Sudan: Gold Miners Vie With Archaeologists

Others lured by the desert’s riches use cheaper but more laborious technologies.
In Al-Abidiya, a remote village near the Nile river, thousands of young men sift through tubs filled with mercury and ore ground by generator-powered mills.
The mercury envelops the gold, isolating it. It can also slowly poison the miners, damaging their nervous systems.
The UN’s Environment Programme said in a 2008 report that mercury used by small-scale miners, favoured because it is cheap and effective, was a major source of poisoning in the environment.
But for the young men it offers the tantalizing chance to make a fortune.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/158765/reftab/69/t/Gold-miners-vie-with-archaeologists/Default.aspx