Published on November 20, 2015
Every year, Midas Gold plants thousands of trees at the Stibnite Gold Project site as part of our ongoing reclamation efforts. Recently, we asked a group of students from Cascade High School if they would like to help us plant trees and raise money for their school in the process.
Thirty-two students in the environmental science class took us up on our offer and helped us plant 1,950 lodgepole pine trees in one day. Every tree we plant is carefully selected and planted to help us reforest areas disturbed by mining actively. The students helped us plant trees in the Meadow Creek area.
Meadow Creek was disturbed by historical mining activity. It is not an area of the site we plan to mine again so we can start reclamation work in that area today. While Meadow Creek was a historically damaged area, we also plant trees in areas impacted by our exploration activities.
When we started our reclamation work up at the site, a lot of consideration was given to what plants we would use. We settled on lodgepole pine trees because they grow naturally in the area. In fact, to ensure the trees we are planting fit into the natural ecosystem we collect seeds from lodgepole pine near the site and give them to Buffalo Berry Farms, our local nursery, to germinate. It takes two years from the time we collect the seeds until the saplings are ready to be planted back at the site.
Planting trees does not just help reforest areas at the Stibnite Gold Project site it helps to stabilize the soil and provides a broader range of habitat for wildlife in the area. Plus, trees have a positive impact on the environment. They help produce oxygen, store carbon dioxide and prevent soil erosion.
With the students’ help, Midas Gold has now planted nearly 40,000 trees at the Stibnite Gold Project site since 2011.
