>unregulated mining in poor developing countries is bad

But we all know that will never stop :( Bribe a few pols and off we go. For context look at e-waste which is being dumped into poor countries. People there are working in the dumps striping the waste for valuable items like gold and living on the edge of starvation.

Until there is a worldwide enforceable environmental laws, we will see these mines popping up all over the place.