GREEN GOLD MINING

New mining technologies and regulations have significantly improved mining efficiency and reduced environmental impact in recent years. In general, mining techniques become much more environmentally sensitive when efficiency is improved because less waste is produced. However, even greater improvements must be made as part of Mission 2016's plan. The current "green" mining techniques need to become more widespread and there will be a focus on researching new environmentally friendly techniques.

The plan for improving efficiency and decreasing the environmental impact of mining is broken up into the following categories:

• Shutting down illegal and unregulated mines

• Choosing environmentally friendly general mining processes

• Implementing recently discovered green mining technologies

• Cleaning up the sites of shut-down mines

• Reevaluating Cut-off Grades

• Research and Development of Green Mining Technology

The plan below is described in order to illustrate a specific example. However, many of the same problems are inherent in mining of other strategic elements, and thus Mission 2016's solutions can be applied and implemented for these mines as well.

Banking group Goldman Sachs has described the gold price as a ‘fear barometer’ on account of its ‘safe haven’ role when other economic indicators (especially the US dollar price) are moving in a negative direction. The 2020 Covid-19 crisis saw the yellow metal soaring 32 percent (adding US$500) to an all-time high price of US$2 070.50 in August that year. After falling back to the US$1 800 region on the invention and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, it leaped upward again, to over US$2 000, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Despite a certain mystique around its drivers, the gold market is, like any other, a creature of supply and demand. The invasion of Ukraine will remove 330 tons of Russian gold from the market this year out of a global total of about 3 500 tons. The London Bullion Market has done its bit for Western sanctions by banning all output from Russia’s six accredited refineries.

Snarled global supply chains and half-century high levels of inflation in developed countries, as well as other fears Covid mutations, political risk look likely to continue to support a high gold price even if the US Federal Reserve hikes interest rates thereby supporting the dollar.