The environmental nightmare actually goes back to the original miner here, U.S. metallurgist Charles Butters. Butters commercialized the use of cyanide in gold extraction over a century ago. In 1927, Butters was kicked out of nearby Nicaragua by the revolutionary leader Augusto Sandino, but he had already found a much more compliant government in El Salvador. Butters purchased the San Sebastian mine in the early 1900s for $100,000, and within a year had mined $1 million worth of gold—24-carat, we are told. We can’t help but admire Butters' gold-sourcing skills and the workers’ stamina as we envision him searching for the vein and them hauling ore out of these steep mountains before any roads were built. And thus began the sad saga.
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/el-salvador-archives-74/3863-mining-for-gold-in-el-salvador-a-pact-with-the-devil-
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