SFRC Hearing: Illicit Mining: Threats to U.S. National Security and International Human Rights

 Mining is an important income generating industry for many countries in the Western Hemisphere. In 2016, Latin America produced 20.5% of global gold output and supplied 58% of U.S. gold imports. According to these sources, like the 2016 Minerals Yearbook, the production leads to water contamination. It leads to mercury and cyanide releases, deforestation, ecosystem damage. That actually is according to a report called Wires Act in 2017. And this mining has also been linked, in addition to that environmental damage, it has been linked to human rights abuses, and that includes a displacement of the local population from the areas being mined.
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