Peru: Mercury Exposure Among Artisanal Gold Miners in Madre de Dios, Peru: A Cross-sectional Study.

"The Department of Madre de Dios, with an area of approximately 85,000 km 2 , generates 29 roughly 70% of Peru's ASM gold production, although the illicit nature of the mining prevents 30 definitive estimates (Brooks et al., 2007). Both licit and illicit ASM operations result in forest 31 loss and degradation, water and soil Mercury contamination, river siltation, and Mercury 32 contaminated fish stocks (Hentschel et al., 2002; Veiga et al., 2006; Yard et al., 2012). 33 Additionally, Asner et al. (2010) noted how ASM-caused forest degradation contributes 34 significantly to carbon storage loss in the Peruvian Amazon. 
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/230749930_Mercury_Exposure_Among_Artisanal_Gold_Miners_in_Madre_de_Dios_Peru_A_Cross-sectional_Study