Blacksmith Institute - Mercury: The Burning Issue (Part 1)

What is the connection between the gold you wear and the mercury-contaminated seafood on your plate? This video helps to explain it all. It documents Blacksmith Institute's project in Indonesia to reduce mercury poisoning from the gold mining process.

At least a quarter of the world's total gold supply comes from artisanal gold mining. UNIDO (The United Nations Industrial Development Organization) estimates that artisanal gold mining results in the release of an estimated 1,000 tons of toxic mercury per year, which constitutes about 30% of the world's mercury emissions.

Some 15 million gold miners, including 4.5 million women and 600,000 children, are poisoned by direct contact with toxic mercury. In addition, mercury rises and travels, dropping into rivers, oceans and seas, contaminating seafood far and wide.

Blacksmith is working with UNIDO's Global Mercury Project in Senegal, Indonesia, Mozambique, and Cambodia.

This video shows how Indonesian miners use mercury to release small amounts of gold. It also showcases a solution that has been introduced to the miners - a simple retort that can recapture mercury used in the gold mining process. This retort has been successful in reducing the amount of toxic mercury emissions.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Mercury The Burning Issue
• Indonesia
• Blacksmith Institute
• pollution
• mercury pollution
• mercury poisoning
• gold
• gold mining
• artisanal gold mining

[staydput]

This is VERY disturbing. Hg is CERTAIN to destroy the lives of anyone touching it all the time. Hence the term: mad as a hatter -mad hatter. Back in the day HgCl was used to process hat leather. It maddened and killed the workforce.

The cyanide process could and should entirely replace the amalgam process. Wasting time and effort with amalgam trommels gives me pain.

The workers are literally KILLING themselves, starting with their sex drive.

Hg is brain poison!

[rayearth05]

these poor guys should be extremely mercury poisoned from all of the invisible mercury vapors

[mrpancakes420]

The smoke at 5:30 looks mighty healthy. That lovely hue of what i would like to call "your face will melt orange."

[louis12346]

Nice gold earings , sniff sniff watch Video> AIMEE ALLEN RON PAUL WAKE UP AMERICA

[alyzaisawesome]

This is boring.

[mmmmmarcus]

@TheBruham Excuse me? Elemental mercury is definitely toxic, and while it's not as toxic as methylmercury, it is often present in amounts great enough to be just as bad. Instead of listening to people peddling snake-oil, why not actually take some time to do UNBIASED reading? 

[thunder72191]

all i heard was "nip nip nip nip nip"

[EvilJirachi]

@meyoubeer

now its funny that you point it out lol ;___;

[spiderwebmail]

@TheBruham then play with it for an hour.. or even better taste it... it is in no way poisonous...

Since it is elemental mercury it won't react with the environment (your skin) and form the salts/oxids you mentioned right?

Also Elemental mercury evaporates..

[meyoubeer]

her accent!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[zaster101]

@staydput they could be using elemental mercury which doesn't have the contact issue

[TheBruham]

elemental mercury is in no way poisonous, it is th mercury salts that are absorbed by the skin and can kill