The 65 child miners that HRW interviewed described how they were terrified when climbing down shafts or diving into pits. The researchers also talked to witnesses to a fatal mining accident, in which a 17-year-old boy and his adult brother were asphyxiated in a deep pit mine in September 2014.
The children process gold with mercury, a toxic metal, and risk irreversible health damage from mercury poisoning.
Michelle, 15, has the shakes from mercury poisoning. Three times a week, using a blowtorch, she melts mercury to mix it in the sand to bind with the gold.
“Mostly it’s my hands, but sometimes it’s my legs, and sometimes my whole body. I just tell myself I have to do this work to support my family,” says Michelle who started handling mercury at 8 years old and earns about US$10 a day. However, some kids earn just US$20 a month.
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/children/news/children-risk-health-to-mine-gold.html
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