Most of us have seen recently an increase on TV of sales pitches for recycling one's old gold. Even some of the TV Gem and Jewelry channels have now gotten into the scene. With gold topping $1000.00 an oz for the second time in 2 years, people are scrambling to sell off their old gold. Recycling of computers and electronics for gold, platinum and silver as well as copper, has also hit an all time high.
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Since the early Egyptians, jewelers have always recycled gold. It has a specific intrinsic value, so no one simply, unless by accident, tosses this precious metal into the trash bin. Those who wish to part with their old gold jewelry, coins, pieces of gold sell the items to local retailers or metal refiners, who weigh each item and pay cash for the percentage of pure gold present (note: pure gold is 24K, anything less, ie 9K, 10K, 14K, and 18K, is a percentage of pure gold mixed with other, less valuable metals mainly tin and copper for yellow gold and other minerals for various shades from rose, to white to green – these are all called alloy gold).
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Generally speaking, most consumers are never aware of the origin of the gold in their jewelry. However, lately media attention has been focusing on many harmful effects of the unethical mining on nearby communities and the environment in totality, and the term “dirty” gold gets its moniker from such mining practices. Critics say that a single band of gold leaves behind more than twenty tons of mine waste. Some of this is simply rock, however, mixed with the rock are other toxic metals and the acids that are used to seperate out the gold. The personnel working at the mines are also exposed and the ground is also in danger as these liquids can leach into groundwater creating a dangerous health hazard to wild as well as human life. Concerned jewelry manufacturers and designers are examining their gold sources far more closely these days, and some have joined the “No Dirty Gold” campaign founded and dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the destructive impacts of mineral development, in the U.S. and worldwide.
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There are many who now as a marketing tool, market their use of recycled-gold as better for the environment. This permits us, as consumers, to be more responsible for and sensitive to the repercussions of our jewelry purchases. But the fact remains that the use of this recycled gold has relatively no impact on the issues surrounding the problems associated with today's gold mining techniques to find this most elusive and growing scarcer material/mineral/metal.
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Generally speaking, most consumers are never aware of the origin of the gold in their jewelry. However, lately media attention has been focusing on many harmful effects of the unethical mining on nearby communities and the environment in totality, and the term “dirty” gold gets its moniker from such mining practices. Critics say that a single band of gold leaves behind more than twenty tons of mine waste. Some of this is simply rock, however, mixed with the rock are other toxic metals and the acids that are used to seperate out the gold. The personnel working at the mines are also exposed and the ground is also in danger as these liquids can leach into groundwater creating a dangerous health hazard to wild as well as human life. Concerned jewelry manufacturers and designers are examining their gold sources far more closely these days, and some have joined the “No Dirty Gold” campaign founded and dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the destructive impacts of mineral development, in the U.S. and worldwide.
.
There are many who now as a marketing tool, market their use of recycled-gold as better for the environment. This permits us, as consumers, to be more responsible for and sensitive to the repercussions of our jewelry purchases. But the fact remains that the use of this recycled gold has relatively no impact on the issues surrounding the problems associated with today's gold mining techniques to find this most elusive and growing scarcer material/mineral/metal.
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No matter what ones feelings are on the subject, recycling of precious metals is here to stay. Even non-government issued Gold Coins have entered the market for use in barter.
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