For Latin America, foreign investment in Peruvian mining is expected to be worth $US 50 billion over the next decade, while rivers that were once used by western Guyana’s indigenous communities for potable water are no longer fit for consumption since gold mining began in the region. Likewise, mercury, used by individual prospectors to process gold, is spreading into the Colombian environment and exposing miners to health risks.
“Gold mining is one of the most destructive industrial activities — large open-pit gold mines generate vast quantities of waste, much of which is contaminated with cyanide and other chemicals used in separating gold from ore,”
http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2012/world/global-gold-rush-the-price-of-mining-pursuits-on-water-supply/
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