Recycled Gold Reduces Mining Waste: Eco Living Articles: Eco20/20

Recycled Gold Reduces Mining Waste

That statement, of course, applies to the recycling of most any metal. It applies equally well to a lot of mining that isn't for metal. But the awkward fact that gold mining is among the most poisonous of mining processes makes it a crucial environmental concern.

Arsenic

* Arsenic is found in the environment. It occurs naturally in crushed rock, and is extracted in ore processing. Children and adults who live near mine tailings are at risk of exposure to arsenic that may be breathed as fine dust. Young children are more at risk because they swallow dust and soil from putting dirty fingers or toys in their mouths.

Mercury is the Direst Poison

* Think about that for a moment. If arsenic can be listed among the least of your poison concerns, that's a big problem. Metal mining, overall, is responsible for the vast majority of the arsenic, mercury and lead releases in the U.S. Mercury from the early 1900's is still lurking in lakes, poisoning fish, poisoning people, and keeping contaminated water supplies undrinkable.

* The process of using mercury to bind gold is called amalgamation. It was officially banned in China in 1985 and in Russia in 1990, but has unofficially continued in both countries. Although alternatives are being used in many large mines, the use of mercury, globally, is on the rise again, as millions of small-scale prospectors across the world respond to rising gold prices.

Cyanide

* Cyanide is an alternative to mercury, but when you're talking about the lesser of two poisons, it's a good idea to remember it's still a poison. The average large gold mine uses almost two-thousand tons of cyanide every year for cyanide-leaching, and although it is less villainous than mercury, it's still a danger to the environment and the communities near a mine.

Some Good News

* Many leading U.S. zinc mines and copper mines no longer use cyanide

* The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lists alternatives to cyanide, including starch and sulfur dioxide.

* For gold and silver extraction, the Haber Gold Process (HGP) has been tested by mining engineering groups and is showing great promise.

* The cyanide-free biocatalyzed leaching process from YES Technologies, in addition to being 200 times less toxic than cyanide, could turn out to be much less costly.

Nevertheless, for every ounce of gold mined, waste is measured in tons. Assorted tons are also generated by the mining of other metal; and mining is not just a issue for metals. A ton of glass made from raw materials creates 384 pounds of mining waste. When glass is recycled, it not only reduces the mine waste, it saves the actual sand, soda ash, limestone, and feldspar that are mined for the making of the glass.

The point is, regardless of the efforts to de-poison mining, recycling is still the best way to reduce mining waste.