Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM) continues to be a major user
of metallic mercury worldwide. During the past six months the National
Geographic Air and Water Fund for China has supported an applied
research project with Dr. Lanhai Li based at the Xinjiang Institute of
Geography and Ecology (a Chinese Academy of Sciences institute) to test a
novel technique to extract gold without using mercury. In this article,
the eco-entrepreneur Kristina Shafer shares her experiences of the
field visit to Xinjiang to test the technique at a gold mine near the
capital Urumqi. Ms. Shafer is the executive director of the Institute
for Sustainable Mining (a.k.a Artminers) that has worked with metal
technologist David Plath and his patented CleanGold method in various
parts of the world. So far, the economic incentives to move from mercury
to other techniques have been scant. However, the signing of the
Minamata Convenetion in October 2013 provides an opportunity to revisit
such innovative techniques for reducing pollution while providing
livelihoods from mining in some of the most remote locations.
http://www.silvergoldforum.com/topic/mercury-reduction-in-xinjiangs-gold-mines/
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