Impact Of Gold Mining On The Environment – Mining is the extraction of minerals and other geological materials of economic value from mines on Earth. Mining adversely affects the environment by causing biodiversity loss, soil erosion and pollution of surface water, groundwater and soil. Mining can also trigger the formation of sinkholes. Chemical releases from mining sites can also have adverse effects on the health of people living in or around mining areas.

In some countries, mining companies must comply with environmental and rehabilitation regulations to ensure that the mined area is eventually returned to its original state. However, violations of such rules are quite common.

Impact Of Gold Mining On The Environment

Air quality is adversely affected by mining activities. Unrefined materials are released when mineral deposits are exposed to the surface during mining. Wind erosion and nearby vehicle traffic cause such materials to become airborne. Lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxic elements are often present in such particles. These pollutants can harm the health of people living near mining areas. Diseases of the respiratory system and allergies can be triggered by inhalation of such airborne particles.

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Mining also causes water pollution including metal contamination, increased sediment levels in streams and acid mine drainage. Pollutants discharged from processing plants, tailings ponds, underground mines, waste disposal sites, active or abandoned surface or conveyance roads, etc., are sources of water pollution Top. Sediments released through soil erosion cause sedimentation or clogging of stream beds. It negatively impacts irrigation, swimming, fishing, domestic water supply and other activities that depend on those water bodies. High concentrations of toxic chemicals in water bodies pose an existential threat to aquatic flora and fauna and the terrestrial species that depend on them for food. Acidic water released from metal mines or coal mines also flows into surface water or seeps underground to acidify groundwater. Loss of the normal pH of water can have disastrous effects on the life sustained by that water.

The creation of landscape features such as open pits and waste rock piles resulting from mining operations can lead to physical destruction of the soil at the mining site. Such disruptions could contribute to the deterioration of the region’s flora and fauna. There is also a strong possibility that many of the surface features that existed before the mining operation could not be replaced after the process ended. Removing layers of soil and digging underground can destabilize the ground, threatening the future of roads and buildings in the area. For example, lead ore mining in Galena, Kansas from 1980 to 1985 caused approximately 500 subsidence events that led to the closure of mines in the area. The entire mining site was subsequently restored between 1994 and 1995.

Typically, the worst effects of mining are observed after the mining process has ceased. Destroying or drastically altering a pre-mined landscape can have a catastrophic impact on the biodiversity of that area. Mining leads to massive habitat loss for a diversity of flora and fauna, from soil microorganisms to large mammals. Endemic species are hit the hardest because even the smallest disruptions in their habitat can lead to extinction or put them at high risk of being wiped out. Toxins released during mining can wipe out entire populations of sensitive species.

Landscapes affected by mining can take a long time to recover. Sometimes it never recovers. Remediation efforts do not always ensure that a region’s biodiversity is restored. Species may be lost forever. Gold has been a popular and valuable component of jewelry for centuries, but what is the environmental impact of gold mining? Gold is resistant to solvents, does not tarnish, and is extremely malleable, so it can be shaped relatively easily. Although prices fluctuate, gold often sells for more than $1,000 per ounce. Gold nuggets are popular with collectors but are very rare; Most gold is found as small grains buried in gold ore. However, extracting just one ounce of gold from ore can produce 20 tons of solid waste and significant mercury and cyanide pollution.

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Some gold can be found by panning in rivers; Heavy gold will remain in the pan, while lighter rocks and minerals will float out. This form of small-scale gold mining has little impact on water resources, but large-scale gold mining from ore can have enormous negative impacts on water quality.

Gold is often found in ores and sediments that contain toxins such as mercury. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, when rivers are dredged to mine large placer gold mines, these toxins drift downstream and enter the food web, as happened in California’s South Yuba River, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Water pollution negatively affects not only wildlife populations but also human populations. Two open-pit gold mines in Montana closed in 1998 but continue to cost state taxpayers millions of dollars in reclamation and water treatment efforts.

The cyanide used at these mines to leach gold from the ore resulted in contamination levels so high that people could not use nearby water sources until they were extensively and expensively treated and purified. Reclamation efforts at old mines are expected to continue indefinitely.

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Most forms of gold mining involve moving large amounts of soil and rock, which can be detrimental to surrounding wildlife habitats. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that development of a proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay would destroy at least 24 miles of stream that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.

Thousands of acres of wetlands and ponds would also be destroyed by the proposed mine’s daily operations. Local communities rely heavily on this fishery and will be affected by this habitat destruction.

Regular operations at gold mines adversely affect the environment in many ways. For example, operating large mining equipment requires fuel and results in greenhouse gas emissions. However, potential mine accidents and leaks pose an even greater threat to nearby land and water resources.

​, needs to be stored behind the dam; Failure of such a structure will lead to widespread release of toxins. Mines must operate wastewater treatment plants to remove cyanide, mercury and other toxins from water used for mining, and treatment plant failures can also lead to carpet contamination. devastating for the surrounding landscape.

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Unfortunately, mercury used in artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations can become airborne, polluting both air and water. Mercury-free gold mining methods are being developed and promoted to reduce the amount of mercury pollution created by gold mining.

Additionally, sodium cyanide is commonly used in gold mining operations to separate gold from ore. Sodium cyanide is another chemical compound that can pollute the air and water when not contained properly.

The machines used to mine the earth’s gold often run on fossil fuels, adding to the air pollution created by the gold mining industry. Overall, the impact of gold mining on the environment – ​​water, air and soil – is serious and extremely negative.

Sarah Cairoli began her writing career in 2002, as a reporter for “High National Independent Publishing” in Belgrade, Mont. She then spent two years writing and editing for an online publishing company and earned a master’s degree in English from Northern Arizona University. Cairoli also writes for “Bozeman Magazine”. The 13,000-foot Grasberg mine has the world’s largest gold reserves and is also the largest copper mine. © George Steinmetz/Corbis

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A global campaign to boycott what activists call “dirty gold” reached its 100th official follower three days before Valentine’s Day.

The pledge was launched in 2004 by the environmental group Earthworks, which asked retailers not to ship gold produced through environmentally and socially destructive mining practices. Eight of the ten largest jewelry retailers in the United States have now made the commitment, including Tiffany & Co., Target and Helzberg Diamonds. The No Dirty Gold campaign is tied to the “golden rules”, a set of criteria that encourage the metal mining industry to respect human rights and the natural environment.

While the list of retailers opposing dirty gold continues to grow, most gold is still quite dirty. Much of the world’s gold is mined from open-pit mines, where huge volumes of soil are mined and processed for trace elements. Earthworks estimates that, to produce enough raw gold to form a single ring, 20 tons of dirt and rock were stripped and removed. Much of this waste carries mercury and cyanide, which are used to extract gold from rocks. The resulting erosion clogs streams and rivers and can eventually pollute the marine ecosystem downstream of the mine site. Exposing the deep underground to air and water also causes chemical reactions that create sulfuric acid, which can leak into the sewer system. Air quality is also affected by gold mining, which releases hundreds of tons of elemental mercury into the air each year.

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