A Poisonous Mix - Human Rights Watch

I do gold panning and mixing [amalgamation]. I often feel pain everywhere,
I have headaches and stomach aches. When I tell my dad about the pain,
he gives me paracetamol. 113
Sometimes, prior to panning, the ore is further concentrated into a gold-rich material
through sluices. Sluices are inclined troughs that are lined in the bottom with a carpet or
other material that captures gold particles. 114 Children also do this work.
“I Work with Mercury Every Day”: The Use of Mercury for Amalgamation
Artisanal gold miners in Mali and all over the world use mercury—a white-silvery liquid
metal—to extract gold from ore, because it is inexpensive and easy to use. 115 In Mali,
amalgamation is often carried out by women and children (girls and boys). 116 Mercury is
mixed into the ground-up, sandy ore and binds to the gold, creating an amalgam. After the
amalgam has been recuperated from the sandy material, it is heated to evaporate the
mercury, leaving gold behind.
The use of mercury in Mali’s artisanal mining sites put child laborers at grave risk of
mercury poisoning, primarily through mercury vapor. Mercury is a toxic substance that
attacks the central nervous system and is particularly harmful to children. 117
Of the 33 children interviewed working in artisanal mining, 14 said they were themselves
carrying out amalgamation. The youngest was six years old. 118 Susanne D., 11, told us how
she works with mercury:
Once the ore is panned, you put a bit of mercury in. You rub the ore and the
mercury with your two hands. Then, when the mercury has attracted the
gold, you put it on a metal box and burn it. When I have finished, I sell the
gold to a trader. I do this daily. I usually get about 500 CFA francs
113 Human Rights Watch interview with Aminata C., age 13, Baroya, April 3, 2011.
114 UNIDO/Global Mercury Project, “Manual for Training.”
115 On the use of mercury in artisanal mining globally and in Africa, see Kevin H. Telmer and Marcello M. Veiga, “World
Emissions of Mercury from Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining”, 2008,
http://www.mercurywatch.org/userfiles/file/Telmer%20and%20Veiga%202009%20Springer.pdf (accessed August 11, 2011);
Samuel J. Spiegel,”Socioeconomic dimensions of mercury pollution abatement: Engaging artisanal mining communities in
Sub-Saharan Africa”, Ecological Economics, vol. 68 (2009), pp. 3072-3082. For the situation in Mali, see Fondation du Sahel
pour le Développement, “Etude sur le mercure: cas de l’orpaillage traditionnel dans le cercle de Kangaba,” November 2010.
116 Human Rights Watch interview with seven women gold miners, Sensoko, April 4, 2011; Human Rights Watch interview
with Dorine S., woman gold miner, Tabakoto, April 2, 2011.
117 For more details on the health impact, see section below.
118 Human Rights Watch interview with Mamadou S., estimated age six, Baroya, April 3, 2011.
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