Gold has been mined for centuries, dating back to the times of Ancient Egypt. Back then, the mined gold because it was beautiful and also imperishable. They’d make jewelry, cups, and decorate tombs with it. The way people mined it in ancient times was by using a process called “sluicing”. They would make wood troughs with riffles set in the bottom to create a zone to allow gold to drop through. The box is then placed in a stream to channel water flow.
Today, the method of sluicing is still used. Along with lode mining, which is where gold is extracted from rock, and underground mining, where a tunnel is drilled to the source of the ore, and then the ore is transported out for processing. Gold is also still used to make jewelry, but it is also used to make electronics, and for medical, finance, and aerospace uses. The largest gold deposits are located on the Eastern Hemisphere. The largest one in the world is Grasberg, which is located in Paupa, Indonesia and contains 106,231,000 ounces of gold. The next largest is South Deep, located near Johannesburg, South Africa, containing 81,413,000 ounces. 2,500 tons of gold is mined every year. …show more content…
While gold is beneficial to humans, the environmental impacts of mining gold are more detrimental than some suspect. Mining gold pollutes waters, mine waste contains many dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, petroleum and cyanide. It also produces solid waste. The process of heap leaching, a way to mine gold, drips cyanide solution through huge piles of ore. 99.9% of the heap becomes waste and are then abandoned. Gold mining is also contributing to the destruction of the Amazon. It releases large amounts of mercury into the Amazon’s air and water, poisoning their plants, animals, fish, and
Today, the method of sluicing is still used. Along with lode mining, which is where gold is extracted from rock, and underground mining, where a tunnel is drilled to the source of the ore, and then the ore is transported out for processing. Gold is also still used to make jewelry, but it is also used to make electronics, and for medical, finance, and aerospace uses. The largest gold deposits are located on the Eastern Hemisphere. The largest one in the world is Grasberg, which is located in Paupa, Indonesia and contains 106,231,000 ounces of gold. The next largest is South Deep, located near Johannesburg, South Africa, containing 81,413,000 ounces. 2,500 tons of gold is mined every year. …show more content…
While gold is beneficial to humans, the environmental impacts of mining gold are more detrimental than some suspect. Mining gold pollutes waters, mine waste contains many dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, lead, mercury, petroleum and cyanide. It also produces solid waste. The process of heap leaching, a way to mine gold, drips cyanide solution through huge piles of ore. 99.9% of the heap becomes waste and are then abandoned. Gold mining is also contributing to the destruction of the Amazon. It releases large amounts of mercury into the Amazon’s air and water, poisoning their plants, animals, fish, and