THE TRUE COST OF THE
CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
The Gold Rush was far from the quaint story of rugged individualism portrayed as California's origin story. The truth is much darker. And the Sierra deserves an honest reckoning with its history.
THE TRUTH IS...
THE DAMAGE DONE
Displacement
First, Indigenous people were displaced or slaughtered.
Jane Doe
Destruction
Landscapes were clear cut to meet timber needs for mining operations.
Extraction
1848
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Placer mining
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Using pans and mercury
1850
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Hard rock mining
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Tunneling into mountains, crushing rock, and using more mercury.
Mid 1850's
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Hydraulic mining
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Using large quantities of mercury, much of which washed downstream.
THE HARMS THAT REMAIN
These mines are still contaminated with Chemical Toxins.
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Mercury
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Arsenic and Asbestos
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Acid mine drainage
There are abandoned mines in every county in California.
Acid Mine Drainage at Slide Ravine Creek, Grass Valley.
Physical Hazards
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Hidden shafts and adits
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Deteriorating debris control dams
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Eroding cliffs
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Unstable tailings piles
The New Gold Rush
With gold prices breaking $5000 per ounce, foreign mining companies are coming for what is left.
Live Gold Price Tracker
Getting the last bits of gold requires industrial methods such as cyanide heap leach processes which create:
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Massive scars in landscapes
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Use vast amounts of water
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New types of contamination
Even the state of Montana banned new cyanide mines in 1998.
While there are only 3 active cyanide heap leach mines operating in California, many others have been stopped in the past 30 years through strong local opposition. There are several outstanding proposals that are currently moving through the regulatory process, and local activists need your help to stop them.
Take Action
Join Us In The Fight!
What you can do:
RESOURCES
Further Education
Gold Isn't Green Fact Sheet
Mining's Toxic Legacy
Due Diligence in the Sierra Nevada Gold Country
Fact sheet contains information regarding the history of gold mining in California, the impacts we see today, and the steps we can take to protect the future of Californias land, water, and people.
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Click on the image to enlarge.
Published March 2008 by The Sierra Fund.
This report presents current information on the nature and extent of mining toxins in the Sierra, the problems they pose to human and environmental health, and recommendations for action to address these problems.
Published May 2021 by The Sierra Fund.
This document discusses new tools to remediate California's abandoned mines.
The Price of Gold, The Value of Water
Winged Mercury and the Golden Calf
Rebecca Solnit, Published 2007
Storming the Gates of Paradise, is an anthology of Rebecca Solnit's essential essays from the past ten years. Readers should dive into her chapter on gold mining, The Price of Gold, The Value of Water.
Rebecca Solnit, Published October 2016
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This publication explores the historical intersection of gold mining, wealth, and environmental destruction, using mercury as a key agent in refining gold.
Learn more from specific organizations below:
Earthworks
No Hot Creek Mine
Earthworks advocates for the end of pollution from oil, gas, and mining while promoting a just and clean energy future.
No Hot Creek Mine is a grassroots organization based in Mammoth Lakes, California, fighting for the protections of Hot Creek from foreign mining companies.
ABOUT US
Gold Isn’t Green is a campaign of the Sierra Protection Action Network. The Gold Isn’t Green Coalition brings together local organizations and activists to address the environmental and public safety impacts of gold mining. Through education, grassroots organizing, and policy advocacy, we work to protect the Sierra’s land, water, and communities.
