
The case for banning gold mining - bookofjoe
https://jpkoning.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-case-for-banning-gold-mining.html
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jandrewrogers
An issue is the definition of a “gold mine”. Many mines that produce gold are
composite ores, other valuable metals are extracted at the same, usually
silver or copper but occasionally other metals. Mining of pure gold ores can
be pretty clean as heavy metal mining goes, it is the other elements that tend
to drag along messier chemistry.

That aside, gold mining has been moving outside of the developed world for
decades, most operating mines in the US (and the US produces prodigious
amounts of gold) were already grandfathered in under prior laws. You’d have to
ban gold mining in countries that aren’t going to play along. Also, even in
the developed world, there is a lot of opportunity for black market gold
production. A large fraction in the US is small producers and reserve studies
are incentivized to be heavily sandbagged. For example, while the US produces
a lot of gold, the origin of at least 30% of it is not entirely clear.
Laundering off-book gold ore would be a piece of cake. It is a fascinating
business.

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xbmcuser
I don't care much about Musk mission to mars but with the cost declines in
rocket launches in the next few years I really hope asteroid mining becomes a
thing.

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fouc
I like the idea of developed countries banning gold mining.

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topspin
Harmful, dangerous industrial activity is always best relegated to undeveloped
countries. That way it can kill the largest number of exploited workers and
produce maximal environmental damage.

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twicetwice
I think that the idea is that developed countries have no "need" for it, while
developing countries could and will benefit from maximally exploiting their
natural resources to develop as quickly as possible. There's a good point in
your comment (that the process exploiting natural resources is more harmful in
developing countries, and so might not be worth the tradeoff for faster
development), but it's buried under sarcasm and lack of charity. We could have
a more productive discussion without it.

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type0
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill)

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Simulacra
Two words: arsenic, and tailings.

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zucker42
This ignores the useful industrial applications of gold and understates the
probable black market that would develop.

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voisin
There is a World Gold Council that puts out stats on use of gold each year and
by far the biggest use is for investment. Jewelry and industrial uses have
been on the decline for decades.

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TwoBit
Parallels to cybercurrency?

