Yeah, what in regards to the ozone layer? It is nonetheless an issue you already know! However we banned the usage of CFC’s and stopped utilizing them in aerosols and refrigeration you would possibly say. Sure we now have and we did, however that does not imply that the issue’s solved. By no means! You see we banned the usage of them, sure, however not the manufacturing of them.
So industries aren’t legally sure to cease producing them except they’re working in environmentally delicate areas like world heritage websites. Among the greatest producers of them are these mining for gold and to a lesser extent silver and platinum. Particularly these utilizing the cyanide extraction course of.
The manufacturing of CFC’s requires the presence of carbon, fluorine and chlorine after which an setting through which these can mix. This straight results in the creation of CFC’s – chlorofluorocarbons.
Within the extraction of gold and different valuable metals utilizing the cyanide course of, first the ore is crushed then the concentrates are positioned in enormous containers stuffed with the cyanide answer. They continue to be in there for weeks, giving the answer time to assemble the gold to itself with the help of activated charcoal. When this has finished it is job it is then pumped off into one other container the place the answer is introduced into contact with a ‘widespread’ steel inflicting the valuable metals to precipitate out onto the underside of the brand new container.
Throughout these first two phases carbon is launched partly from the activated charcoal used and partly from the cyanide itself (cyanide is half carbon,half nitrogen chemically talking) At this level there’s nonetheless silica, sand, current within the residue so subsequent they use hydrofluoric acid to take away it. Hydrofluoric acid dissolves silica, sand, on contact in a short time. Thus leaving solely the valuable metals behind.
Then to separate these into the purest state eradicating another metallic impurities they use aqua regia which is a really robust acid combination, both a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids or generally these two and sulphuric acid as nicely. The purpose right here is that that is the supply of the chlorine element Sianida.
None of this is able to be an issue in the event you did not produce an setting the place they might mix however sadly they’ve they usually slowly do. However worse nonetheless they then refine these valuable metals by heating them in a furnace the place they mix collectively quickly forming CFC’s that are then spewed out into the environment the place they do all of the harm.
Why do they maintain utilizing this course of? As a result of it is low-cost, they usually can. Their foyer teams have satisfied ‘everyone that counts’ that it is secure – the most secure methodology obtainable. That is simply not true, cyanide is a lethal poison, do not child your self. Though it’s true that it utterly breaks down when acted upon by ultraviolet mild, the very fact they do not inform you about that’s that it takes something as much as 45 years to take action and through that point it is something however secure.
And saying there is no different solution to extract the valuable metals is not true both. There actually are secure methods to do it they usually’re simply as low-cost too. One particularly is completely secure, as a result of the chemical used is definitely a plant meals. Sure, it is completely secure, each bit as low-cost, will not pollute the setting in any respect and never solely that, is such an identical course of to the usage of cyanide that you need to use the identical tools so it’s extremely price efficient within the changeover course of as nicely.
This secure cyanide alternative is thio-urea, and is commercially obtainable from ICI. It is urea with a sulphur atom tacked on and works in precisely the identical means as cyanide solely it is not poisonous it is a plant meals so storage ponds of it may also be used within the revegetation of the mined land too. And no extra poisonous ponds! In the event you ask me this is able to make way more sense do not you suppose?