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Gold Mining: History, Impact, and Environmental Cost

Explore the history of gold mining from ancient civilizations to present-day hotspots, learn about the impacts of mining on communities, labor, and the environment, and discover the toll it takes on indigenous peoples and women. Understand the dirty practices, labor concerns, and economic impacts associated with gold mining, as well as the environmental degradation caused by mercury pollution, toxic waste production, and deforestation. Uncover the social repercussions, economic consequences, and physical impact of gold mining on air quality, ecosystems, and human health.

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Gold Mining: History, Impact, and Environmental Cost

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  1. The Environmental Cost of Gold Mining Viviana Flores and Demi Moore

  2. The History of Gold Mining with respect to international lands, • Varna Necropolis, Bulgaria burial site or Sakdrisi, Georgia process could be 7,000 years old • Bronze Age gold relics in Spain and Ireland • Vitality of the Roman Empire dependent on gold, primary medium of exchange • Kolar Gold Fields in India • Kremnica in Slovakia, largest in Medieval Europe Demi

  3. The History of Gold Mining with respect to the 19th-century, large migrations of miners • California Gold Rush (America) • Victorian Gold Rush (Australia) • Klondike Gold Rush (Canada) Second Boer War Witwatersrand, founding of South Africa The Carlin Trend, Nevada Demi

  4. The Basic Mechanism of Gold Mining • Finding deposits • Analyzing promising areas • Drill testing/ taking samples • Determining mine type Demi

  5. The Basic Mechanism of Gold Mining 5. Building Infrastructure 6. Mining Samples and Determining the Specific Type of Ore Processing • Cyanide or Mercury Processing 7. Ore Processing (On-Site) 8. Refining (Off-Site) 9. Mine Reclamation (In a perfect world) Viviana

  6. Gold Mining Hot-Spots: Present-Day • Indonesian Province of Papua New Guinea • Kyzyl Kum Desert of Uzbekistan • Carlin, Nevada • Cajamarca region of the Northern Highlands of Peru • Elko, Nevada Viviana

  7. Dirty Gold Mining Practices • open-pit mining • (accounts for two-thirds of newly mined gold) • ore, or gold-laden rock, blasted creating craters • destroys the landscape • cyanide heap leaching • ore crushed into fine particles, heaped into large piles, sprayed with cyanide • leaves behind large amounts of toxic waste: cyanide/ heavy metals • amalgamation • artisanal/small-scale mining • release of mercury into environment Demi

  8. How does this affect humans? The Social Repercussions of Gold Mining Viviana

  9. Gold Mining: Labor Concerns • Child Labor • 600,000 children worldwide • Wages less than regular miners • More susceptible to chemicals’ effects • School < Mining Viviana

  10. Gold Mining: Community Impact violence public health concerns threatened indigenous populations Demi

  11. Gold Mining: Economic Impact economic benefits of gold mining do not always meet expectations • most artisanal gold miners barely earn wages to meet basic needs • large gold mining companies tend to outsource or abuse existing populations • disrupt local economic activities- farming and fishing • tax collection issues with governmental institutions • misappropriated revenues Demi

  12. Gold Mining: Toll on Indigenous People • many indigenous peoples live in remote areas-attractive to mining companies • 1985-2012 half of all gold mined from native lands lack of legal and political safeguards Free, prior informed consent(FPIC) Demi

  13. Gold Mining: Impact on Women • Gender Bias: • Men receive any land compensations and negotiate the land with mining companies • Lack of Employment • Few opportunities for women • Displaces job-sectors where women could have jobs • Fuels Dependency on Men • Inability to Carry Out Typical Roles • Severe contamination of water -> crops Viviana

  14. Gold Mining: Worker Rights & Safety besides not being a path to riches for everyone involved, gold mining also causes severe safety concerns workers must be wary of: slowly poisoning themselves landslides and tunnel collapses long-term public health issues Demi

  15. How does gold mining affect the environment? The Physical Impact of Gold Mining

  16. Gold Mining vs. The Environment • Dirty Gold Mining has: • Ravaged landscapes • Contaminated water sources for many communities • Destroyed vital ecosystems • Regularly released cyanide, mercury, etc. into the environment Viviana

  17. Gold Mining: Impact on Air • Smelting • Releases toxins: • Lead • Nitrogen and Sulfur • Mercury • SO2

  18. Gold Mining: Destroying the Amazon • Artisanal gold miners destroying rainforest to access gold deposits from beneath • deforestation rates in the Madre de Dios region have increased six-fold, 2003-2009 • dangerously unsafe mercury levels • massive killing of aquatic life, especially freshwater fish • bioaccumulation Amazon Rainforest Demi

  19. Gold Mining: Mercury Pollution • Artisanal & small-scale gold-mining uses mercury to extract gold from rock and sediment which causes: • 2 grams of mercury: 1 gram of gold • About 1000 tons of mercury released into the environment each year • International Distribution • Mercury travels great distances • 70% of deposited mercury in U.S is from intn’l pollution • Not easily removed • Harm to Human Health • Chronic exposure: fatigue, weight-loss, tremors, shifts in behavior, kidney & liver disease Viviana

  20. Gold Mining: Toxic Waste Production • 20 tons of toxic waste : 0.33 oz. of gold • Toxic waste components: Cyanide + Toxic Heavy Metals • Where does it go? • Rivers, lakes, and oceans | 180 million tons per year • Trapped by dams -> Demi

  21. Gold Mining: Acid Mine Drainage • underground rock disturbed by mining is newly exposed to air and water • iron sulfides, or “fool’s gold,” in rock can react with oxygen to form sulfuric acid • draining from mine sites can be 20 to 300 times more concentrated than acid rain- toxic to living organisms. Demi Pittsburgh, PA

  22. Gold Mining: Excavation and Erosion • Open-pit mines excavate rock and soil that is dislodged and combined with toxic waste products • This leads to erosion -> clogged rivers and streams -> dismantled ecosystems Viviana

  23. Major Gold-Mining Disasters • 1971: Certej Mine, Romania • 1984: Ok Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea • 1984: Summitville Mine, United States • 1995: Omai Mine, Guyana • 2000: Baia Mare, Romania Viviana

  24. Solutions: Alternatives to Gold Mining Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and Northwestern University • Thiosulfate (lixiviants) and alpha-cyclodextrin (a substance commonly extracted from corn starch) • to process and recover gold Demi

  25. Solutions: Increase Responsibility • Gold companies should: • Invest in funding the closure and cleanup of mining after procedure stops • Mine Reclamation • Aid in worker’s job placement after • Independent Verification • Third-party supervisor of gold-mining companies Viviana

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