Mining Impacts · impact
Mercury in artisanal gold
Health · Both
- Category
- Health
- Timescale
- Both
Mitigation
Retorts that condense and recover the vapour, gravity concentration before amalgamation, and mercury-free processing; the Minamata Convention obliges signatory states to reduce and where feasible eliminate its use.
Case
UNEP attributes close to 40 % of all anthropogenic mercury entering the atmosphere to artisanal and small-scale gold mining — the single largest source.
Mechanism
Small-scale miners mix mercury with crushed ore to amalgamate the gold, then burn the amalgam off with a torch, releasing mercury vapour directly to air and to whoever is holding it. What reaches water is methylated by bacteria into methylmercury, which accumulates up the food chain.
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