Just what are the impacts of gold mining?
Here are a few: Metals mining is the most toxic polluter in the United States. It is responsible for 96 percent of aresenic emissions and 76 percent of lead emissions. Each year in the United States, mines generate an amount of waste equivalent in weight to nearly nine times the trash produced by all its cities and towns combined. A single gold ring leaves in its wake at least 20 tons of mine waste. Accidents throughout the world involving cyanide-laced mine wastes have caused fish kills, severe water pollution, and soil contamination. Large scale mining operations often devastate local economies, cause illnesses, destroy streams and watersupplies, and lead to human rights abuses. Metal mining employs only .09 percent of the global workforce but consumes as much as 10 percent of world energy. Approximately half the gold produced worldwide has or will come from indigenous peoples’ lands. Read the Dirty Metals Report, and follow the links in our LEARN MORE page.
