Country Life

Gold is the new green

ANCIENT Colombian civilisations covered the bodies of future kings in it; the Greeks used it in burial masks; Spandau Ballet devoted a song to it. Gold has entranced humankind for millennia: the earliest gold artefacts are believed to be 7,000 years old. Last year, the price of gold reached an all-time high, proof of our implicit faith in the precious metal. But the process of extracting it from the earth and refining it into its familiar lustrous form isn’t always pretty.

Dangerous working conditions, child labour, pitiful pay and chemical poisoning still plague the industry. Illegal operations are rife and even regulated mines have environmental pitfalls, including pollution and deforestation. An estimated 20 tons of waste are generated to produce enough gold for one plain band and the livelihoods of an estimated 100 million people worldwide depend

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