In the two-week period leading up to Valentine's Day, American sales of gold jewelry lead to 34 million metric tons of waste, and a study published by Earthworks states that a single gold ring produces an average of 20 tons of mine waste.
According to Earthworks, “cyanide and other deadly toxic chemicals are used to separate gold from waste rock and the average large gold mine uses over 1,900 tons of cyanide per year, while just a rice grain-sized dose of cyanide can be fatal to humans and even smaller amounts can be fatal to fish.”
“Open-pit gold mines obliterate the landscape, opening up vast craters and flattening mountaintops,” states a study published on Earthworks’ website. “Open-pit gold mines are enormous. The world's largest open pit, the Bingham Canyon mine in Utah, is visible to astronauts from outer space.”
http://www.dailylobo.com/article/2017/02/14-valtines-day-waste
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