Indonesia: Death as Mercury Rises
21 minutes, 2002
Ref: 125

In mines across the Indonesian archipelago, locals illegally plunder the ore bodies without fear of retribution from the authorities. Gold, diamonds and even coal are stolen in massive quantities. The aim is to "get rich quick". To extract the gold the miners have to use a highly toxic substance - mercury. With thousands of illegal miners working day and night - the scale of mercury use is so great that it's poisoning the environment and may slowly be killing the people. This documentary graphically shows the dangers of illegal mining.