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Hard rock mining occurs mostly in the Great Basin in the Sagebrush Sea. Nevada is the third largest gold producer in the world, behind South Africa and Australia. While employing relatively few Nevadans, national and transnational mining companies have torn gaping holes in the state that may never heal. These corporations maintain an unnerving stranglehold on federal and state politicians in Nevada and across the West and enjoy political power far out of proportion to their contributions to the economy. The mining industry claims to employ 14,000 Nevadans and produced $5.1 billion worth of minerals from the state in 2006. By comparison, the gaming industry employs more than 215,000 people in Nevada and generated $12.6 billion in revenue in 2006.†

Cyanide heap leach mine - Tom Myers

Cyanide heap leach mining is a common practice used to extract gold from ore mined in the Great Basin. In this process, a cyanide solution is sprinkled over huge heaps of mined ore. The cyanide binds with the gold and the solution is collected on plastic liners underneath the heaps. After the gold has been removed, the heaps, weighing millions of tons and covering hundreds of acres, are left to be managed as waste. Residual water and rainwater continually seep through the heaps, which exude salt and heavy metals, including cyanide, selenium, arsenic, mercury, cobalt and nitrate, resulting in hazardous, toxic runoff.