The destructive environmental legacy of Gold Rush mining in the Sierra Nevada could last for thousands of years in the form of ongoing erosion of mercury-laced sediments, according to new research.
Mercury, a toxic heavy metal, was used in copious amounts in California's hydraulic gold mining operations in the mid- and late 1800s.
Miners blasted
gold-bearing sediment out of vast, ancient gravel beds with water
cannons. They then added liquid mercury to the slurry, allowing the
gold-mercury amalgam to sink to the bottom of troughs.
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/article_fbd14150-4062-11e3-a043-0019bb30f31a.html
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/article_fbd14150-4062-11e3-a043-0019bb30f31a.html
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