Sustainable mining
January 27, 2009 - 2:50pm
We were having a meeting this morning and I metioned to my boss about sustainable mining and how if we are talking at my company to going towards more green ( as that is the fashion trend that the management sees and is talking about following, I thought that but did not say it) that this is something we could go into. My company makes custom metal promotional items like lapel pins, medallions, etc. I talked specifically about sustainable gold jewlery as I read some articles on that a while back. She asked me to send her the article. I can't find it though- would any of you know of any websites or articles from a reputable source I could forward her ?
Sorry, but sustainability and mining are mutually exclusive. It's all very simple really. You dig some rocks out of the ground and send them away and then they are gone and your mine shuts down and it's all over. There is nothing sustainable about mining.
Tearing up the earth and moving on is problematic, yes, but the main problem with mining is the toxicity it generates: arsenic and other poisons are a by-product of conventional mining (of gold and other metals, at least). The question is valid: is there any way of really controlling and recycling the waste (other than in tailing ponds)?
Aren't there companies or organiozations that deal with minimizing effects, that are certified ?
Minimizing effects is a different issue than sustainable mining. Yes, the effects can be minimized, but not always. It really depends upon particular circumstances. Some deposits are so toxic that the best course of action is to not mine at all. Cost is always a big problem.
If you plug "mining restoration" into Google, you will get nearly six million hits. That's probably not exactly what you want but it's a start.
It takes about 249 tons of cyanide to extract one ton of gold. Now that's not an exact statement, because it leads to the question, "249 tons of cyanide in what form ? can it be recycled ?"
I don't know all the details. I worked on the end-user part of the mining industry about 25 years, as a design engineer. Mostly working in aluminum.
There are so many different materials that get mined, from agates to diamonds to aluminum, steel, gold. if we include extraction industries, then oil-sands.
At this point, we have mined so much, we could make do by recycling if we reduced our consumption.
It would help if jewelry were perceived differently. Can you imagine a guy giving a woman an aluminum ring with an agate stone, and having her share it with her friends, and having them say, "oh, he's such a Mensch !"
i guess in the engagement jewelry area, gold and diamonds will be more persuasive than brass and onyx for at least a few more years.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http://LASIK-Flap.com ~ Health Warning about LASIK Eye Surgery