Deep in the Jungle With the French Foreign Legion

The garimpeiros are hard on the environment, too. One of the hallmarks of the illegal gold mining operations here is the use of mercury to separate the gold from the rock. "They are poisoning the forest, the water, they don't care," the Polish–British legionnaire says. "They try to say the mercury they carry is drinking water but when we pick up the bottles they're too heavy. Then we know we got them." 
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