“Gold is an important resource for all of the 8 countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Surinam, and Venezuela) included in the Amazon watershed, at least potentially. Experts have called the Amazon region home to the largest untapped reserve of gold in the world…
The amount of mercury entering the environment from gold mining activities is estimated to be 200 tons last year alone. Mercury enters the environment during each of the two steps involved in acquiring the gold. First, the sediments are taken from river bottoms and land mining sites and forced through a number of sieves. The sieves are coated with mercury, which bonds with the gold in the sediment separating it from the rest of the material. Obviously, considerable amounts of mercury are left in the gold depleted soil and enters the environment when this material is discarded. Second, the gold-mercury amalgam is heated to purify the gold by vaporizing the mercury. If the heating is done in an unsealed container, it enters the environment in gaseous form. This is particularly dangerous to the miner or smelter purifying the gold, as the person invariably inhales the mercury through breathing. Experts say that for every pound of gold produced a corresponding two pounds of mercury enters the environment.
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