02.15.12
The Cost of Mining
Years ago I watched that movie starring Leonard DiCaprio called “Blood Diamond.” When I learned about that, I decided that I didn’t need diamonds, anyway, so I decided not to buy them anymore. Later, I stumbled across a Youtube video on gold mining in the Congo called, “Mining for Bling–Congo Mining Crisis“. It was distressing for me to learn that the Congolese were still being exploited for their natural resources like gold, so I decided not to buy gold jewelry anymore. Then yesterday I got an email from an environmental group that I’ve supported, Environment California, with the subject heading, “Yosemite +cyanide=disaster.” I didn’t know why I hadn’t put two and two together a long time ago, but I had known that mercury was commonly used to separate gold from sand while mining, so the process can be quite a hazard to people’s health and the environment. The email I received mentioned that there are about 185 active mining claims just 10 miles of Yosemite, which could become active at any time. The concern of Environment California is that
“A modern gold rush would be a disaster for the Yosemite we know and love. Industrial mines remove hundreds of tons of ore from the earth in order to process a few ounces of gold, scarring the land and releasing heavy metals like lead into ponds and streams. Industrial mining operations use toxic chemicals like cyanide to separate gold from crushed ore. With a heavy rain or landslide, chemicals can escape their containment ponds and poison the surrounding area.”
Naturally, that took me aback, and I mentioned it to Brian who told me, yes, gold mining during the gold rush damaged a lot of land. I didn’t know that, and I never really thought of it. So I looked it up a bit, and sure enough gold mining has caused a lot of damage to land and people in various countries. So that brought me to another thought–the push to go back to the gold standard. If we go back to the gold standard, we encourage more gold mining, and thus more contaminated lands, health hazards, and exploitation of peoples in various countries. Maybe going back to the gold standard isn’t such a great idea after all. I’m not saying that we have to stay with a fiat system, but why should gold be the standard? People have used bartering in the past as well as shells and beads. Animals used to also be a sign of wealth as brides used to be bought with cows and such, heheheh. I have to think this out. The gold mining situation is disturbing to me, so I’m not so sold on going back to the gold standard anymore.
Marlakins
patti said,
February 18, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Hmmmm. Well, I love my diamonds. And my gold.
One thing I really try to do is work through the hype of some of the environmental stuff to the reality and truth. During the gold rush, mining was done without preserving the land in mind. But today, at least for the mining we have around here, that is not so. We “own” a 35 acre gold claim that we are free to mine within some very strict standards for retaining the land, trees, waterways, etc. This will be our first year mining there. Last year, Ron and the kids mined several claims owned by the gold club they belong to here. Again, the standards are very strict. In Idaho, dredge mining is no longer allowed without huge permits and requirements to return the land to the way it was prior (trees, etc.). There have been several claims here they used as an example of restoring the land. So in reality, I think mining today is very different from mining during the gold rush. At least in our state.
Ron did find a small amount of mercury when he mined this past summer. That was actually quite concerning. It was leftover from the mining of the 1800’s in our mountains here. Something he is watching closely. The 35 acres he’ll begin work on this summer had only a few acres of it ever mined. The rest was left alone. So we’ll see if he finds more signs of mercury there. It seems it was a by-product of their mining process years ago. Today, no one up there uses chemicals (even the mining companies). But that is only what I know for here. Have no idea elsewhere.
So somewhere in between what environmental groups say and what is, is the truth. I try really hard to sit where that is. In this case, at least in our state, it is so heavily regulated that land has been well cared for. I imagine a number of other states are regulated heavily as well.
And I still am all for a return to the gold standard.
Administrator said,
February 18, 2012 at 9:48 pm
Thanks for the info, Patti. I understand that there are some places that are conscious of the human and environmental impacts, but it’s hard to find that sort of information. After I wrote my post, I tried to look up how gold mining is done today, and all I got was that they use “chemicals” to separate the gold from the ore, which doesn’t convince me that those chemicals are harmless or even any different from what they used before. I still need to look more into it because I never really looked in to it before, and I only did a short search (too busy trying to follow the middle east conflict). I suppose if you get gold nuggets that would be different than separating it from ore. And while I understand that there may be a lot of regulations here, there are not as much (or none at all) in other countries like Africa, the Philippines, South America, etc., where human rights abuses run rampant due to selling minerals for cash to fund military groups. If, for example, you watched the video I linked to my post, you’ll hear an example of how some rebel groups force villagers to do their mining. This practice has been done for centuries, going back to the colonial days. I know it’s not just hype from environmental groups because I’ve read about this practice in several books dealing with places like the Congo, Somalia, etc. It’s well documented by historians. While I am concerned for the environment because polluted land and water will damage our health, I am even more concerned with how peoples in foreign lands are ill-treated for the sake of a “mineral” or “rock.” I love my diamonds and gold jewelry, too, (jewelry is just so fun, heh) but if someone had to suffer for it, it’s not worth it for me. It’s just a piece of earth, I don’t need it, nor does it help my health. People have killed for gold, and apparently, they still do. Like you, I try not to go overboard with environmental issues, too, but I really don’t need diamonds or gold jewelry. I mean drilling for oil harms our environment, but I still drive my car and use plastics. After getting AA, my priorities have really changed. A vegetable garden is much more useful to me that any of my jewelry.
The heavy regulations you mentioned for gold mining is an interesting example of why deregulating too much can cause problems. Course we don’t want “over regulation,” but history has shown us that many people have to be forced to some degree to keep the land clean. Our past has shown us that “no” regulations have resulted in damaged lands and people. This is one area I have some disagreements with Ron Paul. I agree that our government has gotten too big and out of control, and should be reduced. But I do think there should be limited government regulations because there are just some areas that people need guidance and even help. No regulations is what lets groups like Monsanto and other chemical companies get away with loading our foods with chemicals and genetically engineering anything they can get their hands on. There are too many crooks and just plain greedy people in this world to trust them to do what is right on their own. Look at Wall Street. Just looking back at why Roosevelt expanded government projects because the rich corporations wouldn’t do it testifies to that.
Good luck with your gold mining! Oh, regarding the mercury, yes, I read a short little blurb on that, which stated this:
“Mercury Pollution
In the 19th century, gold prospectors in California used mercury to purify gold. They disposed of an estimated 4,000 tons of mercury in rivers and streams. Fish in the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay still show elevated levels of mercury. State officials estimate that the hundreds of mercury mines still leaking into waters would cost billions of dollars to clean up. ”
Quoted from this link http://www.nodirtygold.org/poisoned_waters.cfm
I have no idea where your land is, or what the history is of that land, but would be interesting to look up. What I envy is your garden and flock of birds! Wish I had a bigger yard for that sort of thing! After thinking about it right now, I’m thinking the real world currency seems to be oil, ha! There was news that India purchased oil from Iran using gold, but I can’t imagine how much gold they would have to have to continually pay in gold for oil if they’re purchasing 328,000 barrels of oil a day. Seems like there wouldn’t be enough gold for that?
Marla
P.S. I was musing the other day about the history of gold currency, and it dawned on me that back in the early days, the gold currency used here in California was actually Spanish gold coins. And where did the Spanish get their gold? A good deal was from looting other countries. Remember the Spanish and Manila galleons. We like to think that things were better in the older days, but those older days were very corrupt, too, and the height of colonialization. Sure it may have been good for the U.S., but not in the countries that were being colonized for their resources. The history for the quest for gold is rife with corruption and suffering.
Administrator said,
February 18, 2012 at 10:14 pm
I was just doing a search on how gold is mined today, and one of the links wrote this:
“Since the 1890’s, cyanide has been used to recover gold from gold bearing ores. And today, over 115 years later, most of the worlds gold is recovered with cyanide playing a large part in the beneficiation of the yellow precious metal. Chemically, it is a rather simple reaction:
4 Au + 8(NaCN) +O2 + 2 H2O = 4 NaAu(CN)2 + 4 NaOH
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_is_cyanide_used_in_gold_mining#ixzz1mnic55yB
Another link at Bullion.com states that mercury and cyanide are the main chemicals used to separate gold from ore. They mention chlorine gas and electrolysis for the more pure gold.
What other process is there without using chemicals? Pan handling? I can’t imagine large gold mining companies panning for gold, but what do I know? Ha! The video I watched of the people mining for gold in the Congo showed they used water and mercury to separate their gold.
Marla
Administrator said,
February 19, 2012 at 1:58 am
I was just doing a little search to see which U.S. states have banned cyanide for gold mining. According to this PDF article http://www.nwmtgoldprospectors.com/downloads/cyanide.pdf Montana is the only state that has banned its use. I don’t see the date of the article, but by judging from the references, it should have been written sometime after 2001, at least. Wiki makes a reference to both Montana and Wisconsin, but it seems that the reference link to Wisconsin is a dead link. Not sure why that is.
I think I’ve had enough of gold surfing for now. Brian was doing a search on quail, and they’re so cute, ha!
Marla