2024

Survey revealing the plans, priorities, and preferences of 120+ mining investors and their expectations for the sector in 2024.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Mining Equities Report 2023

Access an exclusive, inside look on the quarterly mining IPOs and secondary raisings data and mining equities performance tables with an annual Stock Exchange Comparisons supplement.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence World Risk Report 2023 (feat. MineHutte ratings)

A detailed analysis of mining investment risks across 121 jurisdictions globally, built on 11 ‘hard risk’ metrics and an industrywide survey.

editions

Mining Journal Intelligence Global Leadership Report 2023: Social licence

Gain insights into social licence trends and best practices from interviews with 20+ top mining company executives and an industrywide survey.