Ghana’s gold rush: Blessing or curse?

Many of the galamseys are also farmers, sometimes chopping down their cacao trees, the main cash crop here, to clear the land for mining. They often mine riverbeds and use mercury to extract the gold, not appreciating the danger of this toxic metal on their health and the environment. One galamsey told me he took vitamin C tablets to treat the symptoms of mercury poisoning. There is a pressing need for more research on the long-term impact of mercury and other heavy metals on those living in the gold belt regions. The effect of dredging the riverbeds can be seen hundreds of miles downstream in the muddy brown waters carried out to sea. -
http://www.scidev.net/global/environment/scidev-net-at-large/ghana-s-gold-rush-blessin-or-curse.html