Story
December 10, 2022
Video: Mercury and Artisanal Gold Mining in Colombia (Spanish)
Country:
Project
The Mercury Route
Uncovering the origin and the traffic of the mercury used for gold mining in the Amazon Forest.
This story excerpt was translated from Spanish. To watch the original story in full, visit AJ+. You may also watch the original story on the Rainforest Journalism Fund website here. Our website is available in English, Spanish, bahasa Indonesia, French, and Portuguese.
In the department of Valle del Cauca, in western Colombia, there are communities led by afrocolombianas who practice artisanal gold mining and help to reduce the presence of mercury, a pollutant caused by industrial mining. They survive in an area with many conflicts: poverty, drug trafficking, common crime, guerrilla dissidents, and the new paramilitaries.
This video is part of Late's investigation The Mercury Route, made possible by the Rainforest Journalism Fund with support from the Pulitzer Center.
