 OPEN PIT - The people of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, in Guatemala, look on at the steadily growing Marlin Mine. Open-pit mines are typically enlarged until either the mineral resource is exhausted, or until the operations are no longer profitable. Gold mining produces 79 tones of largely toxic waste for every ounce of gold. Many of the indigenous peoples living next to these mines struggle to comprehend the point of it all.  “Who came up with the idea that gold should be worth so much anyway?”  asks Alejandro,  “it’s only a yellow stone that shines! Life should be more valuable than gold.”  