Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council...
-
Upload
ryley-jolliffe -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
1
Transcript of Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council...
![Page 1: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining
Operations in Latin America
Zoë AmerigianCouncil on Hemispheric
Affairs
![Page 2: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Gold Production in Latin America
• Gold production creates more waste per ounce than any other metal
• At least 50% of gold produced worldwide is used for cosmetic, non-essential purposes
• 27% of all gold mining exploration took place in Latin America in 2009, especially Peru, Brazil, Chile, Mexico
• Attractive source of foreign investment for Latin American governments
![Page 3: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Large-Scale Operations: Social Impacts
• Residents v. corporations: an unfair fight• Protests often met with violence/arrests• Indigenous communities especially
affected• Does not bring permanent economic
opportunity
![Page 4: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Large-Scale Operations:Water Depletion and
Contamination• Large quantities of water needed
– Angostura Mine in Colombia: 250,000 liters of water to be used per hour
• Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)• Cyanide contamination
– Sodium Cyanide solutions used in leaching: 300-600 mg/l
– U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level: .2 mg/l
• Increased sediment in rivers
![Page 5: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Lara River in Honduras
- 300 gallons of cyanide solution spilled
- 18,000 dead fish
- Contaminated 4.5km of river
Acid Mine Drainage
![Page 6: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Large-Scale Operations: Soil Removal
Open-pit mining and mountain-top removal require huge quantities of land to be displaced– Often located in
protected forest areas
![Page 7: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Marmato Mountain, Colombia
- Mountain-top removal
- 30,000–60,000 metric tons of rock to be removed daily
Angostura Mine in Colombia
- 1,100 hectares of protected forest reserve
- 975 million metric tons rock to be removed
![Page 8: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Free Trade Agreements and Mining
• El Salvador, Venezuela, Mexico, Jamaica, Bolivia, and others who have said “no” have been sued by foreign mining companies
![Page 9: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Illegal/Informal Mining Sector
• Only source of income for many• Miners frequently uneducated about
health and environmental effects of activities
• Dredgers destroy river habitats• Widespread use of mercury
– Estimated 1,000 tons released annually
![Page 10: Environmental and Social Impacts of Gold Mining Operations in Latin America Zoë Amerigian Council on Hemispheric Affairs.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062511/551a2da5550346a4248b53cd/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
What can be done?
• Increased education for miners• Increased communication between
companies and communities• Strengthening monitoring and enforcement
mechanisms• Balancing environment and economic
concerns