Gold with mercury swing
the western foothills overlooking the volcano rather bleak, consisting essentially of dry shrubland with a few stunted trees. During the rainy season some upland rice is grown, but erode the soil and poor. The few villages radiate poverty, although many of their inhabitants are involved in small-scale gold mines. The mines are illegal because the necessary documents were not obtained, let alone permit an environmental assessment management plan. Makeshift waves are dragging manually dug the mud and the lack of suitable reinforcements makes them extremely dangerous. Mercury is then used to amalgamate the grains and nuggets in the mud.
The miners are poorly compensated for their efforts-a well-known pattern in small gold mining as most of the profits go typically the organizers, investors, distributors and suppliers of tools and other inputs. A classic global problem. During the gold rush California (1848-1855), for example, the greatly benefited San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss from the sale canvas for tents and denim overalls for miners; it is likely there that he developed ideas for the famous Levis blue jeans.
I happened to be in the area had come on a Sunday outing where I had lost myself foolishly and had stumbled on one of the shafts. A friendly old man showed him to come off the main road. But before I went on the way I had asked if he worked in the mine. "Sometimes," he said, "every day in the past. Now I'm too old. It is very hot and uncomfortable down there, and dangerous. Just last week, my my neighbor collapsed that kill two women."
"But is it worth it? is there any gold in these hills?"
"Oh, there is gold, enough to occupy us. But the price has barely increased for a long time. the dealer has always one more reason for the transport and for the chemicals to calculate we need. There is not much more we can do here, so we have to accept it. "and then he told me to wait as he wanted to show me a piece of gold which he had found. It was formed a small nugget like a small bottle caps. If it is gold in these hills, there should also be some in the river!
The following week, together with two mates we went our luck at gold panning try. wanted to give and enjoy After two hours and no gold, as we a few fried bananas from his wife, a young boy appeared with a beat-up wok. After a few he whirls shouted: "Grandpa, that's gold?" We all went to have a look, and yes, there, formed a little nugget like a small bottle cap was! Someone must have learned the elderly, how to raise an interest in and promote the operation, or perhaps it was his own idea.
When I went with my buddies back we got lost again and never made it to the shaft. So I never learned whether my brilliant advice had been put into action. Of course I can not directly to the place where I can not even find itself there. It is in the west of Bogor municipality, north of Mt. Halimun Salak National Park. Who knows, if you get somehow manage it, follow these simple instructions will help you with panning:
- First, fill your cup almost full of sand and gravel. Remove take the largest stones from the pan.
- Put the pan under water and make sure that all the material is wet. You may need to mix the contents of the pan with your hands.
- quickly move the pan from the side, on the side, either under water or while it is filled with water and turn the contents of the pan (but do not spill the contents). This action gives the gold particles can settle a shot at the ground.
- While the site continued movement to side gently, the pan tilt away from you. Lighter materials and larger pieces that will come moving upwards on the front of the pan. These can be skimmed or scraped over the edge of the tub with the thumb or hand.
- continuation of the movement in steps 3 and 4 so that water easier to wash material over the edge until only a small amount of material remains in the pan. You will need to add water to the pan.
- The remaining heavy material the concentrate. If you still see no gold in the pan, pour the excess water until enough left is barely cover the concentrate. Swing to 'string out "or" spring the pan contents "are washed the concentrate. Lighter particles farther than the heavier particles to leave the gold (because it is the most severe) in the" tail "of the concentrate.
- continue water in the pan swirling the concentrates further purify, being careful not to lose gold. Recovering gold occurs exercise by swinging!
a rather complicated and time-consuming process!
"Professional" squire therefore tend to speed up the process by allowing them to amalgamate mercury using the grains of gold. and instead of shoveling the mud from the banks to dig shafts or break alluvium with high pressure water jets. This has certainly increased their productivity but at a high environmental cost - behind the mining operation is the flow of water from the mud brown and highly toxic from the mercury
Grasberg mine
is not only faced the problem of individuals at the micro scale of a few dollars a day, but also on a mega-scale of large mining companies such as Freeport Grasberg in Papua province, which is the largest gold mine in the world and the largest copper mine in third. It consists of a large open pit and an underground mine. The former is visible from space as on the surface of the crater far more than a mile. And be-the dissolved despite the very high investment costs-the Mine 2500-4000 meters above sea level, which also requires complex technical problems Mine is a low-cost operation.
And as for the small [illegal] mining, the environmental impacts are significant. Some 230,000 tons of tailings, which produces every day laundry in the river Aikwa affect the lowlands-no wonder the fish disappeared almost from the river. But Freeport notes that to meet its regulatory requirements discharges. Proponents of the operation indicate that the Grasberg mine 19,500 employees and is the main taxpayers in Indonesia (US $ 1.4 billion in 09).
It is interesting to note that the Grasberg production of around 60 tonnes distributed less than the estimated 65 to 100 in 2013 from Indonesia 1,000,000 illegal miners in about 850 mining areas produces tons of Aceh in the west to Papua in the East.
Whether these production volumes and justify the income derived therefrom, the environmental and social costs on a visual depend. But it is clear that those hard and dangerous work of the implementation of the least be compensated.
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