All that glitters is not gold: Precious Metal Mining In Congo Should Stay Small For The Sake Of The Forest

Deforestation is just one of the environmental impacts of larger mining and uncontrolled small-scale operations around the world – the use of cyanide and mercury to release the precious metals from the soil can lead to widespread environmental contamination, and have especially serious impacts on the health of miners, their families and other people downstream in developing regions without drinking water infrastructures. Soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and pollution of river systems can also result.
http://blog.cifor.org/7559/all-that-glitters-is-not-gold-precious-metal-mining-in-congo-should-stay-small-for-the-sake-of-the-forest/#.T0dx8U4geWQ