Mercury is the elixir of miners in Migori mines. They all use mercury amalgamation; a technique heavily relied upon for gold recovery in small scale mining. The miners say that mercury allows them to recover three times the amount of gold they would without it. They get the mercury from the same Indians who buy their gold.
Gold particles effortlessly stick onto mercury, isolating worthless dirt from the prized metal. This process is called amalgamation. The gold is dissolved into the mercury to form an amalgam.
While the dark underground tunnels are cloaked with danger for the male workers, women processing the ore outside the pits are exposed to an even greater adversary-mercury.
Anyango says they use about two bottle tops of mercury for a basin of the sluice-water solution. “That is what you stir to form your amalgamation,” she explains, as she swishes and decants the suspension, over and over, leaving the gold concentrate (if any) at the bottom of the basin. It is an arduous task that requires a lot of patience.
“You have to go on until you’re left with the gold solution which normally sinks at the bottom of the container. Then you add the mercury. And the swirling continues until the drop of mercury has accumulated enough gold to form a tiny silver-coloured gold globule of amalgam,” she adds.
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