In Guatemala: What “Less Environmental Regulation” Looks Like

Now we are not talking about men with lights on their helmets digging gold out of the ground with picks and shovels. All of the gold that could be extracted like that has already been found. The La Puya mine will use the highly controversial process ofcyanide leaching. Miners will dig a pit about the size of the astrodome and then use millions of pounds of sodium cyanide to separate gold from arsenic and other kinds of ore. Then they will leave. They will not take the cyanide with them, or the arsenic from which the gold is separated–thus threatening rivers, streams, lakes, and, most importantly, ground water.
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