Natural resource mining in general has a deplorable environmental record, but gold-mining is particularly problematic because of the small amount of gold obtained per unit of ore. According to Earthworks, the gold in one ring produces 20 tons of mining waste. And with gold prices hitting an all-time high of $1,921.15 an ounce in September 2011—as demand for the relatively safe investment rises in the context of a failing global economy—gold mining has gone up too. That includes artisanal mining, the kind of extraction replicated and dramatized by these TV series. In fact, it now comprises of up to a quarter of global gold production.
http://blogs.worldwatch.org/mining-reality-tv-gold%E2%80%94forest-peoples-be-damned/
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