LONDON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- With the price of gold at a 17-year high above $474 an ounce, environmentalists are fretting over the enormous waste created by refining each ounce.
"Gold mining is arguably the world's dirtiest and most polluting industry," said Payal Sampat, campaign director for mining watchdog, Earthworks. She said producing one ounce of gold generated 30 tons of toxic waste, starting with hundreds of tons of rock, which is doused with liquid cyanide solution to separate the gold.
With the best ore already mined in most developed countries, the gold industry is turning to the world's poorest countries, The Independent reported. Up to 70 percent of gold is now mined countries like Peru and the Philippines.
Newly affluent consumers have pushed jewelry sales to a record $38 billion this year, figures from the World Gold Council said.
Meanwhile, mines owned by international corporations have been responsible for cyanide spills in Ghana, Western Australia, Papua New Guinea, China, Honduras and Nicaragua.
