A report from the International Labour Organisation on the conditions of children makes grim reading.
It said: “They breathe air filled with dust and sometimes toxic gases. Above ground, children dig, crush, mill and haul ore – often in the hot sun. Some stand for hours in water, digging sand or silt from riverbeds then carrying bags of mud on their heads or backs to sieving and washing sites.”
With this modern-day gold rush, mercury poisoning is on the increase.
Mercury separates the gold from stone but also causes neurological disorders, birth deformities, and organ failure. Many of those poisoned are children.
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