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Connections to Globalization

Economic:

Gold has always served as a valued commodity worldwide. Its value has increased and decreased based on supply and demand, perception of its value, and by local, national and international events and circumstances.

After the gold standard was abandoned, governments could print as much money as they needed; many saw this as a problem, since there was no limit to the amount of money a government can print.

Gold has lead to countries to communicate, some countries work together to make this gold. From Africa, Asia, and South America toSwitzerland, there always exporting materials and important products around to make the gold.

Gold has a role as a measure of a nation’s wealth since other forms of money are not applicable or usable across borders.

The gold-rush has caused many changes in the economies of countries. The manufacturing has boosted, population has boosted, and the unions have gained money.

Immigration was a major effect of the Australian gold rush. Large numbers of immigrants especially Chinese, brought their unique cultural influences toAustraliaand many of the Chinese stayed on to build businesses in the towns once the gold deposits were mined out.

Social:

Smelting the gold often leads to air pollution, smog, and acid rain and greenhouse gases. Some processes that some miners use to extract the gold, leads to larger amounts of waste.

An example of how gold has affected culture would be the way gold has affected Australian society. One of the main effects of the gold rushes was on the growing agricultural industry. Many men who worked as farmers on the farms, or sheep and cattle stations simply downed there tools and left. Workers, owners, roustabouts etc, left their jobs for the lure of the goldfields.

Many workers in undeveloped countries have poor conditions. They can get seriously injured in the mines and get ill from the chemicals being used, and they certainly do not get paid enough for what they’re going through. Many gold companies take advantage of the cheap labor for profit and do not invest in the needs of the workers.

simply-eve-denise

references:

Q.1&4

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-05/top-10-gold-producing-countries-in-2011-table-.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_are_the_top_5_gold_producing_countries

http://www.top5ofanything.com/index.php?h=5f806789

http://goldinvestingnews.com/28894/top-10-gold-producing-countries-of-2011-australia-us-ghana-indonesia-china-peru-canada-russi.html

http://www.nodirtygold.org/dirty_golds_impacts.cfm

http://useconomy.about.com/od/commoditiesmarketfaq/tp/gold_prices.htm

http://nagt.org/nagt/programs/teachingmaterials/58360.html

Q.2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

Q.3

http://science.howstuffworks.com/gold4.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_extraction

http://www.projectsiq.co.za/gold-mining-in-south-africa.htm

IMAGES:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/20/us-dealtalk-gold-idUSTRE54J6YE20090520

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2007/10/bling-gold-plat/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/06/the-24-carat-gold-macbook-pro-with-diamond-studded-apple-logo/

http://chikaforafrica.com/2011/09/16/towards-ending-apartheid-in-south-african-mines/

Q.5&6

http://www.brilliantearth.com/gold-mining-environment/

http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1120.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-real-price-of-gold-512591.html

http://www.ec.gc.ca/scitech/default.asp?lang=En&n=4B40916E-1&xsl=privateArticles2,viewfull&po=C28E3478

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5218981_effects-gold-mining-environment.html

http://www.nodirtygold.org/home.cfm

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=60213213 (picture 1 )

http://www.nodirtygold.org/solid_waste.cfm (picture 2)

http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/Issues/MetalsMining/GoldMiningMethods.html]

#references

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Is this resource (gold) leading to greater prosperity for all?

No, because suppliers negatively impact the environment because of the pollution and chemicals involved in gold mining. Many workers are exploited and do not receive a fair wage and do not benefit very greatly from this industry. Gold is very hard to mine and once the resource has been completely mined there will be none left; it is not renewable.

#Q.8

Has anyone been exploited along the way?

Yes, many workers in the gold mines have been exploited.

-30% of gold miners die, often develop scurvy, exhaustion, pneumonia, dysentery, or cholera. -Accidents and violence also cause deaths.

-Gold miners make between 6-10 dollars per week.

-People who are exposed to toxic waste from tailing become sick.

-Water is contaminated, cannot use for bathing, washing etc.

-Cultural degradation also occurs in mining villages.

#Q.7

#Q.6

Do you agree with the methods being used?

No, cyanide heap leaching has had a terrible effect on the environment. Water is being polluted with toxic chemicals like cyanide and mercury that is killing fish and other wildlife, air is being polluted with nitrogen oxides and sulfur and greenhouse gases, and people in mining communities are facing long term health problems from polluted water and air and chemical spills. Instead of hard rock mining (cyanide heap leaching) gold mining companies should switch to placer mining. Placer mining has less impact on the environment because it doesn’t crush rock and usually doesn’t use chemicals. Placer mining uses water and gravity to separate gold from sand and gravel so the only environmental impact is habitat destruction and sediment release

#Q.6

To what extent is the environment being effected?

Gold mining is arguably the world’s dirtiest and most polluting industry. Cyanide heap leaching is the cheapest way of extracting gold and is commonly used (90% of gold is extracted this way). This process takes large amounts of cyanide and leaves behind toxic materials. Cyanide is harmful to both humans and animals, one teaspoon of 2% cyanide will kill a human being. Cyanide waste is stored in reservoirs and spills from these lakes have made their way into water systems with consequences for the environment, wildlife and local communities. Gold mining has polluted water all over the world with dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, cyanide, lead and mercury. Some mines regularly dispose of their waste in lakes, rivers and oceans and in developing countries waste is often dumped. Modern mining techniques that use vast amounts of fresh water are just as damaging to bodies of water as older techniques that pollute it. Long term effects include acid mine drainage (raises acid levels in water), poisoned drinking water and harm to wildlife populations.

#Q.5 #To what extent is the environment being effected?

A Comment on Social Impacts

Gold impacts on the vexes and vanes of an economy, which depends on how safe the other investments are. It is amazing on how you can tell if an economy is wealthy by looking at the price of gold and its currency. It can also impact the environment in a negative way because there is a process called cast mining where huge holes are dug in the ground. Gold mining is dirty industry by dirty industry we mean that it could separate or displace a community and destroy pristine environments. There is also a disadvantage for a women because gold mining is a hard process in which there is lots of time needed and there is heavy lifting evolved, violating humans right is a better way of saying it.

#Q.4

South African gold miners

Gold Extraction Process

Extracting gold is a very long and complicated process.

Gold mining in countries such as South Africa where workers are usually exploited involves methods such as hard-rock mining, panning, and, and by-product mining. In modern gold-mining in devolved countries, first large chunks of gold-bearing rock are removed from the ground and then it is broken down into smaller pieces. Large machines that are known as crushers make the small pieces of the ore even smaller so that it is no larger than road gravel. The gravel-like material is then put into rotating drums filled with steel balls where the ore is ground into a fine slurry or powder. The mill operators thicken the slurry with water to form a pulp which then goes through a series of leaching tanks. Leaching dissolves the gold out of the ore using chemicals (most commonly cyanide mixed with oxygen). When those chemicals react the gold in the pulp dissolves and workers will then put small carbon grains into the tank which the gold will adhere to. The gold-bearing carbon is then filtered out of the pulp and goes through a vessel where a hot caustic solution separates the gold from the carbon. Finally, the gold-bearing solution is ready to go through an electrical current which will remove the gold from leaching chemicals. Workers pour the solution into a container called a cell that contains positive and negative terminals that deliver the charge. The gold will collect onto the negative terminals.

The gold is then gone through another process called smelting where the negative terminals are melted in a furnace that is about 2100 degrees F. A chemical called flux is added to the molten material so that the gold can be separated from the metal that was used to make the terminals. The flux is then poured off and then the melted gold can be poured into moulds to form solid gold bars. Modern gold extracting processes usually result in 99.9% pure gold. The process of extracting is finally over but the gold bars will be sent to refineries all over the world for further processing into other things like jewellery.

#Q.3

GDP Per Capita Between Top Gold Producing Nations

GDP per capita:

China: $8,466

Australia: $39,438

USA: $48,422

South Africa: $2,943

Russia: $21,248

China: Many companies have been moving their work to China, therefore creating more labor jobs with very low wages and poor conditions of workers. Even though the country itself has the 3rd highest GDP in the world it doesn't show anything about how much the population earns. The population in China is the highest in the world and many workers in China barely make a living salary so the GDP per capita is very low.

Australia: Australia is a developed and industrialized nation. Developed countries tend to have more manufacturing jobs rather than exploited labor force jobs so wages are higher and GDP per capita is more compared to undeveloped countries.

USA: USA is a developed and an industrialized nation. The capitalist economy in USA allows some people to make more money and therefore they have more money to spend.

South Africa: Even though they have the 5th highest GDP in Africa, it is still really low. A quarter of the population is unemployed and they live on an average of US $1.25 a day. Many people are exploited for cheap labor and forced to work under hard conditions for very little.

Russia: Russia is also a developed nation so there is less exploitation and there’s an increase in GDP per capita but Russia still isn't very high.

#Q.2 #gaps in GDP per capita btween each of these nations

TOP 5 Producing Nations of Gold

China is the biggest producer of gold. They dominated in 2011 by producing the highest amount of gold. In 2011 China was exceeding more gold than other countries by 300 tons.

Australia is the second most gold-producing nation. The production of gold increased in 2011 by 261 tons of gold. Most of the gold comes from the western area.

USA is the third largest producer of gold. There gold production in 2010 was 231 tons in the market and increased by a bit in 2011.

Russia is the fourth biggest producer of gold. In 2011 there gold production increased by 8 tons from 192 tons in 2010.

South Africa is the fifth nation to produce the most gold. It used to be the highest in 2007 but China and other nations kept on rising up so South Africa came in fifth place.

#Q.1

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