Dane launches drive to ban mercury use in gold mines

BAGUIO CITY: In an effort to warn miners about the negative effects of mercury, a Dane recently launched a crusade to lessen, if not eradicate, its use in gold mines in and around the country. Peter Appel of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland said that he can help mitigate the dangers of mercury by teaching miners new techniques in gold processing and amalgamation that doesn’t involve the material.

He said that borax, a mineral, could be used instead to extract gold, adding that it could also produce twice the yield and is more environment friendly.

Appel acknowledged that changing an already-established habit is difficult and requires very good reasons for doing so, since the process of gold extraction using borax demands skill and patience to learn.

Aside from teaching small-scale miners to use borax, the Dane said that he’s trying to perfect mercury recovery from tailings.

According to a study, 200 to 500 tons of mercury in the Philippines is released every year. In Mindanao’s Naboc area, 38 percent of its population was found to be afflicted with mercury poisoning.

He added that the estimated gold content found in the released mercury is between 12 and 30 tons a year. Thus, the practice caused the mining companies to lose around $360 to $900 million annually.

In a paper that Appel and Jesper Bosse Jonsson wrote, titled “Borax—An Alternative to Mercury for Gold extraction by Small-scale Miners: Introducing the Method in Tanzania,” they said that though the borax method was received positively in small-scale gold-mining communities, it was even more so in the more permanent settlement of Itumbi, where people showed more concern about the environment.

Consequently, they recommended that the following must be taken into account before borax gets the chance to replace mercury: (1) locally produced, inexpensive blowers or acetylene gas must be easily available, as well as access to the necessary expertise; (2) borax must be readily available; (3) a substantial training program needs to be carried out; (4) a link must be established between small-scale miners and advisers, preferably the local mining authorities who can guide the miners when technical problems occur; and (5) small-scale miners need to understand the link between the borax method and a higher gold recovery rate. –LARRY MADARANG, Manila Times