Thursday, March 8, 2012

The global gold rush is on

The global gold rush is on, especially in Africa, Indonesia, & Latin America. It’s no longer a one-man operation of penniless fortune seekers panning in a river. It’s multinational outfits moving in heavy equipment, leveling rain forests, destroying wild life habitats, polluting rivers with tons of the mercury efflux from gold processing (up to 40 tons of mercury a year in Amazon rivers), & impairing the health of thousands of workers, including children, with mercury poisoning. Here a miner in Lamal, Peru works liquid mercury into sludge with his bare feet. The gold amalgam formed will be collected & confiscated, fortunes will be made & an ecology laid in ruins--all for private gain. (Photo by Ron Haviv)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/12/amazon-gold-rush-peru-rain-forest_n_875482.html

1 comment:

  1. Here's the Wikipedia article on mercury poisoning which is being done to hundreds of thousands of workers, including children, and surely meets the standards for human rights crimes charges: 
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning

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