organisms); and scars the landscape with the
creation of giant craters. The shattered rock,
combined with a cyanide and water mixture to
remove
gold,
contaminates
destroy
ecological
ecosystems,
poisons
cycles
the
and
hydro
resources, and pollutes the atmosphere due to the
release of poisonous substances, thereby affecting
all life. This process, known as lixiviation, has a
strong impact on communities that live close to
mining operations, as it also competes for water
and
energy.
Cyanide lixiviation contaminates
permanently, as it continues leaking into the land,
water, air, etc. Changes brought by this chemical
cocktail are seldom in the mind of governments or
mining corporations. Abandoned mining projects,
all over the world, leave a legacy of permanent
water contamination from cyanide, metals, and
non-metals.
In 2010, Canada had more than 1600 open-pit
mining projects in Latin America. Mining requires
water. No water, no mining. As a result, Latin
American governments are building hundreds of
hydroelectric projects that indigenous communities
are resisting. Militarization accompanies mining
12