Ann: Hillgrove Gold-Antimony Project Pre-Feasibility Study, page-591

Careful what you dig up on the internet.

That article is from 2007 and whilst it clearly shows elevated levels of antimony and arsenic in some aspects, there's some holes in this research. In part, look at the sample numbers they use - so small. Other articles on the matter will call out that the spread of Sb / As outside mine sites is so hard to predict - and so this paper also fails in that it didn't take multiple samples from multiple sites.

This is the interesting bit though




What it's saying is that it's also proven that natural leaching occurs - and this paper doesn't put any suggestion towards the level of natural leach vs mine leach vs longevity of the impacts of poor management from mining over 50 years ago.

Ultimately every single mine will impact the environment, and I for one care deeply about the environment, but balance that with the fact that everything we consume ultimately needs digging up - so long as it can be done responsively.

I'll not discount the impact of Hilgrove in the past, but I would point out that the future impacts with modern day ESG regulations and mining techniques are likely to be vastly improved to the past. I would also point out that you can always find a negative story if you look for it... but every fact needs checking, and that single paper referenced above is but 1 opinion with no definitive or dependable outcome