Philippines and Indonesia: Children Mine for Gold at Great Cost to Health

There are so many important stories that don't make the nightly news.  Occasionally you will hear one of these stories on NPR, but unless you watch and listen to alternative programming, you may not be aware of the many stories that are out there.  The story of mining in the Philippines and Indonesia is one such story you might want to know more about.

Gold mining in the Philippines and Indonesia has become big business, but at what cost?  Separating gold from rock and sand is primitive, tedious work, dangerous work.  Miners, including teenagers and children, are often exposed to mercury, which is used to separate gold particles from crushed rock and sludge.  Mercury can be absorbed through the skin, ingested in food and water, or inhaled from vapors.  It is highly toxic.  It can cause a host of physical problems, including nerve and brain damage.

Runoff containing mercury pollutes the ground water and rivers, ultimately contaminating fish and other food sources for Filipinos.  When the gold ore is contained in chunks of rocks, children are used to break the rocks into smaller pieces.  Young children haul buckets and bags of crushed rock to the ball mills-homemade contraptions outfitted with motors, pulleys and large barrels.  It is sometimes mixed with mercury, occasionally with cyanide, until it is reduced to a sluice the consistency of runny cement.  Ultimately it is mixed with mercury, which binds to the gold and sinks to the bottom of the pan.  The sludge is drained off until a film of gold mixed with mercury remains at the bottom of the pan.



Dr. Julie Hall, a WHO physician and representative to the Philippines, cautioned that mercury is one of the top 10 chemicals in the world that have significant public health effects.  It can be absorbed by inhaling or eating, and it can be very damaging to a growing fetus, leading to possible mental retardation. 

Many families are getting rich from this cottage industry in Cisitu.(a mountaintop in Java).  They are abandoning the  production of rice, in favor of the more lucrative mining of gold.  Large, beautiful homes are under  construction, paid for in good part by the sweat and hard work of the children that do much of the mining.  The alarming uptick in chemical contamination and the health concerns of officials are issues that must be addressed.  However, these practices continue and expand, leaving the entire area  susceptible to contamination  of air water and food.  The WHO is aware of the problem but is anything being done to stop it?  Not that I know of.  Money talks, and these small village farmers would rather make money than protect the health of themselves and their families.  Just thought you should know.