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Tracking the long-term limnological impacts of silver mining near Keno City (Yukon, subarctic Canada)

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Abstract

Mining in northern Canada has been known to cause major environmental problems; however, historical monitoring data are scarce or non-existent. Here, we use a multi-proxy (metals, bioindicators, pigments) paleolimnological approach to track the impacts of mining activity near Keno City, on the traditional land of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, in central Yukon (Canada). Silver was discovered in the early 1900s, primarily on or between two hills (Galena Hill and Keno Hill). Intensive mining has taken place ever since, with brief hiatuses dependent on ore prices and ownership of the claims. Christal Lake, a shallow site located in the valley between both hills, lies near many historical and current mines, and was once the site of a processing mill. Geochemical data show elevated background concentrations of many metals and faithfully track known mining activity. Interestingly, background (pre-mining) sediment concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, and zinc were all elevated above the Canadian Sediment Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life, reflecting the natural weathering of elements in high concentrations from the local catchment. These, and other metal(loid)s, increased and peaked in sedimentary concentration after ca. 1920s, when intensive mining began. Sedimentary chlorophyll-a concentrations declined with the rise of metal concentrations, although values increased again slightly in more recent sediments, perhaps reflecting the decline in recent metal inputs and reclamation of historic mine sites. Meanwhile, subfossil diatom assemblages were dominated by small benthic Fragilaria sensu lato taxa, whose assemblage composition only changed subtly with mining (similar to other shallow, non-acidified sites in the highly metal-impacted area of Norilsk, Siberia). There was no biological evidence of acidification, likely due to the neutralizing effect of the carbonate-rich catchment. Cladoceran subfossils were only present in very low numbers throughout the core, reflecting both the shallow nature and high background metal concentrations in the lake. Collectively, these data show the long-term impacts of silver mining in this subarctic environment.

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Acknowledgements

Fieldwork for this study was conducted on the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun land. We are thankful for the opportunity to conduct research on their lands. We thank our colleagues from Carleton University (Dr. Murray Richardson, John Foster, and Rasheeda Slater) for their advice and insights, Hernaldo (Camilo) Fuentes-Peña (Queen’s University) for his assistance during the 2022 field season, and Dr. Graham Cairns, Paula Whitley, and the Analytical Services Unit at Queen’s University for their assistance with metal analysis. Lastly, we thank the reviewers of this manuscript for their time and constructive comments.

Funding

This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery and NSERC Northern Supplement awards to JPS and MFJP. JW was additionally supported by a TD Fellowship in Arctic Environmental Issues and EJ by an NSERC CGS-M scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory, Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Evan A. Jones, Neal Michelutti, Jamie A. Would & John P. Smol

  2. Department of Geography and Tourism, Brock University, St. Catharine’s, ON, Canada

    Michael F. J. Pisaric

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  1. Evan A. Jones
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  2. Neal Michelutti
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  3. Jamie A. Would
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Contributions

Conceptualized by EAJ, JAW, JPS, and MFJP. Methods developed by EAJ, JAW, and JPS. Research conducted by: EAJ, JAW, and MFJP. Data analysis and interpretation by EAJ, NM, and JAW. EAJ was responsible for all figures and tables. All authors contributed to the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Evan A. Jones.

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Jones, E.A., Michelutti, N., Would, J.A. et al. Tracking the long-term limnological impacts of silver mining near Keno City (Yukon, subarctic Canada). J Paleolimnol 72, 63–76 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-024-00324-0

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