Illegal gold mining in Indonesia | DW Documentary

Illegal gold mining in Indonesia | DW Documentary

Lombok, Indonesia.
A paradise island, that draws
over a million tourists a year.
Yet beneath its volcanic
hills, is a hidden treasure.
Gold.
And that’s why the island
has one of the densest populations
of gold miners in Indonesia,
Southeast Asia’s
biggest gold producer.
But the industry is fueled
by a deadly element.
If we don’t use mercury,
we won’t get the gold.
One drop of mercury could kill
and cause you health problems.
Some patients have symptoms
that suggest poisoning.
And the poison is spreading.
This is the level at which
you have to evacuate.
Mercury is a key component
of the poorly regulated,
multi-billion dollar
gold mining industry.
But how did it get here
and why is it being used?
I have to be very careful.
They’re very
distrusting of journalists.
We must constantly warn
the public about the risk.
Since 2018, NGOs working
in and around Sekotong,
an area consisting
of three small villages,
have counted nearly 50 children
born with neurological
and physical birth defects.
What’s your name?
Yurika.
You are new here.
Four of these children are being
examined by a local doctor today.
It started with seizures and
now he is constantly drooling?
He thinks there their
conditions may be related.
Some patients have symptoms
that suggest poisoning.
I am very concerned because
I also have a young child.
We all know that
mercury poisoning
has terrible repercussions
and there is no cure.
Were you exposed to lots of
mercury before she was born?
Yes.
The seizures started
when she was one.
She is also deaf.
I am worried about mercury
because you hear a
lot about its effects.
Exposure to mercury can cause
irreversible and even fatal harm.
The risk is well-documented
and previous major disasters
serving as stark reminders
of the risks it poses.
This child of six is an
even more severe case…
She is incapable of
expressing herself,
and barely reacts to light.
Mercury poisoning was once tied
to power generation
and manufacturing.
However, by the 21st century,
most industries adopted alternative,
mercury-free production methods.
Then, a new danger emerged.
Is your husband a gold miner?
Yes.
Informal gold mining in Lombok
started around 15 years ago,
when locals spotted
an opportunity.
A large mining company
found a large deposits in Lombok
and local people
started to think about
how if there’s
gold for large-scale,
probably we can get
the small-scale one.
So they thought they could
get the crumbs from the big guys.
Informal mining took off,
eventually producing more gold
than corporate mining operations.
Up until now the
gold mining activities
especially the small-scale
are illegal, illegal and illicit.
Normally secretive
about their work,
today one miner has
agreed to speak with us.
My name is Faturahman.
I was born in Lombok.
I got to work in the
fresh air as a fisherman.
But it was hard to earn enough.
I chose to become a miner
because I could earn more.
I have to prepare my equipment
before I leave the house.
A sack, lunch, lights,
and my mining tools.
The trip then takes two hours.
It is getting late, you
better hurry to work.
My whole family, including
my uncles and other relatives,
were all gold
miners, just like me.
I feel a sense of
joy when I get here.
The people I work with
are like my brothers.
So I do worry. It’s natural.
An estimated 22,000
people in Lombok
depend on small-scale
gold mining to earn a living.
Excavated precariously
out of this hillside,
is Faturahman’s personal mine.
But he doesn’t own the land.
It is currently over
15 metres deep.
His naturally small
frame and muscular build
provide him with a
particular advantage
when descending into the depths.
We need to prioritize our
safety when we go down the hole.
The work is extremely dangerous.
Low oxygen levels,
intense heat, falling rocks,
flash floods and gas leaks
from their portable tools
are a few of the risks.
Only recently, Faturahman
blacked out due to a lack of oxygen.
Thank God I am still alive.
My colleagues
thought I was dead.
The colour of this rock
is white, that’s good,
there are also greens and
yellows and it has black veins.
Very good.
But the real danger begins
when Faturahman returns home.
Now, he must process
the ore to extract the gold.
And mercury is
the key component.
When I get home,
I pound the ore from the
mountain into small pieces.
The rocks are
placed in a ball mill,
where they are combined with weights
and hundreds of litres of water.
Gradually, they break
down into sediment.
I put this mercury in the
ball mill to collect the gold.
It is poured into the ball
mill to bind with the gold.
The mercury is then burned away,
leaving behind pure
gold and poisonous fumes.
Finally, the toxic wastewater is
discarded into the environment.
Hospital officials
came to my house
to explain the risks
of mercury to us.
But there’s nothing I can do.
I don’t know how to process
the ore without using mercury.
Mercury is an extremely
hazardous metal
that can have
severe consequences
on human health
and the environment.
It can cause Minamata disease,
which is a serious condition
leading to coma, paralysis, death.
It can also cause neurological
disorders especially in children.
It can cross the human
placenta leading to birth defects
and other neurological problems.
Globally, 20% of the
annual gold production
comes from informal
miners, like Faturahman.
In Indonesia, more gold
may be produced like this,
than in formal
mining operations.
To complicate matters,
the miners’ ball mills
are often located near
local water sources.
The contaminated waste water
then finds its way into
drinking wells, rice paddies
and the rivers and
seas where people fish.
Research conducted
by several universities,
such as Mataram University,
show that mercury is
present in vegetables and fruits
and other food
production in Lombok.
That’s worrying.
The toxicity of the mercury
doesn’t just cause problems
where the miners work, it
also spreads to other places.
But that’s not all.
Mercury is burned off the
gold and turns into vapour.
It accumulates in the air
until one day, somewhere,
it falls as toxic rain.
It will move wherever the wind
takes it. You can’t escape it.
Mercury does not break
down in the environment.
The more it is used,
the more it accumulates,
making its way
into the food chain.
But Faturahman
today is a happy man.
I think it’s about half a gram.
That’s worth around
300.000 Rupiah..
I’m thrilled!
That’s more than twice the amount
he earned daily as a fisherman.
But at what cost for his family,
neighbours and community?
Mercury is the only metal that
is liquid at room temperature.
Mix it with gold and watch a
mesmerising ritual of bonding unfold.
The first emperor of China
is thought to have died
after consuming mercury
in his pursuit of immortality.
He was not the last.
Abraham Lincoln, the Pirate
King Blackbeard and Isaac Newton
are all believed to have
suffered from mercury poisoning.
In the 20th century, mercury
continued to be used in medicines,
light bulbs, thermometers,
cosmetics, and more.
But in the 1950s, a
mercury leak at a factory
in the seaside town
of Minamata, Japan,
killed more than 900 people,
and left thousands
permanently disabled.
Here is the father
of another child
who died of the
Minamata disease.
Her limbs are deformed.
The disaster led to tighter
regulations around the world.
By 2013, a global
treaty,
the Minamata Convention
on Mercury was born.
Today, about a hundred
countries including Indonesia
have ratified the convention,
mandating them to
protect their citizens
from the dangers
of this deadly metal.
Yet, the threat continues.
In Lombok, as a
result of gold mining,
mercury use has
dramatically increased.
And there is a
further complication.
The difficulty of diagnosing
mercury poisoning
is that the symptoms are
similar to those of other diseases.
Mercury binds to the nerves,
so the symptoms that
appear are very similar
to those of many
neurological disorders.
A number of tests are needed
to ensure the symptoms are
really due to mercury poisoning.
NGOs have previously
collected samples in Lombok,
but their efforts were not extensive.
Concerned with the lack of action,
today, Dr. Eka is leading a
team to test the community
This problem concerns us all.
We have to find out just
how big the problem is.
Faturahman and his
family are first on the list.
Hello sir, my name is Dr Eka.
My area of observation
is a mining hotspot.
We want to monitor peoples’
health and the impact of mercury.
We would like to test you,
your wife and your child.
Physical and cognitive
tests are carried out
to detect early
signs of poisoning.
Follow my finger as I
move it left and right.
The color has started to change.
It looks like it has
started to whiten.
Have you ever tasted
metal on your lips?
Or a tingly sensation?
Maybe that?
Yes, sometimes.
How long has your child
been drooling uncontrollably?
Sometimes it lasts
for 2 or 3 days.
The team then takes
hair and nail samples.
Thank god, I am relieved to have
been examined by the doctors,
but I was shocked too.
The research continues with
a search for mercury in the air.
This is a Lumex Portable
Mercury Analyzer.
This device allows us to
measure the mercury in the air
at a specific location.
The results are
available immediately.
A reading above 1,000
is considered unsafe.
Wait for it.
Here’s the result: 8,657.
The mercury concentration
in the air around this ball mill
is between 8,000 to 10,000
nanograms per cubic metre.
8,000 – 10,000 is the number
where you have to evacuate.
Based on these results, I
feel that Mr. Faturahman
and his family’s
health is in danger.
Yes, we were totally taken aback
that the figure reached 10,000.
Our initial findings indicate that
Faturahman has health issues.
A number of exams
showed that the coordination
of the left and right
movements were unbalanced
and his ability to coordinate
fine motor skills is also slower
than the average person.
We can see there are
already some issues.
The tests may have come
too late for Faturahman’s son.
The birth went well, thank God.
A day later, at home,
I realised he did’t
want to suckle.
He kept vomiting. I called
the doctor right away for help.
The doctor took a biopsy
to investigate the issue.
The problem was
in his intestines.
They were not
functioning properly.
Due to his damaged
intestines, Faturahman’s child
is unable to move his bowels.
His faeces instead need to be
sucked out through a tube every day.
The doctor taught
me how to treat him.
Only myself and my wife
can carry out the procedure.
But this can only
be a temporary fix.
If the foetus in the womb is
exposed to mercury via its mother,
the baby is susceptible to
molecular and genetic changes
that can lead to abnormalities
as the organs form.
The surgeon said he needs
to be operated on soon
but I don’t have the money.
Because I don’t have insurance,
it would cost around
30,000,000 Rupiahs.
I don’t have that kind of money.
His child’s illness
has left Faturahman
in the unenviable position
of having to mine more
to be able to pay
for the surgery.
Over the next two days,
the team collects hair and nail
cuttings from nine more individuals.
It will take a month for the
samples to be analysed in a lab.
Don’t you usually
get your nails cut?
You’d be a star if you did.
Whilst the results might provide
answers for those tested in Lombok,
it is just a microcosm of what
remains a widespread problem
across much of Indonesia.
In West Nusa Tenggara alone
probably 1,000 tonnes a year.
1,000 tonnes a year of mercury.
One drop of mercury could kill
and cause you health problems
but we are talking about
1,000 tons, not grams, not kilos.
And all over
Indonesia 3,500 tons.
The health issues faced by
Fathurahman and his family
are not unique to Lombok.
Informal miners use mercury
to extract gold all over the world.
In Asia, the problem is thought
to be most rampant in Indonesia,
where there are over 850
small-scale mining hotspots.
Nobody knows exactly how
much mercury is being used.
Estimates vary wildly from
300 tonnes to over 3,500 tonnes.
What is known, is that there
are at least 300,000 miners
using mercury in Indonesia.
Each of them uses up
to 20 parts of mercuy,
for every part of gold recovered.
This is a problem
for the government,
who has committed
internationally to deal with mercury.
The Minamata Convention is a
binding international agreement
for member countries
that aims to protect
humans and the environment
from the dangers of mercury.
Indonesia ratified the Minamata
Convention with a 2017 law.
According to the
National Action Plan,
Indonesia has committed to eliminating
the use of mercury by 2025.
The National Action
Plan includes policies like
the adoption of alternative
technologies for gold processing
and the tougher
enforcement of laws.
It also recommends that the production
of mercury should be stopped.
This starts with the prohibition
of the mining of an ore
called cinnabar, which
mercury is made from.
There are a couple of
things that can be done
to stop all these problems
created by mercury in Indonesia.
The first is to stop the
extraction or mining of cinnabar,
including the smelting
and the process to produce
mercury from the ore.
The second is to
prohibit the sale,
trade of mercury
including exportation.
Mining and refining
cinnabar ore in Indonesia
is not against the law
if you have a permit.
But the government has
not issued any permits,
making it illegal.
Regardless, a secret and
illicit domestic production
and supply chain for
mercury is still prospering.
At today’s price, 3,500
tonnes of mercury
could be worth over
370 million US dollars
Where did
the cinnabar ore come from?
According to my information,
the cinnabar came
from Seram Island.
To be able to do that in Indonesia
you have to have a backup
so you will be able to
continue business and activities
without any disturbance.
So these high ranking
officials could be police, military,
or government officials.
And we’ve heard remarks
and anecdotal stories
from people on the ground that
there are some important people
backing up their businesses.
We contacted the Ministry
of Environment and Forestry
but it refused to comment
on the illicit mercury trade.
One of the largest
cinnabar mines in Indonesia
is allegedly on Seram
Island in Maluku province.
And despite its illicit nature,
it can be clearly
seen from space.
These satellite pictures
were taken in August 2022.
The blue tents hide the
mining activity and machinery
that allow miners to
excavate cinnabar ore.
Local journalists are trying
to expose this illegal activity.
I am going to the mountain
to find the cinnabar mines.
My name is Risan.
I’m a journalist.
My daily reporting covers
primarily the environment
and indigenous people in
Maluku and North Maluku.
I want to document the
mining activities in the camps.
It’s very difficult
to get in there.
I have to be very careful.
They’re very
distrusting of journalists
because they can expose
the information to the public
that this illegal
mining still exists.
Rislan tried to get protection
from the village head
where the mine is
situated but failed.
They don’t want the
media to expose the mine.
I talked to several
miners who opened up
about people who receive bribes.
It’s widely believed that
police officers are involved.
What Rislan saw in person
confirmed the satellite imagery.
He filmed the following
on his mobile phone.
I found a miners’ tent up here
in the middle of the mountains.
We are about 1000
metres above sea level.
Lots of tents had
been set up on the cliffs
so there was no way the
activity would go unnoticed.
Thousands of tents ? it’s
impossible not to notice them.
This raises the question
whether certain parties
are coordinating, or
turning a blind eye.
Attempts to shut down the mines
were publicized in the
media in 2017 and 2020.
But as Rislan has revealed,
these attempts have failed.
The fact that there is
still active cinnabar mining
in Indonesia, or in Seram,
is due to a couple of things,
the first being weak
law enforcement.
This is due to several factors,
for example the involvement
of law enforcement officers
or the lack of
resources in the field.
The ore on Seram is believed to
be some of the purest in the world,
this creates an alluring opportunity
for those with ill intentions.
Since the discovery
of cinnabar in Seram
and other parts of Eastern
Indonesia where there is cinnabar,
Indonesia has become
an exporter of mercury.
A large exporter.
Based on the data
I have compiled,
local officials appear to be
involved, such as in Sukabumi.
We traced court documents
and discovered a shipment
of cinnabar had been delivered
using an Indonesian
National Armed Forces truck
with a driver and
army number plate.
I also found a court
ruling in Ambon
where the police were
involved in trading mercury.
In recent years, illegal refineries
have been spotted in Ambon,
Bogor and Jombang.
But they are constantly on
the move to evade detection.
And now, Rislan believes
that there are also refineries
on Seram Island.
There is activity there.
There is water on the top
that is used for distillation.
With access to domestic mercury,
Indonesian gold miners
now have a plentiful supply
of the toxic metal.
Traditionally sold
through a middle man,
it’s currently available on social
media platforms like Facebook,
where sellers provide delivery
right to the miners’ doorstep.
We asked Facebook
why this is happening,
but they have yet to reply.
With an illicit but highly
functional supply chain,
mercury is finding its way
into the hands of gold miners
all over Indonesia.
This is welcome news
to the miners in Sekotong,
Lombok where the majority
of the population are reliant
on gold mining for a living.
Just one gram of gold is worth
nearly half the usual
monthly minimum wage.
Gold mining is important
because there’s no other work.
You can only mine
here in Sekotong.
If you don’t use mercury,
you can’t get the gold.
Even if you could see
the gold in the rock,
you can’t get to it.
Experts are trying their best
to convince the miners
to change their ways.
When we went to the field
we tried to educate the miners.
They know that
mercury is very toxic,
but they don’t want to
be banned from using it.
So when we tried to talk
to them and educate them,
they turned against us.
Mercury has its disadvantages.
But it also has advantages.
It’s confusing.
They were ultimately of the
opinion that it’s their risk to take.
What miners might not understand
is the slow and insidious
effects of mercury poisoning.
These can include
Minamata Disease,
a serious condition that
can lead to paralysis,
neurological
disorders and death.
Local researcher, Dr Eka
previously led a team
to carry out testing on
ten individuals in Sekotong.
The results are now available.
For mercury concentrations in hair,
the safe threshold is
one part per million.
None of the people tested
were within the safe threshold.
Munahar, a current
miner’s sample came back
26.7 times higher
than the safe level.
Makali, who used to be a
miner registered 9.8 times higher.
His child? 5.3
times the safe level.
Faturahman’s results
showed a reading
that was 12.7 times higher
while his baby boy Nazil
recorded 4 times the safe level.
What you get from
the results in Sekotong,
I’d say that they
are very alarming
and we should be very
concerned about this.
The tests results back up the findings
of the cognitive examinations.
The first clinical signs usually
happen within five years,
for example the capability
of small coordination
is being effected.
The second phase of symptoms
is often much more severe.
Patients may develop organ
failure or neurological decline.
The severity depends on how
much mercury is in the body
and the person’s resistance
to mercury, which varies highly.
Mercury poisoning is more
likely to impact children severely.
When a baby is born that
has been exposed to mercury
they may look normal,
or they may have defects
depending on the
disorder that occurred
during the development of
the baby’s organs in the womb.
The results from the
tests of the children,
as well as other
available evidence,
would strongly suggest
that their severe illness
is being caused by mercury.
In a similar scenario,
international experts
advise immediate action such as
the evacuation of polluted areas.
Yet this is unlikely
to happen here.
NGOs have not given up hope.
In Lombok, they’ve
introduced a new method
of extracting gold from the ore,
by using mills that make use
of cyanide instead of mercury.
The Tibu Batu cooperative
has built a processing plant.
Though cyanide is also
extremely poisonous,
the residual danger of
environmental buildup
is lower compared to mercury.
The cyanidation
process is much safer
because when cyanide
is mixed with water,
it immediately breaks
down into nitrogen.
It’s actually safe
for the environment.
When the miners were
using the mercury process,
they only yielded
20 grams of gold.
But when they used cyanidation
they yielded 60 to
100 grams of gold.
That’s what got them interested.
But the on-ground
execution proved tricky.
Extracting gold using
mercury is a quick process,
it only takes two to three
hours to get the gold,
but cyanidation
can take 72 hours,
or three days, to get the gold.
That’s not the only hurdle.
Miners like Fathurahman usually
haul at most two sacks of ore
off the mountain each day.
But processing with cyanide
requires a huge amount of ore
in one go.
Ideally, 150 sacks.
Even if individual miners
could afford the wait,
the cost of
extraction is too high.
The potential
rewards for upskilling
and harnessing the products
of informal gold miners
all over Indonesia
could be huge.
But to achieve this,
the government has many
obstacles to overcome.
Even though the 2025 target
is 100 percent mercury-free,
the fact is that mercury is
still being used in the field.
Tackling the supply of
mercury is one solution.
The government should
strictly prohibit cinnabar mining
and not issue permits.
Stronger international
regulations may also help.
One shortcoming of
the Minamata Convention
in respect of small-scale mining
is that the treaty regards this
mining as an allowed use for mercury.
The position should
be the other way around
that mercury should be banned.
As long as mercury continues to
be so readily used by gold miners,
and black markets
are not shut down,
ultimately it is the
youngest generation,
and those who come after them,
who will pay the heaviest price.
If you can give me another job
then you can forbid
me from using it.
But give me another job.
Even though this is
our current condition,
I’ll do my best to
keep my son healthy.
I know he isn’t a normal kid,
but I’m still grateful
he was born.
I hope my son will
be healthy soon.

Tourists flock to the Indonesian island of Lombok for its beautiful beaches. But while foreigners snorkel and surf, the islanders are extracting gold from the depths of the earth. The precious metal is then dissolved using mercury, which poisons humans and the environment.

Indonesia is the largest producer of gold in Asia. Hundreds of thousands of people live from informal gold mining. The use of mercury in the process is ubiquitous. As a result, more and more children in this island nation are being born with deformities. The film documents the lives of individuals who are affected and accompanies people who are fighting for change.

Indonesia has committed itself to phasing out the use of mercury by 2025. The film explores the question of just how realistic this plan is, given the fact that hundreds of thousands of gold miners have few feasible alternatives when it comes to earning an income. Corruption in Indonesia also interferes with the implementation of more sustainable gold mining and trading practices.

#documentary #dwdocumentary #gold
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