St. MARY鈥橲 鈥� Pictou native and Canadian recording artist Dave Gunning has literally added his voice to a rising chorus of complaint against gold mining in the St. Mary鈥檚 River valley.
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The eight-time East Coast Music Award-winning singer-songwriter released his new composition, 鈥淔or All The Gold鈥�, last week to support the St. Mary鈥檚 River Association鈥檚 ongoing conservation efforts in the environmentally sensitive watershed. The group has been advocating against an open-pit mine that Atlantic Gold 鈥� the Nova Scotia subsidiary of Australian mining giant St Barbara 鈥� proposes to build near Sherbrooke.听
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In an interview, Gunning said the song and a four-minute movie (by videographer Tim Myers) of him performing against aerial backdrops of the river and old still shots of long-defunct mining operations send a simple message: 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to dig a hole in the ground and make some money right now. It takes a lot more effort to think about the future and who will have to pay for the damage.鈥�
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Atlantic Gold, which operates Moose River Gold Mines near Middle Musquodoboit, approximately 60 kilometres northeast of Halifax, wants to erect an open pit mine 鈥� including material storage, site infrastructure, crusher and concentrator facilities, an above-ground tailings management facility, mine site haul roads, and access roads 鈥� at Cochrane Hill, northwest of Sherbrooke.
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Opponents of the proposed project, which is undergoing federal assessment, say the mine, if approved, could cause irreparable harm to the fragile river system where governments have spent millions of dollars on habitat preservation and restoration.听
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In a statement in October, Atlantic Gold said, 鈥淪t Barbara recognises and respects the environmental significance of the St. Mary鈥檚 watershed. As part of the approvals process, our Company is appropriately required to provide scientific evidence to all levels of government to demonstrate that water sources can be protected before, during and after the mine life of the proposed Cochrane Hill Gold Mine operations. Our company looks forward to submitting its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Cochrane Hill Gold Mine project soon and working within the stringent environmental assessment process that will follow.鈥�
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Gunning, who recently exercised his musical chops to raise awareness of pulp and paper pollution in Boat Harbour near his home in Pictou County, became familiar with the St. Mary鈥檚 River situation recently.听
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鈥淚 heard about what the St. Mary鈥檚 River Association was up against through some mutual friends,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was pretty easy for me to get drawn in because of the similarities we鈥檙e facing in Boat Harbour. It just seemed to be a lot of the same things. I鈥檓 writing songs all the time, but it was pretty easy to become inspired by this one.鈥澨�
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St. Mary鈥檚 River Association President Scott Beaver, whom Gunning contacted earlier in the summer with the idea, said, 鈥淚 was really surprised how fast he pulled it together. It was really only three or four weeks before he had it recorded and had sent me a rough cut. In the back of my mind, I was thinking he probably just threw it together. But when I listened to it, I was amazed by how well he really captured every bit of the issue. He did a lot of research.鈥�
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Co-written by singer-songwriter Jamie Robinson, 鈥淔or All The Gold鈥� resonates with the current controversy with lyrics such as, 鈥淔ive years鈥� worth of paycheques will never cover up the costs of forever gone and nothing left to keep鈥� and 鈥淐ause they can dig 27 tonnes just get an ounce this time, nothing like it was in my grandfather鈥檚 day.鈥�
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Said Beaver: 鈥淭he St. Mary鈥檚 River is certainly one of the province鈥檚 most ecologically prized and intact systems. Places like this are not appropriate locations for massive, destructive open-pit gold mines. Dave鈥檚 artistic contribution to this battle is truly heart-warming and sends a powerful message.鈥澨�
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It also fits neatly into an increasingly hot war of words the association has been waging against Atlantic Gold since the beginning of the year, when the group staged a press conference to show evidence of spawning salmon and followed up with a slick, new website to promote its cause. Atlantic Gold countered by publishing the results of research it said showed overwhelming public support for its mining plans in the area.
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In fact, there鈥檚 some evidence that attitudes in the communities around the proposed site are hardening against resource extraction of any kind. Earlier this summer, after hosting public consultations in Sherbrooke, economic development consultant Fathom Studio found that most participants like the idea of 鈥渟ofter鈥� and more 鈥渆nvironmentally sensitive鈥� forms of industrial activity better than traditional, primary ones.听
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According to Beaver, the St. Mary鈥檚 River Association paid for the song鈥檚 hard recording and video production costs 鈥渢hrough an initiative this summer, which raised about $14,000 not just for this project but a few other things, too.鈥�
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Said Gunning: 鈥淚鈥檝e given them the rights to use it for however long they want to use it. One day, I鈥檒l also put it on one of my recordings. But in the meantime, this is all about the St. Mary鈥檚 River Association.鈥�
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