With the economy in tatters,the government has opened the country to prospectors operating without regulations or oversightIts a little before 7am on a shimmering, airless morning, and already Abdullah Idriss Isaac has been hard at work for hours.
Swishing his aluminium pan back and forth through a waist-deep pool of brackish water,he wearily scrutinises its contents for glimmers of gold. With the sun beginning to defeat down, the young miner splashes handfuls of the liquid – laced with mercury and cyanide to separate gold from unwanted rock – on his face to stay alert. Related: Nigerian gold mining: farmers choose death by lead poisoning over poverty | Monica Mark Related: Can consumer power invent space for small miners in the jewellery supply chain? Related: Sudan's anti-dam movement fights the flooding of Nubian culture Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com