- Gold mining costs outweigh economic benefits of mining.
- The existing climate crisis press for the need to reduce carbon emissions.
- PoS might be the answer to these issues.
Gold mining is a global industry with operations worldwide, with most production concentrated in China, South Africa, Australia, Russia, Peru, and Indonesia. While gold is economically important to these countries, the environmental and societal costs are significant, long-lasting, and potentially outweigh the economic benefits of mining.
The mining industry emits 4-7% of global greenhouse gasses, with a single ounce of gold generating up to 800 kilograms of emissions. In fact, producing enough gold for even a single wedding ring generates 20 tons of waste. Gold mining pollutes water and land with heavy metals and chemicals such as mercury and cyanide, endangering not only the environment …