Peru’s gold mines have yielded vast wealth to the people of Madre de Dios, but the byproduct of hazardous mercury levels is becoming a pressing issue.
In the past decade, thousands of Peruvians have made money from small-scale gold mining operations in the region. The mining operations use mercury to bind gold flakes and ore into bigger, harder chunks that can more easily be extracted from the ground. The mercury is then burned off and generally disposed of in streams and rivers.
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