Nevada's gold diggers mucking up the air - Study finds high levels of airborne mercury near mines

[Doondoo]

A UNR study being released today says airborne mercury is present around Nevada's gold mines at much higher levels than previously thought - in some cases on par with the nation's dirtiest industrial plants.

Mercury emitted from mines in Northern Nevada is a growing concern for residents in southern Idaho and Utah who are advised to no longer eat certain fish or fowl.

Although the mining industry says that other sources of the pollutant are largely responsible for those high levels, environmentalists contend that much of it is blown in from the closest source - Nevada's mines.

The research provides only a brief snapshot of the pollution levels, but environmentalists said the high concentrations call into question the mining companies' data on the amount of mercury emissions coming from their smokestacks.


http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2007/feb/14/566660237.html

[phantom power]

1. how is mercury released into the air by mining?

[Taxloss]

2. Mercury is used in gold mining to draw the gold to the surface.

It sort of leaches it out of the ground, AFAIK.

I believe that its use is now controlled - not for environmental reasons, but because of employers' liability for poisoned employees - but in the good ole days they used to slosh it about everywhere. Lots of Nevada is a very contaminated.

Or is that cyanide? I forget. Something horrible.

[Warpy]

5. Wild fish in NM streams are catch and release

because of the heavy metals and worse leaching out of old mine tailings.

[Taxloss]

3. Aha:

http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/chemistry/workshop7/7_4.html

[whistle]

4. My question as well, here are a couple of links on how mercury is used in

...the mining and extraction of gold:

http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/06/29/74277.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=local_news

http://www.ban.org/Ban-Hg-Wg/Briefing%20Papers/endingmerc.pdf

http://www.unido.org/en/doc/4571