But perhaps the biggest problem associated with the increase in independent gold mining in this area is the environmental pollution and human poisoning caused by the miners’ use of elemental mercury to mine their fortunes from gold.
In fact, the low-tech method employed by artisan miners to mine gold is creating a major environmental and human catastrophe, Martin Van Den Berghe, a geological engineer stationed in Senegal with the Peace Corps, said in an interview via Skype. Van Den Berghe is working to combat the problem of mercury contamination.
“Most people know to some extent that mercury is not that great to deal with but obviously there’s no alternative, or they don’t know (of one),” he said.
Van Den Berghe is designing a long-term program to help educate the mining community about the dangers of working with mercury and to change their habits to reduce the risks to themselves and the residents of the village.
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