Most of these artisanal miners use mercury to extract gold from the
mineral ore. This amalgamation process recovers very little of the
mercury used, which pollutes the nearby environment.
Plants, animals, soil and nearby rivers can all be potentially polluted
by the use of mer-cury in the gold extraction process. “Mercury
amalgamation results in the discharge of an estimated 1 000 t/y of
mercury, representing about 30% of the world’s anthropogenic mercury
releases,” the company states.
The process of amalgamation transforms mercury into a powerful
neurotoxin, which works its way up the food chain through
bioaccumulation. According to the inter-national network of activists,
Ban Mercury Group, as much as 95% of all mercury used in small-scale
gold mining is released into the environment.
http://www.miningweekly.com/print-version/gold-mining-region-in-mozambique-produces-high-levels-of-mercury-2013-08-02
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