Poisoned Waters

Gold mining has polluted water all over the world for hundreds of years, causing extreme destruction to aquatic ecosystems.

Cyanide and metal contamination produced at mines combine with acidic water creating a particularly lethal mix.  If uncontrolled, this lethal concoction eventually drains into nearby rivers and lakes killing wildlife and poisoning drinking water supplies.

Solid Waste

Heap Leaching is a popular method of obtaining gold which involves spraying a cyanide solution over large piles of ore. The solution removes the gold, which is collected in a pond and then extracted using a chemical process. 99.9% of the heap is just waste and to cut costs this is usually just abandoned. Given the scale of these operations contamination of the surrounding environment is almost inevitable. To put the dangers into perspective, a rice-grain sized dose of cyanide can be fatal to humans.

Threatened Natural Areas

Gold Mining has always been viewed as a significant threat to biodiversity and frontier forests around the world.

Recent advancements in mining technology have also led the way for companies to revisit areas that were previously unprofitable. This is putting increased pressure on governments to approve activity and in many third world countries the economic opportunity prevails over the environmental loss.

Today, almost three quarters of mines currently overlap with areas that are classed to be of high conservative value and a quarter of World Heritage Sites are at risk of current or planned Mining.

How can you Help?

By recycling your gold jewellery you can reduce some of the resource intensity that is damaging ecosystems across the globe.

Because gold can be recycled repeatedly with no degradation in quality, it is a naturally renewable resource.
With your help we can reduce the global demand for newly mined gold and mitigate the destructive effects on the environment and the local communities.