Indonesian Police's Pot of Gold in Papua

For all the controversy that continues to surround the world's most profitable mine, there is a marginally effective government administration in the Mimika region where Freeport has made its home for the past four decades.

Not so in a remote corner of Paniai district, 100 km to the north-west. There, poorly trained local police are acting as a private security force for non-Papuan bosses controlling an alluvial gold rush along the Degeuwo River.

What has been called a struggle against separatist rebels is, in fact, mostly violence associated with 15,000 panners who in the mid-2000s began flooding into an area reachable only by helicopter or after a five-day trek from Enarotali, Paniai's capital.

The lack of genuine law enforcement means mercury is being used to separate the gold, causing serious health problems for the miners and their families, and poisoning the environment.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/indonesian-polices-pot-of-gold-in-papua/545507