User:Jmvelasquez/Gold mining
Impact
Gold mining can significantly alter the natural environment. Gold mining activities in tropical forests are increasingly causing deforestation along rivers and in remote areas rich in biodiversity.[1][2] Other gold mining impacts, particularly in aquatic systems with residual cyanide or mercury (used in the recovery of gold from ore), can be highly toxic to people and wildlife even at relatively low concentrations.[3]
Gold mining produces more waste than mining of other minerals, because it can be mined at a lower grade. Tailings can contain lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. These toxins can pose health risks for local communities.[4]
Arsenic is typically found in gold-containing ores, and gold processing may contaminate groundwater or the atmosphere. This pollution may persist for decades.[5]
The discovery of significant gold deposits in a region often sees a flood of resources and development, which lasts as long as the mines are economic. When goldfields begin to decline in production, local economies find themselves destabilised and overly reliant upon an industry that will inevitably abandon the region when gold deposits are sufficiently depleted.[6][7]
Illegal gold mining exacerbates the ecological vulnerability of the remaining forest ultimately leading to permanent forest loss. [8] Gold mining clears native forests for mineral extraction, but also indirectly facilitates access to more land and further clearing. Rainforest recovery rates are the lowest ever recorded for tropical forests, with there being little to no tree regeneration at abanded mining camps, even after several years. [9]
Responses
Human Rights Watch produced a report in 2015 that outlined some of challenges faced globally. The report notes that
Thousands of children in the Philippines risk their lives every day mining gold. Children work in unstable 25-meter-deep pits that could collapse at any moment. They mine gold underwater, along the shore, or in rivers, with oxygen tubes in their mouths. They also process gold with mercury, a toxic metal, risking irreversible health damage from mercury poisoning.[10]
Fairtrade and Fairmined dual certification for gold was launched across the United Kingdom on 14 February 2011,[11] a joint scheme between The Fairtrade Foundation and The Association for Responsible Mining. The Fairmined mark ensures that the gold has been extracted in a fair and responsible manner.
A UN investigation reported human rights abuses such as sexual exploitation of women and children, mercury poisoning, and child labor affecting communities where illegal gold production occurs. The reports said global buyers such as Switzerland, through which roughly two-thirds of global trade transits, need to ensure that human rights are respected throughout supply chains.[12]
The "No Dirty Gold" campaign, working with a number of campaigning partners, was established in 2004 and aims "to ensure that gold mining operations respect human rights and the environment" through a call for changes in gold mining techniques and processes.[13][14]
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References
- ^ Asner, G. P.; Llactayo, W.; Tupayachi, R.; Luna, E. R. (2015). "Elevated rates of gold mining in the Amazon revealed through high-resolution monitoring". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 110 (46): 18454–18459. doi:10.1073/pnas.1318271110. PMC 3832012. PMID 24167281.
- ^ Alvarez, N.L; T. M. Aide (2015). "Global demand for gold is another threat for tropical forests". Environmental Research Letters. 10 (1): 014006. Bibcode:2015ERL....10a4006A. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/1/014006.
- ^ Environmental and Health Effects Archived 30 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Cyanidecode.org. Retrieved on 26 October 2010.
- ^ Gifford, Blair; Kestler, Andrew; Anand, Sharmila (2010-07-01). "Building local legitimacy into corporate social responsibility: Gold mining firms in developing nations". Journal of World Business. 45 (3): 304–311. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2009.09.007. ISSN 1090-9516.
- ^ Eisler, Ronald (2004), "Arsenic Hazards to Humans, Plants, and Animals from Gold Mining", Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol. 180, New York, NY: Springer, pp. 133–165, doi:10.1007/0-387-21729-0_3, ISBN 978-0-387-21729-1, PMID 14561078, retrieved 2023-06-12
- ^ Growth and development in South Africa's heartland: silence, exit, and voice in the Free State : abridged. Johannesburg: Centre for Development and Enterprise. 2005. OCLC 68913299.
- ^ Siqueira-Gay, Juliana; Sonter, Laura J.; Sánchez, Luis E. (2020-08-01). "Exploring potential impacts of mining on forest loss and fragmentation within a biodiverse region of Brazil's northeastern Amazon". Resources Policy. 67: 101662. Bibcode:2020RePol..6701662S. doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101662. ISSN 0301-4207. S2CID 216493246.
- ^ Zemp, D. C.; Schleussner, C.-F.; Barbosa, H. M. J.; Rammig, A. (2017-06-28). "Deforestation effects on Amazon forest resilience". Geophysical Research Letters. 44 (12): 6182–6190. Bibcode:2017GeoRL..44.6182Z. doi:10.1002/2017GL072955. ISSN 0094-8276.
- ^ Kalamandeen, Michelle; Gloor, Emanuel; Johnson, Isaac; Agard, Shenelle; Katow, Martin; Vanbrooke, Ashmore; Ashley, David; Batterman, Sarah A.; Ziv, Guy; Holder-Collins, Kaslyn; Phillips, Oliver L.; Brondizio, Eduardo S.; Vieira, Ima; Galbraith, David (2020). Magrach, Ainhoa (ed.). "Limited biomass recovery from gold mining in Amazonian forests". Journal of Applied Ecology. 57 (9): 1730–1740. Bibcode:2020JApEc..57.1730K. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13669. ISSN 0021-8901.
- ^ "What … if Something Went Wrong? Hazardous Child Labor in Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Philippines". Human Rights Watch. 2015-09-29. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ^ Kate Carter (14 February 2011). "Fairtrade hallmark sets the gold standard". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ "Gold sourcing and Switzerland in focus at the Human Rights Council". Swissinfo. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
- ^ Earthworks, No Dirty Gold, accessed 30 October 2023
- ^ Bland, A., The Environmental Disaster That is the Gold Industry, Smithsonian Magazine, published 14 February 2014, accessed 30 October 2023