"In gold mining, it is estimated that only 0.00001% of the ore is actually refined into gold. Chemicals used in processing contaminate at least 90 billion tons of waste ore per year globally, equvilent in weight to 9 times as much trash produced annually by all US cities combined"

"Mining enough gold for an average wedding ring creates about 20 tons of hazardous mining waste, which is often dumped in rivers or the sea.""During the gold rush, an estimated 7,600 tons of mercury were deposited into the rivers of the central Sierra Nevada alone. That mercury remains in the Califnorina environment, much of it being continuously transported to the San Francisco Bay, where people fish and swim"I wanted to provide some quick info on the environmental impact of gold mining for the critics of crypto mining which uses almost 75% renewable energy.All quotes from Annie Leonard.

Submitted October 23, 2020 at 12:56AM