“Rivers and other water sources are contaminated [mainly by mercury used in illegal gold mining], a problem that snowballs as it prevents communities from fishing and the water becomes unfit for human consumption,” environmental engineer Luís Augusto Oliveira, a member of the research collective MapBiomas focusing on the Amazon, told Mongabay.
read more... https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/amazon-illegal-gold-mines-drive-sex-trafficking-in-the-brazil-guyana-border/
“As a result, harmful operational practices are minimised. The use of toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide commonly used in gold extraction and known to cause soil and water contamination (both surface and groundwater) is strictly controlled in licensed mining companies.”
Illegal gold mining has had a devastating impact on the Amazon. Beyond deforestation, it has contaminated rivers with mercury and put Indigenous communities at risk.
However, critics say that’s not enough. “You can’t solve this with sandbags,” said environmental health expert Somporn Phengkham. “We need sediment analysis, water testing, and mercury checks. Arsenic may be just one of many toxins.”
She said mercury often accompanies gold mining. “It can enter the food chain through catfish and predators. This could affect pregnant women and children first.”
Regionally, illegal mining has surpassed cocaine as Latin America’s most lucrative criminal enterprise, financing authoritarian regimes (like Venezuela’s Maduro) and driving 48 percent of Peru’s illicit financial flows. High gold prices—now exceeding $3,000 per ounce—intensify incentives, with mercury contamination and deforestation causing irreversible ecological harm in biodiverse zones like Madre de Dios, where 94 percent of residents show mercury poisoning.
read more... https://thedialogue.org/analysis/why-has-peru-struggled-to-limit-illegal-gold-mining
Both sides of the current conflict have used gold to finance the war, much of it produced informally through small-scale artisanal mining — a sector that employed over one million people in 2017. Even before the conflict, communities across Sudan were already experiencing the environmental impacts of gold mining, including land degradation, high erosion and siltation rates, and contamination from cyanide and mercury.
read more... https://ceobs.org/the-environmental-costs-of-the-war-in-sudan/
Our rivers run brown with silt and mercury; our forests are being hollowed out by excavators; and our children may inherit a land poisoned beyond use. We face an urgent danger and decision — rise together, or perish divided
read more... https://www.modernghana.com/news/1402123/galamsey-is-strangling-ghana-a-national-call-to.html
A dedicated panel, entitled Technology & Innovation: Advancing Efficiency and Removing Mercury from the ASGM Process, will feature representatives from the Ghana Chamber of Mines, ECOWAS Chamber of Mines, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
read more... https://energycapitalpower.com/mining-in-motion-summit-to-highlight-ghanas-tech-driven-mercury-free-asgm-expansion/
“I know mercury isn’t good for your health — that’s why I don’t drink the water it comes into contact with,” she said. “I only process small amounts of gold, so there’s no danger.”
read more... https://www.pressreader.com/korea-republic/the-korea-herald-9BMD/20250521/281986088466311
Illegal mining is intensifying environmental damage, the study emphasises, including via the use of banned or hazardous chemicals like mercury, deforestation to enable access to mineral deposits, and illegal dumping of solid waste.
read more... https://www.channelstv.com/2025/05/21/rising-demand-for-gold-minerals-increasing-crime-in-africa-others-un/
Both sides of the current conflict have used gold to finance the war, much of it produced informally through small-scale artisanal mining — a sector that employed over one million people in 2017. Even before the conflict, communities across Sudan were already experiencing the environmental impacts of gold mining, including land degradation, high erosion and siltation rates, and contamination from cyanide and mercury.
read more... https://ceobs.org/the-environmental-costs-of-the-war-in-sudan/
Used to extract gold from ore, mercury forms an amalgam with the metal, which is later heated to release the mercury vapour. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that contaminates water bodies and vegetation.
Although artisanally mined gold provides a livelihood for mining communities in many countries, many small-scale mines situated in conflict areas or authoritarian states frequently employ children as young as eight years old and damage the environment by using corrosive chemicals, including mercury and cyanide.
read more... https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/deadly-global-gold-rush
Women and children in southeastern Senegal face serious health risks from mercury exposure used in small-scale gold mining, despite longstanding promises to curb its use.
read more... https://www.ehn.org/toxic-mercury-use-in-senegalese-gold-mining-endangers-health-and-environment
The quickest way to separate gold from rock, Sadio Camara says, is with a drop of mercury. She empties a dime-sized packet of the silvery liquid into a plastic bucket of muddy sediment outside her home in southeastern Senegal. With bare hands and no mask, she swirls the mixture as her children look on.
The concept of Community Small Scale Mining is to make Small Scale mining is too make the local leaders especially the local governance system to own the risk as Risk Owners by ensuring responsible mining, afford due diligence, no use of mercury, traceability of the gold, no smuggling with regulations to ensure the protection of the environment, protection of the operators themselves and protection of the public or the associated affected communities and to arrest smuggling.
read more... https://www.modernghana.com/news/1400649/goldbod-gains-ok-so-far-but-may-be-further-nemesi.html
Let's remember that the fact that water is clear does not mean it is safe. Mercury and cyanide are colourless, and Ghana Water does not remove toxins.
read more... https://www.modernghana.com/news/1400353/ghana-is-on-the-verge-of-a-catastrophe.html
Myanmar has seen a surge in unregulated gold mining since the 2021 military coup, driven by economic collapse, weakened governance, and armed conflict. This has led to environmental devastation, including river pollution, deforestation, and mercury contamination, particularly in areas like Kachin and Shan States.
read more... https://www.chiangraitimes.com/news/gold-mining-wa-army/
Aside from fuelling conflict and financing armed groups, increasingly organised illegal gold mining causes considerable harm to the environment and public health. The use of heavy machinery and toxic chemicals such as mercury pollutes rivers, disrupting aquatic ecosystems and contaminating water and food sources used by local communities.
Across West Africa, mercury — a potent neurotoxin — remains the dominant method for extracting gold from ore in the region’s booming informal mining sector, much of it illegal and unregulated.
read more... https://www.senenews.com/en/senegal/senegal-mercury-in-mines-endangers-families-7854.html
Across West Africa, mercury — a potent neurotoxin — remains the dominant method for extracting gold from ore in the region’s booming informal mining sector, much of it illegal and unregulated. In Senegal’s gold-rich Kedougou region, women like Camara use the metal regularly, often without protective gloves and masks, to make a living.
Mrs Juana Gyan Cudjoe, the Member of Parliament for Amenfi, assured her people that: “The government is going to conduct an extensive awareness campaign to educate community members about the environmental and socio – economic impact of illegal mining.”
read more... https://gna.org.gh/2025/05/amenfi-central-mp-dce-engage-stakeholders-on-combating-illegal-mining/
The health risks do not end with disease vectors. Galamsey frequently employs mercury and other toxic substances to extract gold. These pollutants leach into rivers and underground water sources, contaminating drinking water and causing long-term health effects such as kidney damage, neurological disorders, and developmental delays in children (Mapulanga et al., 2018). Mercury poisoning in artisanal mining communities is a well-documented but largely unmitigated problem.
read more... https://www.modernghana.com/news/1399318/opinion-galamsey-and-deforestationa-double-blow.html
For 17 years, as a gold mining business consultant based in Surabaya, Indonesia, I’ve worked closely with artisanal miners and witnessed the devastating impact of mercury use in illegal and small-scale gold mining. Mercury, used to extract gold, poisons miners, their families, and surrounding communities. It contaminates rivers, kills fish, and destroys ecosystems, leaving a toxic legacy for generations. In Indonesia, thousands of miners rely on this dangerous practice due to a lack of affordable alternatives and knowledge.
read more... https://steunactie.be/fundraiser/stop-mercury-in-illegal-gold-mining/-49912
But while mining offers a vital economic lifeline, it brings a toxic legacy: mercury contamination that threatens health, water and livelihoods far beyond the mines.
read more... https://news-decoder.com/from-the-ground-in-kenya-to-the-gold-stud-in-the-ear/
He emphasized that safeguarding the environment—particularly from the devastating effects of illegal mining—remains a top priority. He noted that initiatives such as Tree for Life and Blue Water have been launched to help restore degraded ecosystems and promote sustainable environmental stewardship.
But while mining offers a vital economic lifeline, it brings a toxic legacy: mercury contamination that threatens health, water and livelihoods far beyond the mines.
read more... https://news-decoder.com/from-the-ground-in-kenya-to-the-gold-stud-in-the-ear/
This issue is particularly pressing in the agro-based nation of Zimbabwe, where the burgeoning mining sector threatens both the environment and the livelihoods of those who depend on water for survival.
Professor Gibrilla highlighted the risks associated with the use of toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide in illegal mining.
read more... https://www.modernghana.com/news/1397121/galamsey-fight-dwenase-water-polluted-kyebi-apap.html
The Kok and Sai Rivers, once thriving waterways in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, now carry a dangerous load. These rivers, which flow from Myanmar into Thailand, are now filled with toxic heavy metals, like arsenic, mercury, zinc, and cyanide.
These pollutants come from gold mining upstream in Myanmar’s Shan State, where controls are weak or missing.
read more... https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/chiang-rai-rivers-crisis/
Professor Gibrilla highlighted the risks associated with the use of toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide in illegal mining.
These substances pollute water bodies, contaminate food sources, and compromise air quality, leading to severe health issues including kidney, liver, and lung damage.
read more... https://gna.org.gh/2025/05/galamsey-fight-dwenase-water-polluted-kyebi-apapam-stays-clean-through-resistance/
Illegal miners often use toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide to extract gold. These chemicals seep into the soil and nearby water bodies, contaminating rivers, streams, and groundwater, making them unsafe for drinking, farming, and aquatic life.
read more... https://punchng.com/experts-warn-against-devastating-effects-of-mining-pollution/
Mercury contamination, extractivism and armed groups are generating serious direct threats to these Indigenous peoples. At the same time, illegal logging, deforestation and the climate crisis have been increasing in this area of the Amazon.
read more.. https://dialogue.earth/en/nature/how-myanmars-gold-rush-threatens-international-rivers/
Amapá has a history of artisanal mining, but Moreira told Mongabay the newcomers are bringing in more money and heavier machinery. “Each of these machines degrades at least 100 meters [330 ft] a day. They also use a lot more mercury,” the prosecutor said.
read more... https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/05/gold-rush-moves-closer-to-amazons-second-tallest-tree/
“Our gallant men of the armed forces and security services are up to the fight and will continue to score successes against the selfish companies and individuals who are destroying our forests and polluting our water bodies. As far as the fight against galamsey is concerned, I say, aluta continua,” President Mahama said.
read more... https://www.modernghana.com/news/1396716/galamsey-fight-is-a-complex-one-but-well-not-give.html
