Large-scale gold mines generate more waste per ounce than any other mineral. It is estimated that extracting one ounce of gold requires the removal of more than 250 tonnes of rock and ore. These are the piles of infertile soil seen around gold mines all over the world, and Tanzania is no exception to this practice.
Effluent from chemical processing plants contains lead and mercury in large quantities among other metallic sulphides disposed. The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) estimated that, for every gram of gold recovered, 2-5 grams of mercury is released into the environment. Of course, the industry has put in place safety measures to manage the poisons, but the precautions can be violated or mismanaged.
Between 2005 and 2008 chemical disposals from the processing plants at the North Mara Mine (NMM) in Tanzania’s Tarime District created environmental and land hazards that adversely affected the surrounding communities.
No comments:
Post a Comment