Mining and the law: Got gold? If not, get some

I'm certain that I shall go to my grave without ever having unraveled the mystery of why otherwise bright people are so lacking in the most rudimentary vestiges of common sense. An illustration that proves the point is an article which appeared in the New York Times recently, and which was picked up by the Anchorage Daily News, bemoaning the social costs of mining gold.

While the Times may, perhaps, be forgiven for its commitment as the self-styled voice of its political base; certainly the rest of us have a right to expect the News, as the largest newspaper in the second largest gold-producing state in the nation, to be more critical and objective.

The article suggests, among other things, that the search for gold in today's world "has little to do with girdling empires, economies or currencies. It is almost all about the soaring demand in places like China and India for jewelry." Excuse me? The last time I checked, the reason people exchanged currency for durable goods was because they would rather have the goods than the currency - especially when the currency is fragile. If one gets some pleasure out of owning the durable, and it retains its value, that appears to be a win-win situation.

Why on earth would anyone rather have a gold bauble than an American greenback? That is a question best answered with a question. How long will the American dollar remain strong? Prudence (the older sister of Common Sense) dictates that if you are concerned about the vitality of the only global currency, you hedge your bet with an alternative that has consistently proved itself for millennia on end.

Industry castigated for use of cyanide

The Times article doesn't just stop there, however. It goes on to castigate the mining industry about its use of cyanide in the recovery of gold. Cyanide, of course, is a dirty word. Everyone knows that it is a poison used to kill people in the gas chambers of San Quentin and Auschwitz. Cyanide is so clearly understood by the general public, apparently, that even the briefest explanation about the substance by these reporters is unwarranted.

Yet, if cyanide is such a chemical boogeyman why on earth is its use endemic? Thirty seconds on Google will reveal that cyanide is all around us. The second entry listed on my search was the online free encyclopedia "Wikipedia", which revealed:

Cyanides can be produced by certain bacteria, fungi and algae, and are found in a number of foods and plants. Cyanide occurs naturally in cassava (aka manioc), which are potato-like tubers of cassava plants grown in tropical countries; these must be processed prior to consumption (usually by extended boiling). Fruits which have a pit, such as cherries or apricots, contain either cyanides or cyanogenic glycosides in the pit. Bitter almonds, from which almond oil and flavoring is made, also contain cyanide.

Cyanide is also found in cabbage, broccoli and vitamin B12 (not to mention cigarette smoke, but who smokes cigarettes these days?) Other than in the movies, the last incident of people being poisoned by cyanide that I recall was in 1982 when someone tampered with a bottle of Extra-Strength Tylenol in a convenience store in Chicago.

Cyanide simply is not the frequent subject of news stories across the nation or around the world. That is not to say that there haven't been accidents or that birds or fish haven't been inadvertently killed, but I wonder how many more birds and fish are killed shortly before being popped into the oven for dinner.

Cyanide not difficult to handle safely

Cyanide rarely kills people because cyanide simply isn't difficult to handle safely.

Cyanide is a compound of carbon and nitrogen. The same carbon and nitrogen that is found in the air we breathe. Under certain conditions, cyanide can be used to leach gold out of rock, but the compound is not particularly stable or persistent in the environment. It decomposes readily in the presence of sunlight and aeration.

No one is suggesting that people drink cyanide, just as no one is suggesting that people jump off bridges. The point is, however, that banning cyanide is no more rational than banning bridges.

The attack on gold mining is predictably counter-productive to the ostensible objective. No one in their right mind is going to turn to greenbacks if, or should I say when, there is another currency crisis. Gold, however, will hold value through thick and thin. Because leaching gold out of low grade ore with cyanide solutions is simple, cheap and efficient, cyanide is not going away either.

By trading in ignorance and hysteria, the Times and, by extension, the News simply frighten people when the better result would be to educate them. Gold is not evil, nor are the people who mine it. Properly handled, cyanide is not a threat. The hacks at the Times would far better serve their constituencies with objective fact than politically motivated propaganda. It's common sense.