Tanzania: Stolen Shine

In Tanzania, small-scale gold mine workers mix mud, gold and mercury with their bare hands in a pan that will later be used to cook dinner. When the mixture is heated to separate one from the other, the mercury evaporates, its vapors a potent neurotoxin that workers inhale. In the Congo, mining for gold and other minerals helped fund a war considered the deadliest since World War II, with an estimated 5 million casualties. And as was made readily visible in the Animas River this summer, the legacy of gold mining has left a lasting imprint on the American West that poses an ongoing threat to our waterways. - 
http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-11155-stolen-shine.html