To the editor;
I’m wondering how much gold, silver, copper and other valuable metals were purchased this past Christmas in the form of jewellery and electronic devices?
I suspect it was in the billions of dollars globally.
But how many consumers ever stop to think about the monumental effort that went into bringing those metals and manufactured goods to the consumer marketplace?
Before anyone can buy jewellery and electronic devices, someone needs to locate the geological deposits that contain these metals hidden in the vastness of planet Earth.
Those metals then need to be separated from the rocks that contain them and refined to a suitable state of purity. And before that, the mine operators have to jump through a series of regulatory hoops before producing even a single ounce of gold, silver or copper.
What will it take, then, for consumers to start making the connection between the consumer goods they desire and enjoy and the mining industry that produces the raw materials essential to these consumer goods?
How many of these people hypocritically denounce mining while coveting and acquiring the products that mining makes possible?
Give mining its due for all of the amazing things and the comforts it provides us with.
Donald Leung
Burnaby, B.C.