Your golden mean

We live in the age of ‘permacrisis’ or perennial instability, ranging from erupting military conflicts to stormy climate change, upending the normal rhythms of regular life. As such insecurity grows, people worldwide turn notably to one asset considered sound over millennia — gold. This has grown in appeal as tariff wars and real battles rage, its price climbing globally, reflecting how gold is often viewed as a fortress of good sense against the disorderly.

Yet, is it? As we all buy it — in 2024, global gold demand hit a record high of 4,974 tonnes, driven significantly by central banks — it is important to know the provenance of our purchase. Once chased by kings for their castles, coronets and coins, gold transformed as it was industrialised into a mass commodity. From the mid-19th century, as artisanal mining gave way to machines which broke down mountains and chemicals which split rock, the hunt for gold left a trail of environmental destruction.

Hazardous substances like cyanide and mercury were used to prise out more and more, rivers were poisoned, acid released into water and air and forests cut down — today, extracting 1 tonne of gold means creating 1,00,000 tonnes of waste rock, a standard gold ring generating 30 tonnes of environmental waste, 1 kg of gold causing several kgs of carbon dioxide emissions. These contaminations don’t sit in one place — from carbon released by deforestation to rivers and soils made toxic by gold, they hurt humans and animals and add to the noxious mix warming Earth. This only intensifies climate change — thus, gold is intricately woven into extreme weather events. Gold also tells a tale of intense violence — many nations with the richest mines remain grindingly poor, the precious metal controlled by interests funding corruption, drugs, trafficking and other crimes. Several regions still use children and indentured workers in terrifying pits where a glimmer of gold is less heartening than one sight of the sun. And a large part of gold’s profits fuel further clashes and genocides, increasing the crises we all abhor.

However, there are solutions. As Times Evoke’s global experts emphasise, knowing the true story of gold will help orient many towards recycled and sustainable options now. Further, instead of only envisioning gold as watches and chains, we should imagine the tale of its arrival on Earth — this will help us value the metal as far more precious than adornment or insurance for it is, in fact, a player in the great epic of our universe. Join Times Evoke in discovering a whole new golden mean.