Humans pollute the air in many ways, but the single most polluting activity undertaken on earth is mining. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), mercury pollution from trash incineration, hazardous waste collection, and mercury mining combined still does not add up to half the total amount of mercury pollution created annually by gold mining globally.

However, the high percentage of gold recycling is attributed to the high value placed on the mineral. It has been estimated that 85 percent of all the gold ever mined can currently be accounted for. The missing 15 percent has either been lost or used in some kind of industrial process where it is cannot be readily retrieved.

After gold has been mined, approximately 63 percent is used in jewellery (which includes art), 21 percent as coins, 15 percent in some kind of industrial use including electronics, and the other 1 percent in dental gold.

During the gold recycling process, any impurities including lead, copper, and silver that are found during the process are gathered into a “sludge”. This “sludge” also contains platinum-group metals, which are recovered through various other methods. The recovery of other precious and non-precious metals while recycling gold helps to lessen further environmental damage caused by mining for gold as well as other metals.

It’s important for all of us to do our part to keep our planet viable for future generations. We are proud to be a part of that process and invite our customers to do the same.