Illegal Gold Processing

The ongoing problem of villagers illegally processing gold appears to continue.


Recently I have noticed that they have started up an operation, right next to the beach opposite Gili Kedis (near Gili Sudak). The location, in English and Bahasar, is below



Alamat: DESA MEDANG,(JALAN MASUK KE ARAH PURA GOA LANDAK)

200,METERS DARI JALAN RAYA.)



In English:

address: MEDANG VILLAGE ,THE WAY GO TO “GOA LANDAK TEMPLE”. 200.METERS FROM MAIN ROAD.



The location on google earth is:

8°44'15.48"S

116° 1'58.00"E


This is a big environmental problem, both on the land and in the sea. The large amounts of mercury sulfide used are extremely poisonous.

Since we are all interested in keeping Sekotong, and Lombok as clean and healthy as we can, please contact anyone that you think can help with this. This may be people in the newspapers, friends or the government.

It needs to be stopped and we all need to do something.

Regards,

John

There is another place on the road between Kuta & Mawun where there is gold mining going on and I would imagine illegally as I know someone whose brother with no experience whatsoever went there to work briefly.

This illigal mining is still a big problem.You can see the mills they use to crush the rocks from Bangko-Bangko till Kuta.Count the poison they use and you can imagen what will happens over 5 till 7 years time.I saw what illigal mining can do to the environment when I was in Suriname several years ago.In the region where the illegal mining was everything was coloured black.Including trees and the river,unbelievable!And a smart guy from the government told that mining and tourism can go hand in hand.That,s the way we do things right.
By the way,on my way back from Kuta I visited the new airport.Before that"s ready it will be 2014 I think.Before opening they can start to renovate everything first.

The biggest danger is the mecrury from the refining process that is finding its way into the water system and sea. River Eco sytems and Coral system are very sensitive to mercury.

Bss wrote:

The biggest danger is the mecrury from the refining process that is finding its way into the water system and sea. River Eco sytems and Coral system are very sensitive to mercury.

So are people. I once got high mercury levels and it caused all sorts of health issues, some I'm still dealing with.

Mercury is not eliminated from your body like other toxins. It stays there and builds up. If you eat the flesh of an animal or fish that has high mercury levels, you retain that mercury.

You are quite right, it is a big issue. I don't know what can be done when the authorities obviously are well aware that it is occurring and don't care.

Correct, as humans we can to a certain degree control what we do and, where we do it and what we eat. The lure of big money is currently controllling the gold mining and certain individuals are funding large groups of miners to find the gold. Added to this there may be some kickbacks too officials to turn a blind eye. Lombok is also regarded as a gold rush location and people from other provinces are coming to find gold.

A very difficult situation to control or stop but the goverment needs to stop or regulate the mining. Mining systems used are primative and miners are buried under ground on a regular basis. The mining deaths do not seem ro worry the powers that be, nor does the wholesale destruction of the river and marine eco-systems in the affected areas.

I sincerly hope somebody in power will do something constructive about this issue.

Yeah I would be more worried about the mercury composite fillings in your mouth. Which I will be removing from my mouth one day.

I think the gold mine would need to be of some size commercially to effect anything outside the mines immediate area.

Jonathan Matterson wrote:

Yeah I would be more worried about the mercury composite fillings in your mouth. Which I will be removing from my mouth one day.

I think the gold mine would need to be of some size commercially to effect anything outside the mines immediate area.

I don't have any mercury composites in my mouth, I didn't get a filling until my late 20's and didn't get mercury for obvious reason (previous mentioned mercury poisoning etc).
Have you actually seen the area and the sorts of practices that go on? I sure wouldn't want to be living anywhere near it.

Sorry I have no idea what the small island gold mining operations in Lombok are like.

There is a huge one at 8°57'55.16"S 116° 1'58.00"E in Sumbawa
Batu Hijau with a very large set of tallings dams and a massive ocean outfall.

The open cut mine looks to be in similar size to the Super Pit in WA where 2% of the worlds gold comes from. I dont think they use Mercury in the processing but
Im sure the stuff flowing into the ocean aint good for the environment. I have heard rumours that there are some negative enviromental factors going on with this mine as bad as the ok tedi mine disaster in NG.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Hijau_mine

An uncle and nephew from our village died yesterday when the tunnel they were in collapsed on them... just two more deaths amongst many.