Cyanide

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

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

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill

Effects on the environment

Sodium cyanide drum at the abandoned Chemung Mine in Masonic, California

Despite being used in 90% of gold production,[5] gold cyanidation is controversial due

to the toxic nature of cyanide. Although aqueous solutions of cyanide degrades
rapidly in sunlight, the less-toxic products, such as cyanates and thiocyanates, may
persist for some years. The famous disasters have killed few people — humans can
be warned not to drink or go near polluted water — but cyanide spills can have a
devastating effect on rivers, sometimes killing everything for several miles
downstream. However, the cyanide is soon washed out of river systems and, as long
as organisms can migrate from unpolluted areas upstream, affected areas can soon
be repopulated. In the Someș river below Baia Mare, the plankton returned to 60% of
normal within 16 days of the spill. [6] Famous cyanide spills include :
Year Mine Country Incident
1985-91 Summitville USA Leakage from leach pad
1995 Omai Guyana Collapse of tailings dam
1998 Kumtor Kyrgyzstan Truck drove over bridge
Collapse of tailings dam (see 2000 Baia Mare cyanide
2000 Baia Mare Romania
spill)
2000 Tolukuma Papua New Guinea Helicopter dropped crate into rainforest [7]

Such spills have prompted fierce protests at new mines that involve use of cyanide,
such as Roşia Montană in Romania, Lake Cowal in Australia, Pascua Lama in Chile,
and Bukit Koman in Malaysia.

Chronic exposure

Exposure to lower levels of cyanide over a long period (e.g., after use
of cassava roots as a primary food source in tropical Africa) results in increased
blood cyanide levels, which can result in weakness and a variety of symptoms,
including permanent paralysis.
2000 Baia Mare cyanide spill

Effects

After the spill, the Someş had cyanide concentrations of over 700 times the permitted
levels. The Someş flows into the Tisza, Hungary's second largest river, which then
flows into Danube. The spill contaminated the drinking supplies of over 2.5 million
Hungarians.[1] Apart from cyanide, also heavy metals were washed into the river and
they have a long-lasting negative impact over the environment.[1]

The wildlife was particularly affected on the Tisza: on a stretch, virtually all life was
killed and further south, in the Serbian section, 80% of the aquatic life was killed.[1]

Large quantities of fish died due to the toxicity of cyanide in the waters of the rivers,
affecting 62 species of fish, of which 20 protected species. In Hungary, volunteers
participated in removing the dead fish to prevent the disaster from spreading across
the food chain, as other animals, such as foxes, otters and ospreys have been killed
after eating contaminated fish.[1]

After the cyanide entered the Danube, the large volume of the river diluted the
cyanide,[1] but it still remained in some sections as high as 20 to 50 times the allowed
concentration.[4]

Two years after the spill, the ecosystem began to recover, but it still was far from its
initial state, as the fishermen of Hungary claiming that their catches are only at a fifth
of their original levels.[3]