Cash For Gold – Fantastic For the Environment
Photo by digitalmoneyworld
By now, most people are somewhat familiar with ‘cash for gold’ services. Perhaps you have even been tempted to make a little bit of extra money by selling your unused or broken gold items. Everyone loves a bit of extra cash, but did you know that by using cash for gold services, you are also doing an amazing thing for the environment?
Most gold is extracted through the process of open pit mining. The most traditional method of mining involves digging deep underground tunnels and sending miners down to extract the minerals from the ore. But in many cases, this is impractical, and presents a safety hazard for miners. Open pit mining involves excavating at the very surface of the mine and removing waste rock in order to get to the ore containing the minerals.
In 1783, a Swedish chemist called Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered that it was possible to dissolve gold in cyanide. These days, sodium cyanide is mixed with ground ore, and then extracted as a gold cyanide solution. Unfortunately, this process produces large amounts of toxic waste. Cyanide is a poisonous substance. It can be fatal to humans, especially in its gaseous state as hydrogen cyanide. The cyanide-containing waste products from gold mines also present an extreme hazard to the environment. If cyanide solutions leach into soil, the toxic levels of cyanide would affect local ecosystems and potentially destroy them.
Photo by orinoko42
The cyanide spill in 2000 from a gold mine near Baia Mare in Romania has been called the worst environmental disaster in Europe since Chernobyl. The effects reached as far as Hungary and Romania, killing off large numbers of fish and wiping out entire ecosystems.
Even if such disasters can be avoided in the future, the slurry, or waste products produced from mining still present a dilemma. The use of cyanide in gold mining is considered controversial, but it is still used in approximately 90% of gold extraction and production processes. Recycling gold, or cash for gold, mean that less gold needs to be mined, which will benefit us all in the long run.
As well impacting the environment, gold mining also has humanitarian implications. The conditions for miners can be far from humane, particularly in some developing countries. Miners are subject to health hazards and often work long hours in gruelling conditions. The use of cyanide in mines also has an impact on the health of the miners. In addition to all of this, many gold mines lie in poverty-afflicted areas, and the clashes of interest between big mining companies and artisan miners can lead to more conflict in areas that are already unstable. Even though there are people striving to lessen the impact of mining on the environment, and to improve the conditions of gold miners, there is still a long way to go.
But there is good news. In the past few years, there has been an increase in the practice of recycling gold. If you have any scrap gold at home – jewellery that is broken or that you no longer wear, gold coins or trinkets – then they can be sent to a cash for gold company that will evaluate the value of your gold and send you money for it. On top of that, your gold will then be recycled, and you will have helped lessen the harmful effects of gold mining on our planet.
