Industrial gold mining uses products that are extremely harmful to the environment in the process of gold extraction.
Guilty gold...
China is the leading gold producer, ahead of Russia, the United States, and Canada. 50% of this gold is transformed into jewelry!
Gold is found in the form of alluvial deposits (nuggets) or in minute quantities in rocky minerals. To extract and bind the gold dust, miners must use cyanide and mercury. Industrial gold mining uses cyanide and caustic soda. All of these processes are extremely harmful to the environment! One ton of gold requires an average of 150 tons of cyanide. When you consider that just a few milliliters of this substance are fatal to humans, you can imagine the environmental impact...
The mercury-based process is more often used by small-scale gold miners. Sifted rock mud is mixed with mercury, forming a liquid alloy with the gold flakes. The alloy is then heated, and the toxic metal evaporates, leaving only pure gold. In small-scale artisanal mines, there is rarely reliable protective equipment against the neurotoxin or devices to collect evaporating mercury. Once again, both humans and nature are suffering from gold mining.
Cyanide and mercury pollute groundwater, and cyanide-treated rubble emits toxic sulfuric acids for years.
Extraction also requires colossal quantities of water. Just think: on average, 140,000 liters of water per hour, or the annual water consumption of a three-person household! The polluted water is stored and partially reprocessed; But heavy rains, ground movements, or perforations in the protective film can cause irreversible environmental risks: pollution of waterways, arable land, etc.
A single gold ring produces 20 tons of highly toxic waste.
Furthermore, the small-scale gold mining sector often uses child labor, and even, unfortunately, a practice of slavery, which humanitarian organizations are trying to combat.
...Responsible Gold
Recycled gold meets approximately 25% of global demand. 90% of this gold comes from the purchase of gold jewelry, with the remaining 10% mainly from the recycling of electronic components.
Selling your gold jewelry is therefore a civic-minded, eco-responsible, and economical gesture!