The impact and pollution of gold mining on the Amazon rain forest

A polluted river  in Guyana

The mining of precious metal has a impact on the environment, the health of those involved and the local population. Wwf estimate that worldwide 3400 tons of mercury are released into the environment. Mercury is used to extract gold from the rock usually  in the case of illegal or very rudimentary processing, the mercury is evaporated to obtain the gold. In Guyana, Suramin and Brazil there is a large problem with illegal mining in the rain forest and consequences of mercury on the local ecosystem and the inhabitants. Wwf are working with local populations to try to minimize the impact of gold mining on the local environment while still enabling very poor people to earn a living.

Check out the Wwf guianas web site for more in depth information on this subject. Mongaybay.com also have a page on their web site dedicated to this topic.



Burning  the mercury which is then released in to the environment