THE gold mining district of Mambulao will go mercury-free very soon.
The recently-signed Executive Order No 79 has banned the use of mercury in all forms of gold recovery processes.
Signed early this month, the new EO seeks to streamline the mining industry and to increase government share from mining revenues.
The ban will be enforced by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the Environmental Management Burea (EMB) in coordination with local government units (LGUs).
The use of mercury to retrieve gold has become widespread with more and more people going into small-scale gold mining operations.
Despite the hazard it poses on the health of the gold miners, the chemical has remained a major component in gold recovery.
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