How Mine Sites can Benefit Pollinating Insects

In June 2018, three companies—Monarch Gold Corporation, Agnico Eagle Mines and Canadian Malartic Mine— decided to landscape and vegetate their tailings storage areas to create habitats that would promote pollinator recovery. This collaborative project quickly attracted other mining companies and industry partners. Eldorado Gold Québec, Horne Smelter (a Glencore company), Hecla Québec, IAMGOLD Corporation, Niobec, and partners from municipalities, consulting firms and service providers joined the original three partners to create the Insect Pollinator Recovery Initiative. In this article, we delve into one of the best examples of collaboration between stakeholders in the mining sector, yielding successes in the field and in training and university research for the benefit of local biodiversity and several declining species in Quebec.