Artisanal mercury-dependent gold mining in this region has occurred in the Andes since the time of the Inca [16], however it is now occurring at an entirely different scale. Very recently, mercury imports have increased exponentially (Figure 3) and reached an all-time high of ~175 t in 2009. Virtually all Peru's imported mercury is used in artisanal mining [16]. We estimate mercury imports may be as high as 500 t for 2011, given a constant rate of increase in gold price.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0018875
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