In Russia, new mines are constantly being opened, without much concern for the environmental impact. Already in 2021 Russia produced 346 tons of gold and exported 87% of the precious metal. Today Deputy Finance Minister Aleksej Moiseev declared that “gold bars must replace currencies”, which are now unaffordable.
Moscow () – While the damage caused by gold mining is being discussed around the world, in Russia new mines are constantly being sought and opened. The ecological damage from the exploitation of gold deposits is difficult to calculate and due to worsening environmental conditions, people are forced to abandon mining areas, where teams of miners and groups of prospectors abound. The costs are charged to the federal budget and all the money goes to state projects, starting with the war, without bringing any benefit to the local populations.
In February 2023, a study from the University of Oxford signed by Steven Lezak, professor at the School of Entrepreneurship and Environmental Protection, was published, demonstrating the need to reduce gold extraction. And not only for ecological damage, but also for economic reasons: the precious metal can be obtained by laboratory procedures, at least to cover the needs of medicine and industry.
According to the scholar, “the ecological costs of the mining industry are today more evident than ever, and the gold industry stands out for the seriousness of the harmful action.” Unlike fuels, which at least heat homes and produce electricity, gold production only has extremely deleterious effects on people’s daily lives. Gold mines expel “more greenhouse gases than all regular flights between European countries,” says Lezak.
Extraction also requires chemical reagents such as cyanide, which contaminates the surrounding soil, groundwater and even open water basins. Cyanide concentrations of one microgram per liter can be deadly to fish. Mercury is used in many countries to extract the gold, which is needed for the amalgamation process, and overall the gold industry produces nearly 40% of the world’s mercury waste, which is why thousands of miners suffer chronic poisoning.
However, only 7% of the gold mined globally goes to the needs of industry, technological development and medicine, while the rest goes to bank vaults and jewelry stores. One of the world’s largest gold owners remains the US government, with reserves worth $11 billion. Since 2010 the World Bank has invested more than $0 million in gold mines in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Islands.
If gold were to stop being extracted, Lezak assures, its trade would not be reduced, but on the contrary, the reserves would be revalued, enough to guarantee all kinds of operations at an international level. Currently almost a quarter of the annual demand for gold worldwide is guaranteed by secondary processing, which does not use mercury and does not increase the negative ecological load.
In 2021 Russia produced 346 tons of gold and exported 87% of the valuable metal, which today more than ever protects it from the limitations of international sanctions. Annual revenues exceed 18 billion dollars, almost 8% of all income from exports. With these figures, Russia ranks fifth in world gold reserves and third among mining countries, exploiting the infinite resources of its Asian territory, difficult to excavate, and with little respect for its environmental integrity.
At the end of 2022, Deputy Finance Minister Aleksej Moiseev declared that “gold bars must replace foreign currency”, which is currently inaccessible to Russian finance. In his opinion, the demand for gold in the international market has multiplied by at least seven times in the last year. The war for gold threatens the planet even more than drones and bombs.
