I'm confused, are you saying that industrial resource extraction is evil? I certainly don't think so. It's a necessary part of our economy and our quality of life. Think the applications for gold in medical devices, for example.

But the benefits of resource extraction to society don't justify ignoring the interests of people living nearby. Ditto for creating new housing near highly desirable urban zones.

If anything the gold mine has an advantage in that, while people can live other places (even if at a somewhat lesser quality of life) you can't can't really build the mine somewhere else.