Gold mining ramps up, pushes deeper into Peruvian Amazon rainforest

Artisanal gold mining is big in the Amazon. In southern Peru’s Madre de Dios Department alone, researchers estimate 30,000 miners are actively trying to glean bits of precious metal from river sediment. To separate the ore, miners commonly use mercury, a heavy metal that gloms gold particles together into a larger, more extractable mass. After it’s used, the mercury often escapes into the air or water, where it can accumulate neurotoxic levels downstream and up the food chain.
http://beforeitsnews.com/environment/2016/04/gold-mining-ramps-up-pushes-deeper-into-peruvian-amazon-rainforest-2553151.html