Wealth from Gold Mining

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Through the ages, gold mining has brought great wealth to countries across the world. From India to the United States, gold has been an ever-growing industry due to the constant price of gold and its high demand. When the demand for gold increases, so does the industry to mine gold. “Gold Fever” has set in for many throughout the years, regular men and women with a dream to strike it rich. This drive has caused some to go to the extreme to extract every ounce of gold they can. Luckily, people have become more inventive to find new environmentally and economically smart ways to mine.

Even though mining is a lucrative way to make money, if done right, it comes with its risks, from environmental risks to health hazards. Laws are placed to regulate these types of problems, but it is still a dangerous profession. No matter the type of mining used such as underground, dredging, or open-pit, these all equally bring danger and need for regulations.

Some types of gold mining are hard on the land, it may move and shift dirt in great quantities and it uses harsh chemicals to extract gold from hard ore rocks that are dug from deep in the Earth’s crust. If mining is not done carefully these chemicals can spread to our lakes and rivers, killing many animals and endangering our own drinking water. Also, not taking precautions on where and how we mine may cause species to become extinct as their habitats become destroyed. Gold mining has frequently been associated with economic positives, but the law should enforce more environmentally friendly ways to mine.

Gold mining has not always been the same as it is today. Many though gold mining was a way to become rich easily, just panning some dirt would lead to the gold. Alt...

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...billion dollars (Wuerthner).

Laws have been placed to counteract all the things above, because as long as mining has value getting rid of it will be impossible. In 1991, Legislature pushed state agencies to create new regulations lowering the impact on rivers and groundwater. They also urged state agencies to create more regulations about wildlife and the lands taken over by mining operations (Durbin).

Laws should be in place to carry out more environmentally beneficial ways to mine. Chemicals and waste are taking over the mining industry leaving more problems than it is worth. If there is nothing done about mining, chemicals will eventually do some serious damage to more places than just around mining operations. Mining will never be a totally environmentally safe thing to do, but there are steps to insure it does not leave as big of a footprint.

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