“Indonesia
has the worst problem with illegal use of mercury in gold mining on
earth,” Ms. Yuyun said. “Second is Colombia, then maybe Brazil. It’s a
ticking time bomb.”
BaliFokus,
an Indonesian environmental organization of which Ms. Yuyun is a
co-founder, estimates that illegal gold mining and production areas
across the sprawling Indonesian archipelago ballooned to as many as 850
in 2013 from 576 in 2006, while the number of miners rose to one million
from 50,000 during the same period.
Indonesia
is one of the world’s biggest gold-producing countries. The Grasberg
gold mine in Indonesia’s easternmost province, Papua, is the largest
anywhere. The country produced 60 metric tons of gold in 2012, said Ms.
Saria of the energy ministry. She estimated, however, that 65 to 100
metric tons of gold were illegally produced in 2012 by small-scale gold
miners who use mercury, costing Indonesia billions of dollars in
royalties and taxes. Officials and environmental observers say it is
nearly impossible to track the illegal gold; it can be easily traded or
sold.
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