The More You Know, The Less Gold Glows

Every year mining companies dump 180 million tonnes of toxic mine waste,
also called tailings, into oceans, rivers and lakes. That is the equivalent of 1.5
times the amount of municipal solid waste that the United States sent to landfills
in 2009.
• Mine waste contains as many as three dozen dangerous chemicals
including arsenic, lead, mercury and processing chemicals such as petroleum
byproducts, acids and cyanide.
• Currently, 10 companies dispose of their mine waste into sources of water
at one or more of their hardrock mines, and 27 more have proposed aquatic
solutions to their waste problem.
http://www.earthworksaction.org/files/publications/Troubled-Waters_factsheet.pdf