Pink Panthers and Cyanide Dumps

Thanks to Don Piper (www.Myndzeye.com) for referring this very cool story to me!

Somewhere out in the central Nevada desert, Tony and Jerrie Tipton came upon a monstrous sight. A 300 foot tall pile of crushed rock called a heap-leach pad. The rock contained low-quality gold ore, and it was extracted using applications of cyanide, into which the gold would dissolve, and be able to be claimed by the miners.

How a heap-leach pad works

The Heap-Leach pad pre-Tiptons

After a few years of pouring cyanide onto this specific pile of rocks, the mining company decided it was no longer extracting enough gold to make it worthwhile to continue leaching. The company sprayed enough water on the pile to make them feel like it was clean, and then they left it. There it sat, completely sterile, void of any organic material, and not growing anything. An eyesore at the very least was all that was left of this gold extraction project. The miners tried to re-vegetate the area by spraying it with chemical fertilizers, seeds, and a plasticized mulch used on highways. The area was able to grow one species of poisonous weed for one season, and then they were back to square one. The mine company, having satisfied their government-imposed responsibility of 'reclaiming' the site, left it to sit there.

When the Tiptons (who lived nearby in an old greyhound bus converted into an RV with a funny painting of the Pink Panther on the back, hence the name) approached the mining company and asked if they could try out a different method, the company didn't see any way it could hurt, so the gave them the go-ahead.

The same slope, after the Tiptons had their way with it

Tony and Jerrie Tipton brought in a few very simple ingredients. They spread a mixture of native seeds, some organic fertilizer (rich in microbial life!), some hay and some straw. Then, they brought in their processing team; cows. The cows came in, ate up the hay and straw, trampled down what they didn't ingest, and spread their own version of microbially diverse fertilizer on the ground. After only a few days, the cows left. What they left behind, the seeds, a bit of trampled organic matter, and a bunch of urine and manure, then went to work. After six months, the area was covered in native plants, growing well and establishing themselves. After three years, a scientist from the US Forest Service went to check on the area and found that there was not only still a healthy population of native plants still residing there, but also a community of wildlife had moved in and made themselves at home.

Since this first incredibly successful project, the Tiptons have gone on to engage with larger scale endeavors using their extremely simple, and extremely effective methods. They have attempted to engage on large scale (250,000 acre) projects, and have appealed to congressmen, senators, gov't land managers, educators, investors, and even to leaders of environmental organizations. With all this, its still pretty hard to find mention of these two after the year 2000 (yes, this project took place in the 90's!). However, apparently they haven't just faded into the background. Jerrie Tipton has held the position of Commissioner of Mineral County Nevada since 2007, and she and Tony have a BLM public land ranching operation in the middle of NV where they are continuing to do amazing things with their lands. 


Lets get these people in the spotlight! Sure, it may not be the most glamorous or technologically 'wow-ing' method, but dammit, it works. Sometimes it takes a little bit of openness to realize that the solutions we seek for our world are already right in front of our eyes. We don't need to invent new chemicals, new machinery, or new technology to solve the issues we have created for ourselves and our planet. If we use the tools that nature has given us, in the right ways in the right places, we can create a better, healthier, cleaner, more productive world for the coming generations of humans on this earth. 

This story, and others like it, can be found in the excellent book by Dan Dagget, Gardeners of Eden: Rediscovering our Importance to Nature. I recommend checking it out.