Black Bull Resources Inc., under an option agreement with CAG Enterprises Ltd., has completed initial exploration for its Flintstone Rock kaolin-quartz project in southwestern Nova Scotia. The property lies along the Tobeatic Fault Zone, at the southern margin of the South Mountain Batholith. Work to date has included trenching, geophysical surveys (IP), diamond-drilling and sample testing. The company has completed 29 drillholes to date and reports that the target alteration zone varies from 100 to 200m in width, exceeds 100m in depth, and exceeds 1200m in strike length. Black Bull Resources is negotiating with international mining producers to establish partnerships to move into production.

The Tobeatic Wilderness Committee sees this proposed mine as a threat to the TWA itself. We suspect that, if allowed to develop the mine and establish some infrastructure and a few jobs, the company will eventually push to mine the remaining Tobeatic Shear Zone, most of which lies within the Protected Area, once the deposits outside the boundary are mined out. We forsee the inevitable emotional plea to DNR to "save jobs" by realigning the TWA boundary. 

 DNR has yet to provide adequate justification for the realignment of the Proposed Shelburne Barrens Ecological Reserve and the Proposed Indian Fields Provincial Park boundaries to accomodate the current exploration. 

Perhaps DNR reasons that Nova Scotia needs to protect open pit mines more than it needs to protect representative landscapes like the unique Flintstone Barrens.

What can you do?
The Tobeatic Wilderness Committee encourages you to express your opinion on the Kaolinite Mine issue to Minister Ernest Fage and your local MLA. See our CONTACT page for addresses, etc.

"Stora Port Hawkesbury Forest Industries’ recent move into the production of this high-end paper product at its Abercrombie Point mill has generated the impetus for exploring the site, says Thomas. Location is everything because it is the user that will pay the freight. For Stora, having ready access to a commercial deposit of kaolin would give it an incredible cost advantage. Thomas says one of the closest commercially-mined deposits of kaolin is in Georgia...

" ...Indeed the kaolinite content in the rock quarried at the tin mine was so high, it created environmental problems during the mine’s start-up when water from the holding ponds began escaping into the Tusket River system. The water had to be treated with flocculents in order to precipitate the clay particles out of the water."
(For the complete article, see the Media Library, 2000)

On April 15, 2000, the Chronicle Herald ran the following story(See Media Library, 2000):

Mine Interests prepare bulk samples for testing: Geologists upbeat about kaolinite in Yarmouth County:

Nova Scotia's newest mineral exploration effort has entered a crucial stage. An open- pit Kaolinite mine in Yarmouth County will soon yield bulk samples for testing in the United States.

A kaolinite mine near the Tobeatic would be a disaster and action must be taken soon to deter such development.  That's because the province has taken several steps in the past years to insure kaolinite mining in Nova Scotia is viable. 

A few years back the province went to court, or developed legislation, to officially define kaolin as a mineral so that it falls under the mineral act.  The mines division of DNR has allocated much resources to encourage kaolinite exploratin within the province. 

Other deposits occur near Upper Musquodobit but as a surficial deposit rather than a bedrock deposit like that of the Shelburne Barrens. The Province has also delisted sections of the Shelburne Barrens candidate ecological reserve to encourage kaolinite development.  All of these steps suggest the Province wants kaolinite mining in Nova Scotia.

The general public must be informed of the dangers such development poses for the environment, fish populations, and our water supplies.

Martin Willison, one of his students (Leah Hagreen), and Chris Miller have conducted research within the Shelburne Barrens candidate ecological reserve.  The area was nominated for protection in 1974 through a multi-national initiative known as the international biological programme (IBP).  In those 25+ years, however, the area has not been formally protected through the Special Places Protection Act and has been victimized by interim development...in the mid-80's a highway was paved through the middle of the Barrens and more recently (1996-present) mineral exploration has been actively occurring with the boundaries of the IBP site.

A miniature IRM study was undertaken on the Shelburne Barrens in 1999 to examine the conflict between conservation and mineral exploration.  The tory government redrew the original boundaries of the park so as to exclude areas with the highest mineral potential.  This is a very scarry precendent for candidate ecological reserves in Nova Scotia.  Mineral exploration licences occur within numerous other IBP sites including Cape Split, Cape d'Or, and Melrose, among others.  The province prohibits forestry from such sites, but mineral exploration is no holds barred.

The kaolinite deposit of the Shelburne Barrens is linear in nature (6km long, 400m wide, and 100m deep).  A large proportion of the kaolinite lies beneath the Tobeatic Wilderness Area.  Extraction will most likely occur as open-pit mining.

Leah Hagreen conducted an ecological study on the Shelburne Barrens in the summer of 1998.  She concluded the development of a kaolinite mine in the region was potentially catastrophic.  The site is located at the headwaters
of several river systems and the reserve contains a rich limnological diversity which would be threatened by the extraction of the dusty deposits.  Kaolinite mining involves the use of much water which is of concern because the narrow ecological niches of Nova Scotia's rare coastal plain flora are degraded by the domestication of water levels.  A mine would also serve as a barrier to the movement of large mammals into and out of the Tobeatic, particularly the resident moose population. Eutrophication is of additional concern.

Similar kaolinite mines in England have been environmental disasters. Leah's literature research reveals the danger of developing such sites. The following quote is from England's environmental department.

"It is impossible for an industry such as china clay (kaolinite) to undertake its operations without having a significant impact on the environment".

©1998 Leah Hagreen
(View and Download complete Study)

Table 5-5: Summary of potential environmental impacts of kaolinite mining

• Excessive noise pollution from blasting, traffic, and processing plants, running 24 hours a day.  This can disturb wildlife, as well as the homes in the area.
• Introduction of large quantities of dust into the atmosphere, negatively affecting the growth of plants.
• Fragmentation of habitat and creating barriers to animal movement, through: creation of large, open pits; large waste rock piles; infrastructure; and, traffic.
• Waste rock to product ratios of 8:1.
• Direct influence on three sub-watersheds, and four lakes in the Shelburne Barrens
• Increase in the quantity of waters entering the stream beds, increasing erosion capabilities, and flooding habitat of coastal plain flora.
• Regulation of the stream flow over the year, therefore not allowing for natural variations.
• Introduction of suspended solids into surface waters, disrupting habitats, biota and flora.
• Alteration of water quality, disrupting biological relationships and aquatic life, such as: introduction of toxins; changes in pH; and, changes in ionic metal concentrations.
• Difficult reclaimation of site.
• Reclaimation introducing fertilizers into surface waters, causing eutrophication and displacing coastal plain flora.
• Plantations of homogenous vegetation, possibly with species that are not native to the area. 
• Potential for exotic intrusives to invade.

5-3-2   Environmental impacts associated with other anthropogenic activities

The development of trails and Highway 203 fragment habitat, and act as a barrier to the movement of animals such as moose and deer (Beazley, 1998).  Development has also led to the introduction of exotic invasive plant species, such as scotch broom and pearly everlast.  According to White and Keddy (1993), scotch broom is “one of five invasive alien plants that have had a major impact on natural ecosystems in Canada” (p.85).  This and other invasives establish themselves on sandy roadsides, barrens and open woods, having the greatest impact in areas that have experienced landscape modification.  Any further development in the area would only serve to increase the abundance of these types of plants, which could lead to instability in the natural plant communities, leaving them more vulnerable to other invasions. 

 ATV use has been extensive in the area, with trails reaching from the Indian Fields system through the TWA to Kejimkujik National Park.  This has been particularly destructive to the wetland habitats along the Roseway River floodplain.  Wetlands dominated by Ledum sp., which are common to the Shelburne Barrens, are especially vulnerable, as these are slow to regenerate (Ross, 1991). Continual ATV impacts can compact the soils, diminishing the ability of plants to establish themselves (Ross, 1991). 
 

5-4   Summary
The Shelburne Barrens is a unique and diverse piece of wilderness, containing a unique ecosystem mosaic of bogs, barren lands, and old forests.  It holds the headwaters of the Clyde River system, as well as many shallow lakes and streams.  Many of the outstanding values in the Shelburne Barrens are contained within the southern region of the site, in Indian Fields Provincial Park Reserve (fig. 2-1).  The central component of this area is the chain of eight lakes which run through it.  The presence of these lakes acted to protect the surrounding vegetation from the extensive fires which have swept through southwestern Nova Scotia over the last few centuries, allowing for the development of old forests.  The shorelines of these lakes are also habitat for rare coastal plain flora, at least one species of which is endemic to the province. Wisheu et al.(1994), state that conservation of coastal plain flora will require the protection of the plants’ habitat.  “Efforts towards preservation of the coastal plain species should make habitat conservation a priority” (p.223).

Protection of these outstanding values requires the protection of the lakes which are at the heart of the area.  In order to protect these lakes, the boundaries for the Shelburne Barrens as a Special Place must include the watersheds which feed into these lakes.  “Drawing natural region boundaries at scales that encompass landscape features such as...watersheds provides a suitable framework to plan for individual protected areas” (Hummel, 1995, p.3). 
 

5-5    Conclusion and Recommendations 

5-5-1   Conclusion
The Shelburne Barrens fits all of the criteria for designation as a nature reserve under the Special Places Protection Act.  It was listed as top priority for protection by the Nova Scotia Museum in 1991, and has been a candidate site for 25 years. With only 27% of the land mass of Nova Scotia owned by the government, and continual pressure for developments of these lands, the province must choose to act if it plans on fulfilling its 12% promise.  The province cannot afford to lose one of its last large pieces of wilderness.

5-5-2   Recommendations

• Uphold the moratorium on development in candidate ecological reserves, and do not renew CAG Enterprises mineral claims for May of 1999.
• Put in place interim measures to protect all candidate protected sites until their status is decided.
• Make the Minerals and Energy Branch of the Department of Natural Resources recognize candidate protected sites.
• Purchase private lands or enter into land stewardships with private land owners of candidate sites.
• Increase the rate of site designation, while undesignated Crown Lands still exist.
• Integrate protected areas into larger management strategies to ensure adequate protection of lands and reduce conflicts.
• Discourage recreational use of the Shelburne Barrens, in particular the use of ATV’s.
• Designate the Shelburne Barrens as a Special Place immediately.

The complete text of Leah Halgren's comprehensive study is available here for viewing or downloading as Portable Document Files (PDF), and can be viewed using Acrobat Reader 4.0. If you do not have the Reader, it can be downloaded FREE from the Adobe Website.

A Survey of the Shelburne Barrens Candidate Nature Reserve, and the Environmental Impacts of Kaolinite Mining
©1998 Leah Hagreen

• Contents
• Introduction
• Site Description
• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Appendices
• Letter to DNR