Children like Jonathon Ramorez use toxic mercury to amalgamate the gold. In a small plastic bag, he carries the mercury he needs, which he will pour over the gold and which will then evaporate. This purifies the gold but poisons the air he breathes, as well as leeches into the soil and contaminates the water that sustains whole communities.
Small-scale and artisanal mining operations like this one produce an estimated 15 to 20 percent of the world’s gold. Between 10 and 15 million people, including four to five million women and children, do this work amid hazardous conditions. Many have direct exposure to the mercury used to amalgamate gold; the process accounts for 37 percent of total global mercury emissions.
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