Environmentalists criticize the washing part of this process for its use of mercury, which can end up in waterways, but Soza and other artisanal miners dispute that the amount of mercury they use causes any damage.
“There are no bad chemicals here,” Soza says. “We eat fruit growing on these trees right here and none of us has died from it,” he adds.
Why can’t the government just leave them to do their small scale mining, he asks. “If they take away these mines, well, we can thank them for not having anywhere to work.”
Flores also disputes the claim that artisanal miners are poisoning waterways. He wants the world to know that San Sebastian miners are careful and deliberate in how they dispose of mercury.
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