A public benefit organization called Regeneration, based in Washington, is on a mission to clean up land and waterways in the Yukon, B.C., and Alaska while also turning a profit. The initiative involves utilizing advanced technology to extract metals from waste materials found at old mining sites.
Partnering with industry giants like Apple, Tiffany and Co., and Canadian jewelry company Mejuri, Regeneration has secured commitments to purchase metals sourced from legacy mine sites and support restoration endeavors. The project, which commenced over a decade ago, primarily targets regions in the North where historic placer mining activities have left behind extensive sediment and waste rock in streams and rivers.
CEO Stephen D’Esposito highlighted the growing awareness among jewelry and tech companies regarding environmental challenges in the mining sector and their eagerness to contribute to solutions. By proposing the concept of revisiting century-old legacy sites in Alaska, the Yukon, and B.C. to extract gold remnants and restore the areas, D’Esposito successfully garnered interest from key players like Tiffany and Apple.
The primary goal of the project is twofold: recovering residual gold from waste materials and undertaking stream restoration and vegetation replantation to revive habitats for species such as salmon and grayling. The initiative has demonstrated remarkable outcomes, with instances of anadromous fish returning to restored sites shortly after restoration efforts.
In a shift towards ethical and ‘traceable’ jewelry production, companies like Mejuri view this project as an opportunity to align with their climate and sustainability objectives. Holly McHugh, Vice President of Sustainability and Social Impact at Mejuri, emphasized the increasing consumer demand for ethically produced jewelry. The project necessitated collaboration with refineries capable of processing small gold batches separately to ensure a fully traceable product.
The project, initially conceived as a non-profit endeavor by NGO Resolve, evolved into the startup Regeneration in 2021 with more ambitious goals. With numerous abandoned and polluting mines across Canada, the costly remediation process is typically funded by taxpayers. Regeneration’s core premise revolves around the belief that there is economic potential in waste management, suggesting that environmental cleanup can be financially rewarding.
Despite facing challenges in establishing financial models for waste extraction, Regeneration persists in revisiting old mine sites with modern technology to reprocess toxic waste materials and recover valuable metals. By adopting a proactive approach that prioritizes critical mineral extraction and ecological restoration, the company aims to revolutionize remediation practices in the mining sector.
Regeneration’s endeavors extend to collaborating with First Nations and the federal government on various projects in the Yukon, including ongoing initiatives in Hedley, B.C. While uncertainties persist about the long-term sustainability of remediated sites, stakeholders like Sebastian Jones from the Yukon Conservation Society commend the innovative approach taken by Regeneration in addressing a longstanding environmental issue.
