Controversial Gold cyanidation
Gold cyanidation is a technique for extracting gold from low-grade ore by converting the gold to a water soluble coordination complex. It has become a very common practice as most the worlds gold today, is acquired through the use of cyanide. Recently, there has been a lot of controversy towards this act. The biggest worry of the opposition is the fact that cyanide contaminates water supplies. They fear that their drinking water supplies would be contaminated, which would greatly affect their community, and maybe lead to death if the cyanide isn’t detected before use. In response to these complaints, experts had stated that cyanide breaks down quickly and any cyanide present in water wouldn’t last long as it would be rapidly destroyed through natural processes like evaporation. the cyanide is soon washed out of river systems. On the contrary, the effects of the cyanide during the period it is present in the water could be calamitous. All life forms in the contaminated body of water would die life forms that some communities depend on for food like fish. However, as long as organisms can migrate from unpolluted areas upstream, affected areas can soon be repopulated. Cyanide also contaminates the air and soil, when disposed wrongly. This could affect crop growth in some farming areas. Finally, gold mines often cause human rights violations, for example by forcing evictions and destroying the land and water that affected communities highly depend on. These controversies have sparked protests from residents in areas in Greece, Romania, Malaysia, etc. Due to these environmental concerns of the toxicity of cyanide, a few countries and U.S have banned the use of gold cyanidation. Banning or keeping gold cynadiation is a choice that each country has to make; a choice in which the question “Is the gold worth it?” has to be answered.