Mercury and other toxins are used in artisanal gold mining. They have opted to extract gold from ore with chemicals that is extremely harmful to the environment and humans. The process is - once gold and mercury are amalgamated it is burned with an open flame to separate the mercury from the gold. The vapors of the mercury is released usually into the waterways, since gold mines are set up near waterways. The environment is exposed to high levels of mercury exposing fish, animals that drink the polluted water and people who consume the fish.
http://literal.hubpages.com/hub/Artisanal-Gold-Miners
No comments:
Post a Comment