Mining: In Pictures

Most of the gems and metals bought in the United States were mined elsewhere, out of sight.  Let’s shine a light on what goes on overseas.

This is Chuquicamata, the largest open pit copper mine in the world.  It’s more than a mile across, and has been used since 1915.  Heavy pollution from the mine has forced a nearby town to evacuate.  A similar copper mine in Papua New Guinea forced landowners off their land, seizing it, creating a civil uprising that was crushed by the combined efforts of the Rio Tinto mining company and the New Guinea government, resulting in thousands of deaths between 1989 and 1999.

This is a pit filled with cyanide from a gold mine in Khakassia, Russia.  Cyanide is doused over raw ore to leach the gold out.  The pits are poorly maintained, and cyanide often leaks into the water supply, polluting drinking water for the surrounding area.

Chilean children sift for gold in polluted water containing sulfur, mercury, and cyanide.

This man had both his hands hacked off by RUF fighters during Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, financed by the diamond trade.

While 99% of the diamonds sold today come from conflict-free zones, diamonds are easy to smuggle, and the Kimberly Process, which requires that diamonds have a certificate of origin, is easy to fake.

It’s important to remember that diamonds are not a necessary good — their worth is what we make it.  “Creating new markets is the genius of DeBeers. Getting African-American men to wear bling works for them as well as their 1950’s campaigns to get Japanese brides to demand solitaires.” (Donald D. McNeill, Jr.  New York Times)

Diamond companies are taking steps in the right direction, by supporting trade of conflict-free diamonds and providing adequate pay and healthcare for miners.  But the diamond and other mining companies still have a long way to go.  And the sexist ads definitely aren’t helping.

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