According to Bell, people from the highlands soon began starting their own mining campsites. Once they're set up, they'll use hoses and motors to extract soil from the depths of the Amazon. By applying mercury, the miners obtain a new compound that is approximately 60 per cent mercury and 40 per cent gold. High temperatures are applied to the product to get rid of the mercury and obtain purified liquid gold.
The use of mercury poses additional challenges to people trying to find gold in the Amazon.
"If you ask them about the health concerns attached to mercury, they'll say 'I've heard people talk about it but I don't believe it," Bell explained
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