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Introduction

Cyanide is one of the world’s deadliest poisons. Just one teaspoon of a 2% cyanide solution can be lethal to a healthy human and even smaller doses can kill wildlife.

Despite its toxicity, this same poison has been widely used by the hard rock mining industry to assist in the extraction of precious and non-precious metals from rock. As a result of transportation accidents and leaks, billions of gallons of this toxic substance has been spilled into the environment since 1970. Even discounting the dozens of accidents that have occurred at mine sites, the processes used by the mining industry result in cyanide and related compounds being contained in discarded mine wastes, which can pollute our groundwater.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Photographer: Gary Mowad

Although very small traces of cyanide are lethal to humans and to wildlife, the mining industry typically uses hundreds of tons of cyanide each year. Most spills have involved tens of thousands of tons of this toxic chemical. In some cases, spills have killed all of the wildlife in an affected area; in others, soils and groundwater have been affected for years following a spill. In many cases of cyanide accidents, the mining companies have gone bankrupt, leaving taxpayers with the burden of costly cleanup.

Considering the risks to water, wildlife, and human health, controversy over the use of cyanide in mining has escalated in recent years, resulting in proposed legislation and public support for banning its use. Spills have occurred across the country and the world for a variety of reasons from storage to transport, indicating that there is simply no way to safely make use of cyanide in mining. Research has presented the mining industry with non-toxic, cost-effective alternatives to cyanide that need to be fully explored.

This website offers the tools necessary for you to ban the use of cyanide in metallic mining in your state. These tools include a sample bill, talking points, press clips, a fact pack, links, and other background information.

We may have other useful materials on this subject which are not posted on our website. Please feel free to contact us at info@serconline.org or call our office in Madison, WI at (608) 252-9800.

If you’ve used this site and found it helpful or, if you have suggestions about how it could be made more helpful, please let us know. Feel free to use the sample bill text included here in your state. If you do, please notify us.

This page was last updated on February 24, 2004.