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Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America

Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America. Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Gold Production in Latin America. Gold production creates more waste per ounce than any other metal

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Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America

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  1. Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs

  2. Gold Production in Latin America • Gold production creates more waste per ounce than any other metal • At least 50% of gold produced worldwide is used for cosmetic, non-essential purposes • 27% of all gold mining exploration took place in Latin America in 2009, especially Peru, Brazil, Chile, Mexico • Attractive source of foreign investment for Latin American governments

  3. Large-Scale Operations: Social Impacts • Residents v. corporations: an unfair fight • Protests often met with violence/arrests • Indigenous communities especially affected • Does not bring permanent economic opportunity

  4. Large-Scale Operations:Water Depletion and Contamination • Large quantities of water needed • Angostura Mine in Colombia: 250,000 liters of water to be used per hour • Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) • Cyanide contamination • Sodium Cyanide solutions used in leaching: 300-600 mg/l • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level: .2 mg/l • Increased sediment in rivers

  5. Acid Mine Drainage • Lara River in Honduras • 300 gallons of cyanide solution spilled • 18,000 dead fish • Contaminated 4.5km of river

  6. Large-Scale Operations: Soil Removal Open-pit mining and mountain-top removal require huge quantities of land to be displaced • Often located in protected forest areas

  7. Marmato Mountain, Colombia • Mountain-top removal • 30,000–60,000 metric tons of rock to be removed daily • Angostura Mine in Colombia • 1,100 hectares of protected forest reserve • 975 million metric tons rock to be removed

  8. Free Trade Agreements and Mining • El Salvador, Venezuela, Mexico, Jamaica, Bolivia, and others who have said “no” have been sued by foreign mining companies

  9. Illegal/Informal Mining Sector • Only source of income for many • Miners frequently uneducated about health and environmental effects of activities • Dredgers destroy river habitats • Widespread use of mercury • Estimated 1,000 tons released annually

  10. What can be done? • Increased education for miners • Increased communication between companies and communities • Strengthening monitoring and enforcement mechanisms • Balancing environment and economic concerns

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