And Now, Conflict Mercury

You remember conflict diamonds. Maybe you even recall conflict coltan. Now a recent Associated Press article looked at the abuse of mercury in third-world mining, and I found it sobering reading. I have the geologist's usual mixture of awe, respect, and interest when it comes to mercury minerals and the mercury geochemical cycle. But millions of impoverished, freelance miners in Indonesia, China, Brazil and over 50 other countries have none of that knowledge, only a need as close as hunger to find a few dollars in gold today, right now. They stir the mercury with bare hands, breathe its deadly vapor and roast it to free the gold it dissolves, wasting three grams of mercury for every gram of gold recovered. It enters the biosphere and grows even more deadly there. Legitimate trade in the metal is massively diverted into clandestine, unregulated commerce.

Meanwhile, the Global Mercury Project shows no new bulletins since 2006. The Zero Mercury Global Campaign, in a slightly more hopeful sign, displays a 2006 statement by Senator Barack Obama noting his introduction of the Mercury Market Minimization Act—bottled up in committee the same day he introduced it. It's slightly hopeful because President-to-be Obama appears to have his heart in the right place on the mercury issue.

Almadén Mine visitors, Spain — Pablo Higueres photo