The mercury is mixed into ore and combines with the gold in a compound that can easily be scooped out and squeezed into a small bar of amalgam. This is then burned so that the mercury evaporates, leaving behind the gold. The dangerously toxic mercury vapour is often inhaled by the miners and their families, since these activities are usually conducted in their homes, or by the owners of gold shops who will process the amalgam for the miners before buying.
"When you burn off the amalgam - your head will feel like it's going to explode and you'll find it hard to breathe," says Bapak Amit, a gold miner from Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2791&ArticleID=10945&l=en
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