The gold mining industry is environmentally and socially destructive and can never be ethical argues Jennie Bailey.

Behind the Shine
Gold is mined for jewellery, industry (there's probably bits of the stuff in my computer as I type) and currency (think of all those piles of gold bars in Fort Knox!). Even dentistry (but probably not on the NHS). There's lots of waste produced from metals mining: 79 tonnes for every ounce of gold[1]. The World Bank reckons that the waste-to-ore ratio for surface mining of metal ores ranges from 2:1 to 8:1[2]. There is also the risk of pollution from poisonous chemicals used in mineral extraction such as sodium cyanide, arsenic and mercury. So is the risk posed to communities and their environment worth it? Sure, transnational mining companies can enter an impoverished country promising jobs and wealth for the local economy; however once the gold's gone the companies tend to disappear too.

In the world of gold mining, all that glitters is the cash companies manage to get by screwing over communities and World Bank affiliates, the International Finance Corporation, are complicit in this.

Kyrgyz Gold
Kyrgyzstan is a major producer of gold and gets most of its income from exporting gold mined from the Kumtor mine. However, the contribution to Kyrgyzstan's economy is at the expense of the environment and of human life. Currently there is local opposition to a new mine proposed near Bishek; the Andash mine would profit UK company Aurum Mining plc. One of the benefactors of the mine is Oleg Kim, a member of Aurum's executive management team[3]. Kim is the ex-managing director of Andash Mining Company Ltd (who Aurum Mining Plc bought out) and was the chief exploration geologist of the Kumtor mining project. This project resulted in cyanide spillages when on the 20th May 1998 a truck accidently dumped two tonnes of sodium cyanide into the local river system. In June 1998 it was reported that 'one woman [had] died...from cyanide poisoning, two weeks after nearly 2,000 kg of the chemical spilled into the Barskoon River...'[4] A month later, a 'leaky valve on a container truck spilled about 70 litres of nitric acid.'[5] It transpired that two people had died and hundreds were poisoned by sodium cyanide.[6] The Kumtor mining project was supported by the International Finance Corporation[7] and there was an outcry regarding the Kyrgyz government's incompetence at compensating those affected by Kumtor[8]. According to the Rainforest Information Centre based in Australia, the cyanide poisoning dispute goes on nearly ten years later[9].

Unsurprisingly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are encouraging the Kyrgyz government to embrace and support private sector development[10]. An IMF report stated that in the late 90s, the Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan was supported to the tune of $40 million[11] by the IFC.[12]

Funding Destruction – the International Finance Corporation
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has come under scrutiny for its weakness in human rights reporting. The IFC is the largest multilateral source of loan and equity financing for private sector projects in developing countries; or in their words 'the private sector arm of the World Bank Group'[13]. President of this group is Paul Wolfowitz, who also happens to be (shock-horror) president of the World Bank Group (no vested interest there eh, Paul?). An update by the Bretton Woods Project (BWP), the World Bank and IMF watchdog, reported on investments the IFC had made into goldmining in three countries: Ghana, Peru and Kyrgyzstan. Ghana and Kyrgyzstan are two countries which feature on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) list[14]. BWP reported that the IFC is preparing a Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) to be published in December 2006 and express concerns that the process has been 'opaque with little consultation with directly affected communities or civil society groups'. As BWP states: 'human and environmental costs and benefits cannot be averaged across the IFC's portfolio, unlike profit and losses'[15].

Closer to home there are other bodies that finance goldmining and projects relating to it. For example the Department of International Development (DfID) is funding a goldmining health initiative in Venezuela[16],

Gold: They Don't Believe in Their Soul
Of course, mining companies play a massive part in environmental destruction and human rights abuses. AngloGold American Plc, a major player in the world of mining, has courted controvesy in the past. AngloGold Ashanti, once part of AngloAmerican, were accused by Human Rights Watch of collaborating with warlords in the Democratic Republic of the Congo[17]. CAFOD's Unearth Justice campaign found that Entre Mares (a subsidiary of Canadian-US company Glamis Gold) was using cyanide leaching, a cheap way to extract gold, which was leading to cyanide and arsenic pollution in the water[18]. On 31st August, Glamis Gold was bought out by Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc for $8.6billion to form one of the world's largest mining companies[19].

'Green' Gold?
One company, Cred Jewellery, based in West Sussex are working with artisanal miners in Colombia to produce gold mined without the use of mercury, sulphuric acid and cyanide. Cred's gold is also certified Fairtrade. However, this is only a small step forward for gold mining and also like Nestlé with their one Fairtrade product, could lead to greenwash. A report by CAFOD argues that by imposing international legal frameworks, goldmining can benefit the poor and be regulated. However, environmentalists are concerned that there would be no real effort to meet environmental standards[20] and that there's ample opportunity for companies to make minimal effort for their CSR reports therefore detracting from other harms. It has been argued that with consumer pressure, not being finacially or ethically viable to those involved in the field of Socially Responsible Investment, and by lobbying industry and government things could change[21]. However, any changes would take years to implement, and in the meantime: people are displaced, the landscape is carved up, water tables are poisoned and gold mining's contribution to climate change continues.

References
[1] Author Unknow, (2004) 'Dirty Metals Mining Communities and the Environment', No Dirty Gold Report , Earthworks & Oxfam America
[2] P267, 'Base Metal and Iron Ore Mining', Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook, World Bank Group, July 1998.
[3] Aurum Mining Plc Sales Presentation, Going for Gold, August 2006 (downloadable from http://aurummining.net)
[4] P2. Author Unknown, 'Cyanide Spills Into River in Kyrgyzstan, Drillbits and Tailings, June 7 1998 (www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/980607/98060702.html, viewed 08/08/06
[5] Author Unknown, 'HOTSPOTS: KYRGYZSTAN', Drillbits and Tailings, Volume 5, February 14 2000, Project Underground, www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/5_02/hotspots.html, viewed 08/08/06
[6] P7. Author Unknown, 'HOTSPOTS: KYRGYZSTAN', Drillbits and Tailings June 27 1998 (www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/drillbits/980621/98062107.html, viewed 08/08/06 and 'Aisa-Pacific Second Chemical Spill in Kyrgyzstan', July 23 1998, BBC World Service, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/137968.stm, viewed 08/08/06
[7] Author Unknown, “Mining”, CEE Bankwatch Network, www.bankwatch.org/project.shtml?apc=147581-1904290---1&w;=14758, viewed 31/08/06
[8] Mines and Communities Website (GOVERNMENT HANDLING OF COMPENSATION MONEY QUESTIONED, Mines and Communities, : www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press696.htm, viewed 31/08/06
[9] Aida Kasymalieva in Bishkek and Azamat Kachiev, “Special IWPR Report: Toxic Spill Dispute Revived in Kyrgyzstan”, The Rainforest Information Centre, date unknown www.rainforestinfo.org.au/gold/kyrg.htm, viewed 08/08/06
[10] International Monetary Fund, Kyrgyz Republic: Second Review Under Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility – Staff Report; And Press Release on the Executive Board Consideration, IMF Country Report no 06/235, June 2006 (accessible on www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2006/cr06235.pdf)
[11] Author Unknown, 'IFC invests in Farm, Finance and Gold Projects', The World Bank, http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTOGMC/
0,,contentMDK:20017935~menuPK:336976~pagePK:64020865~piPK:149114
~theSitePK:336930,00.html viewed 21/09/06
[12] P64, International Monetary Fund, Kyrgyz Republic: Second Review Under Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility – Staff Report; And Press Release on the Executive Board Consideration, IMF Country Report no 06/235, June 2006 (accessible on www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2006/cr06235.pdf )
[13] Author Unknown, 'About IFC', International Finance Corporation, www.ifc.org/about viewed 21/09/06
[14] Author Unknown, 'Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (40 Countries)', Economic Policy & Debt, The World Bank, http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTDEBTDEPT/
0,,contentMDK:20260049~menuPK:528655~pagePK:64166689~
piPK:64166646~theSitePK:469043,00.html viewed 21/09/06
[15] Author Unknown, 'The IFC at fifty: All that glitters is too much gold' Bretton Woods Project Update 52, September/October 2006
[16] Author Unknown, 'Negotiating Social Sustainability, Sustaining a Dialogue: Building Partnerships in Venezuela', Department for International Devlopment, www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/wssd-neg-gold-venezuela.pdf viewed 21/09/06
[17] 'DR Congo: Gold Fuels Massive Human Rights Atrocities', Human Rights Watch, 02/06/05 www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/06/02/congo11041.htm viewed 19/09/06
[18] Author Unknown, 'Gold Mining In Honduras', CAFOD, www.cafod.org.uk/get_involved/campaigning/unearth_justice/honduras viewed 21/09/06
[19] Gary Parkinson, 'Goldcorp to create gold-mining giant with $8.6bn buy of US rival', The Independent, 01/09/06
[20] Kevin Morrison, 'Firms Are in Talks to Turn Gold Mining “Green”', Financial Times, 03/07/06
[21] P30, 'Dirty Metals Mining Communities and the Environment', No Dirty Gold Report