Every day after school, Naroath heads to an open-air workshop in the rural commune of Romtom to help his 41-year-old father Kien Saron with his business: using mercury to purify gold, or "artisanal and small-scale gold mining" (ASGM).
In the process used by Saron, machine-ground gold ore is poured over a tray that has been painted with mercury. The gold clings to the mercury, after which the mixture is put in a cloth. When the cloth is wrung out, the pressure squeezes out the mercury, leaving behind only the gold. The precious metal in the cloth is treated with another chemical and then heated, resulting in nearly pure gold which Saron sells to nearby shops.
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