Gold mining and the environment :: Ratanakkir province

Poor villagers are increasingly looking for gold in a remote province
of Cambodia following the recent skyrocketing price of the precious
metal. But in their rush to find this buried fortune, they are at
great risk of dangerous chemical exposure and malaria.

Phon Pheak and a few of his family members came to dig for gold here
in Phnom Pang mountain in the village Prey Meas, or Forest of Gold,
some 90 kilometers from Ratanakkir province's Banlung city, with the
international price of gold continuing its ascent.

The 24-year-old man, from Oyadav district, about 30 kilometers away,
says he's looking for gold to support his family back home.

"On lucky days, we could get get 1 gy," or about 3.8 grams, he told
VOA Khmer recently. "On other days, just 4 or 5 hun," about 1.9 grams,
"or even just 1 hun on unlucky days."

Miners here say hundreds of families from various regions in the
province have come to the area since last year, seeking their fortune
in gold rather than farming.

"It's up to luck," said Hu Chhun, another miner. "We just keep
digging. Sometimes we get a lot, sometimes less. It's uncertain; it
lies underground."

In their search, however, the miners expose themselves to the risks of
dust, mercury and other chemicals used to purify gold. They are also
exposed to malaria.
"There's a lot of malaria here," said Hu Chhun. "And now the season
for the disease."

Pen Bunnar, local coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said
Cambodia needs institutions to train would-be miners "and make sure
they are well aware of the impacts resulting from their mining
activities."

However, local officials say the mining is in fact illegal and is
destroying the environment. Better for the villagers to stay at home,
they say, and farm.

http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/Promise-of-Riches-Lures-Many-to-Forest-of-Gold--149524545.html