Anglogold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti

The South African mining company AngloGold Ashanti contaminates land and people with its gold mining in Ghana. To extract 30 kg (66 lb) of gold, 6,000 tons of rock are mined every day, then ground up and mixed with cyanide in tanks. The highly-toxic mining waste is kept in large storage ponds that contaminate rivers and wells, as well as all those who (must) drink from them. Where there was once cultivated land, now the ground is contaminated and can no longer be farmed. In addition, in the company’s own guard houses, several suspects were tortured, and dogs were set on people; there have been fatalities as a result. Although the ecological and social problems in the mines – some mines are up to 100 years old – have been documented by authorities, NGOs and the company itself – and even AngloGold Ashanti committed itself in 2004 to improve the situation – things have in fact worsened since then. No wonder AngloGold Ashanti received the worst possible rating for social and environmental protection from the Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency in a recent industry comparison.