Weekend Economists Kickoff the Season, September 6-8, 2013

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21. Africa's mines ditch polluting practices to produce its first Fairtrade gold

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/06/fairtrade-gold-africa-mining

In a bustling area of Nyarugusu, in the heart of Tanzania's gold lands, a stocky man is fanning a dustbin lid of smouldering charcoal, gold ore and mercury on the pavement. Each waft sends a cloud of toxic vapour into the faces of children and adults as they gather to watch.

The burning of mercury is a common sight in the streets, homes and cottage-industry mines throughout east Africa. The liquid metal is used to extract the gold and then vaporised to leave behind flakes of the precious metal.

But in this dangerous industry, seeds of a gold revolution are being sown: Fairtrade International announced this week that up to 12 mines in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya are on course to sell Africa's first ethical gold within a year.

There are no official figures for how many Tanzanians are poisoned by mercury fumes, but accounts of memory problems, sickness and impaired vision are common in the small mines that litter the countryside. The sight of open mercury poisoning may seem shocking, but it is just one of a host of appalling working conditions that blights the production of gold throughout east Africa.