Cyanide Story (Part One)
Cyanide Story (Part One): Are We Doing Enough to Prevent Cyanide Spills?
By Doug Hadfield, MiningandMoney.com
It’s the stuff of legend. For many, the word “cyanide” conjures images of mass suicides, illegal fishing in the Philippines and the murder of Rasputin. Pretty nefarious stuff.
But hydrogen cyanide is a valuable and arguably indispensable industrial chemical, particularly in gold mining.
Some 13% of all man-made cyanide is used to assist in removing gold and silver from low-grade ore; the rest is used to manufacture a wide range of products, from cosmetics to fire retardant and much else besides. Read the rest of this entry »
