This entry was originally written in my journal during a regional geology trip to West Texas from March 12-19, 2011. For the complete list of regional geo blog posts, click here.
day 6: driving, passing through an old mine for cinnabar, also known as mercury ore
The old mines we went to look so innocent. They’re the kinds that make me wonder if extraction might be ok. Cinnabar sounds so innocent, almost like a cinnamon roll, something sweet you can pop in your mouth. None of the connotations mercury conjures up. How can something toxic like that be here, in the middle of nowhere, in such a nondescript place? Why doesn’t nature come with bright yellow signs and hazmat suits? And is it even toxic in this form? Or do we take it and bend it that way, realign the chemical bonds so they slip quietly into our lungs and nerves and muscles and stay there?
And gold. We use so much to extract gold. Cyanide. Mercury. A toxic cocktail of minerals, just for the sake of a shiny piece of jewelry. It’s just like diamonds. Every rich, married woman in the world has Sierra Leone’s blood on her ring finger. But it glows such a beautiful red. I wonder how much of the gold we dig is for industry and how much is for people*. I wonder how much of it ends up in electronics. I wonder what intrigue, human suffering, global trade routes, corporations, hardworking union men and abandoned small towns were part of the story of this mine.
*Bob Carson’s note in my journal: 80% of gold is for people, not industry
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