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The Price of Gold
By B. Earth | January 22, 2009
National Geographic’s January feature story does a fantastic job of examining the human and environmental toll of gold mining around the world. It is full of fascinating facts and gripping human stories – highly recommended reading!
With the international price of gold recently skyrocketing to over $1,000 per ounce, the millennia-old global scramble for gold has reached a new frenzy. New technologies have increased the depth and reach of large-scale mines, while it is estimated that there are now between 10 million and 15 million artisanal miners worldwide.
While the large-scale mines are wreaking dramatic environmental destruction, the small scale artisanal mines are also exhibiting poor labor standards and severely endangering the lives and well-being of their workers. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization estimates that one-third of all mercury released by humans into the environment comes from gold mining. Mercury is used to extract gold from rock, and is used with abandon in artisanal mines, where it is often handled with bare hands and later released into water sources used for drinking and bathing. Mercury poisoning can cause genetic problems and severe nervous system damage, especially in children, who are toiling away in many of these unregulated mines. Learn more about how dirty gold mining continues to negatively impact the environment, workers and surrounding communities.
Brilliant Earth uses fair-trade and recycled gold, mitigating the damaging environmental effects of dirty gold mining, and ensuring that miners are paid fair wages and working in safe conditions.
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