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On September 10th, the General Assembly of the Slovak Parliament adop- ted the amendment in its plenary. The initiative came from the ruling party Smer that has a confortable majority in the Parliament. Slovakia is thus joining other indi- vidual governments that have already banned the use of cyanide in mining, such as the Czech Republic or Hungary. In May 2010 the European Parliament adopted a re- solution on a general ban on the use of cyanide in mining technologies throughout the European Union. Nevertheless, the European Commission declined to impose a EU-wide ban on cyanide because \u2018a general ban on cyanide use would have a detrimental effect on employment\u2019. Since then, further communities throughout the EU have been faced with mine proposals that involve the use of cyanide. From Greece, Romania, Spain, France, Bulgaria to Finland, citizens are mobilizing to ensure that toxic cyanide is banned.<\/p>\n
The Slovakian amendment came in response to the gold mining projects planned in Kremnica and Detva (both in the Banska\u0301 Bystrica Region). As Professor Jan G. Laitos explai- ned, \u201cmore than 90% of all gold extracted worldwide relies upon the use of cyanide. Cyanide is a chemical compound that bonds with gold, allowing it to be separated from other ele- ments. It is from the industry\u2019s point of view a simple and cost effective process. No suitable alternatives with this little production costs exist. In other words, banning the use of cyanide in effect bans the extraction and production of cheap, toxic gold\u201d.<\/p>\n