Gold mine coming in near my property

Having worked in gold mining most of my life, much of it in Arizona, I'd like to weigh in on this. When people hear "cyanide" they tend to panic. Cyanide is not a major worry for the communities near a gold mine. I would be much more worried about the residue from past mining operations using mercury, or the presence of arsenic in the tails. Cyanide metabolizes amazingly fast, and gold mines in Arizona are required by law to contain all cyanide processes with lined leach pads, tails ponds and pregnant solution ponds.

I would not be worried about a modern gold mining operation opening near my property because MSHA and the EPA constantly monitor cyanide levels in the ground water. The mines have to submit samples on a regular basis for testing. When a mine is shut down, it is required to leach all cyanide areas with pure water until the cyanide level is below a certain level considered safe. The safe level for a mine to shut down is way below the cyanide level in a cigarette or a serving of spinach or other dark green vegetable.

I would, however, have the water tested for heavy metals, especially mercury and arsenic, because many old mines did a lot of contamination of the ground. Modern mines are not much of a worry, and any violating the environmental standards will be shut down and/or fined into bankruptcy. Mines do use A LOT of water. In my opinion, this is your main worry, not cyanide.

By the way our general winds blow from the west/ southwest...so you are likely upwind most of the time.

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www.MontanaSticksAndStones.com at Goshen Farm

There's a fable about a fox and a snake crossing a river. In the end the snake eats the fox after it had helped the snake. Moral was a snake is a snake no matter what he tells you. People are like the snake when it comes to money. Sad but true in my opinion.