Resources

http://onlygold.com/tutorialpages/Value_Of_Gold.asp
http://www.gomiam.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=2 http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archive/tcaw/10/i03/html/03willis.html

Conflict and Resolution

The expansion of the sector in many Amazon countries is characterized by disordered occupations of territories, uncontrollable organized mining operations, and dangerous working conditions. With a bizarre number of people entering the small-scale gold mining business, gold mining causes severe deforestation, uncontrolled release of mercury, and the deterioration of soil and riverbeds. The scale of the negative impacts is yet unknown. Leading international organizations – such as the United Nations and the World Bank – have invested significant efforts towards developing mechanisms that reduce the environmental impacts of small-scale gold mining, such as using retorts, returning the top soil or rehabilitating vegetation. However, these solutions are only rarely implemented with success.

Mining

   Gold mining of surface deposits began in the Amazon region

as early as the 16th century in the more easily accessible

locations near the coasts and major rivers.  However,

difficulties resulting from location, climate, and political

instability kept the region from full exploration of its

resources until recently.  In the late 1970s, gold was discovered

along the Brazilian border with Venezuela.  This sparked off the

largest single gold rush in history, which is still going on

today.

     The richest deposits of gold bearing rock are in the area

called the Guiana Shield, a huge belt of greenstone beginning in

Venezuela and extending eastward through parts of Guyana,

Suriname, French Guiana, and south into Brazil and the Amazon

heartland.  The shield covers a total area of 415,000 square

kilometers of jungle and savanna.  This shield is half of the

corresponding gold rich area in Africa; in fact, the two were

once formed a single outcropping when the two continents were

connected roughly 115 million years ago.  The outcropping in

Africa is largely responsible for the gold and platinum wealth of

South Africa and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Value of Gold

    In 1858, gold was discovered at Canoona, in 1867 in Gympie, in 1872 on the Palmer river, southwest of Cooktown all in Queensland Australia.The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s during which Victoria dominated the world gold production. 1 kilogram of gold would be worth about 55 thousand dollars.

     Gold production has become a major source of income for several countries of the Amazon region, especially Brazil which has become the fourth largest producer in the world.  The primary concern of the industry is mercury pollution that goes hand in hand with current mining techniques.  Although the environmental effects of the mercury are not currently serious, there are significant dangers to the health of the human population of the region.

Introduction

Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a transition metal. It is one of the least reactive solid chemical elements.Gold has been a valuable and highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since long before the beginning of history. . Gold has also been frequently linked to a wide variety of symbolism and ideologies. A total of 165,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, as of 2009.