World Placer Journal - 2000 - Volume 1, pages 134-159. | ||
Mercury is panned from the river to use for recovering hard rock gold in the villages by amalgam methods. The risk of mercury poisoning is high... | ABSTRACT Mercury pollution exists in the Boroo River in the Lake Baikal watershed. Repeated mercury losses have occurred for 100 years from the Boroo Gold Recovery Factory on the river bank. The factory closed in 1956 due to the explosion of its mercury store, releasing tons of mercury into the foundations, river terrace and river sediments, adding to earlier mercury deposition. A large technogenic mercury placer exists in the Boroo river-bed, floodplain and terrace, including the factory site. The foundations of 2 buildings have 1,020 and 2,300 grams/ton of mercury. Illegal mining has been underway for a decade and 300 men, women and children pan for mercury and dig mines in the contaminated subsoil of the terrace. The miners live in makeshift homes on the mercury placer, often dug in soils rich in mercury. It is expected that the miners suffer from mercury poisoning. Horses, cattle and sheep drink from the river in the panned areas, and graze on the mercury placer. A cereal farm is next to the placer. The mercury is a risk to groundwater supplying a settlement. Mercury is taken to villages for gold recovery, with a significant risk due to a lack of retorts. The gold is from quartz veins where a further c.500 men, women and children operate illegal mines damaging the environment. Lacking other income, the mercury and gold miners have to continue. Research is urgently required into local health and ecosystem. Options include river diversion and clean-up of contaminated land with mercury recovery equipment. Action is urgently required to control the mercury hazard. | |
 | MERCURY MINING. The Boroo river flushes ruins of an old gold factory, closed when its Hg store exploded. | |
 | RISKY HOME OF A MERCURY MINER... his house dug into mercury placer. The risk of mercury poisoning is very high, as the soils have a high mercury content. | |
 | CHILD MINERS... returning from labour in the hard rock gold mines. Gold is taken to villages and mercury used to recover it. Child miners also pan the river for mercury. The risk of mercury poisoning is very high. | |
