Gold Mining Companies Are Destroying The Environment

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forest are the lungs of our land, purifying the air, and giving fresh strength to our people.” Gold mining is certainly the most harmful to the environment in forms of mining. It creates enormous amount of pollution, toxic waste, and most importantly the destruction of the rainforests. Due to the use of dirty practices such as open pit mining and cyanide heap leaching, mining companies generate about 20 tons of toxic waste for every 0.333 ounce gold ring. For example, a ring. Miners dig up to 30 tons of rock and sprinkle it with cyanide.So, mining companies should change the use of cyanide solution because of the rise in pollution, and water waste going into water sources, harming living species and environment.

Due to the use of dirty practices such as open pit mining and cyanide heap leaching, mining companies generate about 20 tons of toxic waste for every 0.333 ounce gold ring. The waste, usually a gray liquid sludge, is laden with deadly cyanide and toxic heavy metals.Many gold mines dump their toxic waste directly into natural water bodies. The Lihir gold mine in Papua New Guinea dumps over 5 million tons of toxic waste into the Pacific Ocean each year, destroying corals and other ocean life. Companies mining for gold and other metals in total dump at least 180 million tons of toxic waste into rivers, lakes, and oceans each year—more than 1.5 times the waste that U.S. cities send to landfills on a yearly