March 2005 | Co-op America’s Living Green
The Real Cost of Gold
Dear Co-op America, Is gold jewelry a sustainable purchase? I say no, but a friend of mine isn’t sure. — Concerned in Washington, DCYou’re right to be concerned. Though all mineral mining is energy-intensive and polluting, the environmental impacts of gold mining are particularly severe. The majority of gold mining today takes place in “open-pit” mines, where machines move massive amounts of earth, leaving enormous craters. The ratio of discarded earth and rock to marketable gold is particularly high; according to the Worldwatch Institute, about 300,000 tons of wastes are generated for every ton of marketable gold, or “roughly three tons of waste per gold wedding ring.”
Also, the waste that gold mining generates contains toxic substances that can pollute air, soil, and water. For example, ore containing gold is crushed and treated with a cyanide solution that bonds to the gold and drains it from the rock. Tailings — the processed rock slurries that remain after the gold has been extracted — are often contaminated with poisonous cyanide. The cyanide-leaching treatment of ore can also release other toxic heavy metals, such as arsenic and mercury, contained in the rocks.
Workers and communities suffer from gold mining, too. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), “the toll of death, injury, and disease among the world’s mineworkers means that, in most countries, mining remains the most hazardous occupation when the number of people exposed to risk is taken into account.”
Impacted communities often receive too little consideration when a country grants mining leases. Governments eager to attract mining companies often subsidize mining operations and make laws favorable to companies; changes include allowing 100-percent foreign ownership of mines and letting companies repatriate all profits. The mining jobs won’t necessarily even go to local residents, since mining companies require skilled labor and may bring in trained workers from elsewhere.
Local residents may also lose their homes altogether to a mining operation. Many indigenous groups and developing world communities lack legal titles to the lands where they have lived for generations. When the government grants leases to such lands, residents face eviction, often with little or no compensation. A country’s police or armed forces may forcibly evict residents and perpetrate other human rights abuses to quell community opposition.
Earthworks and Oxfam America have launched a “No Dirty Gold” campaign (www.nodirtygold.org) to address some of the detrimental effects of gold mining. The campaign is not calling for a boycott; rather, they’re asking consumers to tell gold retailers that they’d like to have a responsible alternative available, since there currently isn’t one.
Before buying gold jewelry, ask yourself if you really need it. See if you can borrow gold items, or check secondhand shops and eBay. Jewelers can alter gold items you don’t wear, or melt them down and rework them into new pieces. Or, look for new jewelry made out recycled gold — greenKarat (800/330-4605, www.greenkarat.com) offers jewelry made from recycled 14K and 18K gold.
Living Green is brought to you by Co-op America, a national nonprofit that provides green living, purchasing, and investing tips and resources. To join Co-op America and get a free copy of the National Green Pages™ directory of green businesses, call 800-58-GREEN, www.coopamerica.org . E-mail your Living Green questions.
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