Use of mercury exposes Chunya gold miners to huge health hazards

In an interview, Lucuia, resident of Itumbi Village, Matundasi Ward, Chunya District introduced herself as having been in gold mining and processing business for nearly one decade.

She says she depends on the business for her family’s livelihood, confessing that in gold processing she is forced to use chemicals, in particular mercury before selling the mineral.

It is a chemical being used by many small miners, including another small miner, Zaituni Sambwe, who pints to small miners’ low financial ability hence using crude methods for gold processing, despite being frequently cautioned by experts against the use of mercury.

Zaituni says small miners likes to use modern technology for gold processing but due to the high cost, they opt to continue the hazardous methods.

“Experts have frequently been telling us to use special gear when handling the chemicals but the truth is we do not use them,” she admits.

It is a statement supported by another small miner, Pascalina Humphrey who throws blame to the government to what she claims it has not created friendly infrastructures for them in their gold mining activities in Chunya District.

She says infrastructures such as those for water, electricity and roads are essential in any mining activities, hence their absence forces them to use crude methods and tools for their gold processing activities. 

The Coordinator of Environmental Health and Pollution Management Programme (EHPMP) against the use of mercury from NEMC, Benjamin Mchwampaka says that normally the effects of mercury from gold processing are slowly discernible and that is why many small miners say they have not been affected by the chemical.

Mbeya Region Miners Association (MBELEMA)chairman, Leonard Manyesha admits that some small miners are forced to use their bare hands when processing for gold without any protective gear due to lack of money to buy them.

He says the protective gear for small miners are sold at high prices, sometimes they are not readily available in the mining area.

According to him, infrastructures to assist miners including electricity and water are not friendly for them, the situation that also contribute to many of them develop negative health conditions without themselves knowing.

"Chunya district has great scarcity for water, the situation that hinders gold mining and processing activities.Some mine owners are forced to undergo huge costs to buy water, we would like to have huge mining equipment, but such obstacles retard our targets,” the chairman says.

"Among issues that will make us abandon the use of crude methods in gold mining and processing is for the government to assist us in accessing low interest loans,” he says.

Apex Resources director, Shigongo Kimongele says research made in 2012 shows that the use of the Borax technology can help small miners to get gold three times of what they get by using mercury.

He stresses that deliberate steps are need to be taken to save the small miners who are being exposed to great health hazards including skin diseases.

Chief Government Chemist in Mbeya Region, Gasper Mushi says extracting gold using chemicals put  miners at risk of ‘minamata’ disease that caused by chemical residues found in soil, water and food.

Mushi says:  “If the chemical is in the soil, the plants that grow on that land take the chemical, whereas if humans use it for food, they get harm from the chemical present in the plant.”

Some of the symptoms of the disease, according to the expert include memory loss, body tremors, kidney, pancreas, liver, and blood cancer.

He says until now the disease has never been reported in the country although history shows that in 1953 the disease was reported to have exploded in Japan.

Mushi says: "When the chemical enters the water of rivers, lakes or seas, it enters living organisms such as fish, which when eaten by humans can get Minamata disease.

"We have been conducting regular inspections in the mines in Chunya district, we have seen that there are largely no modern equipment used to conduct gold panning activities.

"We have found out that there are miners who use their hands to do these activities, which is dangerous for their health," says Mushi and pointed out that the research they conducted has revealed that some of the miners do not want to use the equipment, claiming that it wastes their time, as well as the false belief that wearing hand gloves destroys the quality of gold.

He explains that despite the fact that the effects of mercury use take a long time to be discovered, it is important for miners to take precautions because its effects affect generations and generations.

"The effects that can appear for people who are exposed to the use of chemicals, especially women, include giving birth to children with physical disabilities, children suffering from convulsions, and other diseases such as skin cancer and male or female infertility.

"I remind the owners of gold refineries to insist their workers use protective equipment against chemicals and also to pay attention to the correct use of mercury during gold refining because the harm occurs through steam, especially during the burning of gold, but one can also get harm through the skin when he touches the chemical," says Mushi.

An environmental expert from the Office of the Vice President (Environment), Kamkuru Maganya says mercury is largely imported into the country through unofficial means, citing the borders of Sirari and Namanga, where there is a large gap.

The officer also mentions the dumb ports in Dar es Salaam, which account for 25 percent of the mercury imported into the country, and that 20 percent of the chemical is imported through the Tunduma Border, Songwe.

"Mercury used by small-scale miners is lost in the environment and it is estimated that 64 percent enters the ground and 36 percent enters the air during burning. This situation contributes to environmental pollution caused by mercury in the environment.”

It is estimated that 80 percent of the mercury that enters the country is used in gold mining, which are approximately 13.2 to 24.4 tonnes per year, the leading regions for the use of mercury are Geita, Mbeya, Shinyanga and Mara.

The specific areas include Makolongosi and Itumbi (Chunya), Nyarugusu, Rwamgasa and Mgusu (Geita), Buhemba and Nyamongo (Mara), Noli (Dodoma), Londoni and Sekenke (Singida) and Nyangalata (Shinyanga).

World Health Organization (WHO) report issued three years ago shows that mercury is included in 10 dangerous sources for human health, a situation that conflicts with the Minamata Convention of 2013, which aims to protect humans from the effects of mercury.