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singular_me
27th May 2016, 11:43 AM
poisoning earth for the sake of "honest money speculation"?

sure the article is about illegal mining but legal mines so to speak have a problem too, their waste is seemingly under control but they are unable to dump it anywhere on the planet, so legal mining waste accumulates and so do the risks.

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State of emergency in Peru over mercury poisoning from illegal gold mining
27 May 2016 GMT

http://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/state-of-emergency-in-peru-over-mercury-poisoning-from-illegal-gold-mining.jpg

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala has declared a 60-day state of emergency in a large remote area of the Amazon jungle as levels of mercury from illegal gold mining have reached record high levels.

According to country's environment minister, as many as 50,000 people or 41% of the population of the gold-rich Madre de Dios region, bordering Brazil, has been exposed to mercury contamination.


http://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/peru-illegal-mining-children.jpg

The lethal element is not only in people, but it has also polluted rivers and fish, state-run news agency Andina reports (in Spanish).

The government plans to send hospital ships and loads of untainted fish to the area, where illegal miners use mercury to separate the gold from rock and then dump the chemical into water streams.

They often handle the neurotoxin with their bare hands and inhale its fumes when it is burned off..........

The story, unfortunately, is nothing new. For years, illegal miners have been eating away the Peru’s rainforest, while the government tries to tighten the screws on illegal mining. However, the battle against illicit miners is far from over.

Until recently, no one really knew the full extent of the damage, but a research team from the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC, and Peru’s Ministry of the Environment released in 2013 the first set of satellite images mapping the destruction.

The study showed the illicit activity had already destroyed almost 20,000 hectares of the Amazon rainforest.

http://www.mining.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/peru-illegal-gold-mining-devastation.jpg

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http://www.mining.com/state-of-emergency-in-peru-over-mercury-poisoning-from-illegal-gold-mining/

midnight rambler
27th May 2016, 11:47 AM
If robots are going to take everyone's job and robots are the next big thing, then where are the gold-mining robots?? ???

EE_
27th May 2016, 12:39 PM
I always try to look at the big picture and I believe all things will work themselves out if you leave them alone.

I don't see trying to make the world a utopian paradise as a solution. The earth will eventually correct itself...just man will not be a part of it.

Man's greed is the root cause and it is written in his dna to bring about his own end.

I am not a greedy man, never have been. I do my part in taking care of my world, but I also know the end of mankind must come, no matter what any of us do.