African Gold Challenges
In addition to the production of diamonds, oil, copper and coltan, African gold is an important part of African resource extraction. In Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, DRC Congo and other countries of Central and South Africa; gold mining – for a few – until now, is a lucrative business. For many, however, the wealth of raw materials means a life of poverty. For new mining areas to be gazzetted, villages are razed down partly by force and without compensation. Arable land, which are a basis of life for the population are deprived of their owners. These problems serious environmental damage come through the use of chemicals in gold mining.
African Gold Production
Much of the production of gold is now operated by multinational corporations. In addition, the work has replaced open pit work in almost exploited underground gold mines and creates little employment because most of the work is largely done by machines. On top of that, unskilled workers are replaced because they can not meet the technological demands. The high-tech form of gold mining by open pit mining is already attractive at sites, where the rock per tonne containing just one or two grams of gold is extracted.
More On African Gold Production
Here, the gold is non-degradable in pure form, but is separated from the rock using the toxic chemical cyanide, which is lethal even at a pickup of 70 milligrams to humans. The rock treated with cyanide contains pyrite, a compound of iron and sulfur, that when in contact with air releases of sulfuric acid, and leads to the huge areas of open-pit mines remaining contaminated for centuries. The environmental safety standards are deficient in the gold-producing countries of Africa. They are often so dirty that the livelihoods for people and animals are at risk due to the cheap, inadequate disposal of wastes into ground water, rivers and lakes.
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