In the southeast of Canada, there is one of the cities that is most intrinsically linked to mining. The small city of Malartic in the northeast of Quebec is characterized by having been formed on top of privileged lands with gold deposits. This is why when it was discovered that such a treasure lay underground, one of the largest open pit gold mines in North America was soon formed.
The first suspicions that a large amount of gold was found in that region arose in 1923. Word spread and a gold rush quickly arose among investors, which caused a great movement of people to that place. Until then it was unpopulated. It was then that in 1929, when it was confirmed that gold deposits did exist, the small city of Malartic was founded, which is currently a town dedicated entirely to mining.
As large quantities of gold increasingly appeared, mining companies came to establish themselves on the land. By 1939, a total of four companies were operating in the Malartic deposits and by 1947, large extractions of the precious mineral were already being made. Each of the mining companies processed a total of one ton of gold per day. Since then Malartic’s income has fluctuated as the value of gold changes around the world, depending entirely on the extraction of the precious mineral.
A paradise in exploitation
Malartic is currently one of the largest open pit mines in North America. Little by little, heavy machinery has been carving out a geometric paradise of very well-organized descents that form a kind of sinkhole. A beautiful landscape that makes evident human selfishness in the extraction of natural resources.
The Canadian Malartic Partnership mining company is currently the only one operating on that site, but it is more than enough. With 2,100 full-time employees, 800 mine workers and 1,300 contractors, they keep the industry running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 2020 alone, it processed a total of 20 million tons of the mineral.
The extraction of gold, which is highly demanded around the world, involves crushing, grinding and leaching processes. But nothing is lost here, activated carbon is then used to reabsorb the gold lost in the process. In the entire procedure to provide the quantities of gold that are purchased in the world, millions of tons of gold are lost, since it must be remembered that the mining industry is one of the most intensive in water consumption, thus affecting both the availability of the vital liquid as well as the contamination of the aquifers.
The Malartic mine can be beautiful at first glance, as it helps us understand that nature has a great variety of elements that have become useful to humans. But on the other hand, behind that geometric beauty of ramps and layers of earth, hides a story of human selfishness that always looks towards what it lacks and not at what it already shares with all living beings, natural wealth. .