Child Labor

Many of the small scale gold mining operations in Africa, Asia and South America use child labor. Children are responsible for the same tasks as the adults including: digging, crushing and hauling ore, digging sand and silt from alluvial soil, carrying sacks of mud to sieving and washing sites. Some of the health risks attributed to gold excavation include: exposure to dust and chemicals (especially dangerous in the rapidly developing body of a child), mercury exposure (through the skin, inhalation and the seeping of mercury into the soil and water), and the risk of tunnel collapse (oftentimes proper methods are not known or followed). Communities  may feel that there is no other option but to send their children to work in the mines. "In the worst cases, children are trafficked to mine sites where they are forced to work in absolutely horrendous slavery-like conditions."

In the African countries of Burkina Faso and Niger child labor is exceedingly common and children are engaged in all aspects of the trade. Regular full time work typically begins when a child is between 12 and 14 years of age. Children are paid less than adults but required to perform the same duties. "Estimates have shown that children under 18 may constitute from 30-50% of the labor force. Approximately 70 per cent of the children are under the age of 15, indicating that children start working from a young age."

Some of the countries most known for child labor in gold mining operations include: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mongolia, Phillipines, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

How are we to know where our gold comes from?
"The No Dirty Gold campaign is calling on retailers to identify and disclose the source of the gold they sell-and to ensure that jewelry, watches, cell phones, computer chips, and other products do not contain gold mined at the expense of communities, workers and the environment. Currently, retailers and consumers do not have an alternative to dirty gold." Go to http://www.nodirtygold.org/demanding_change.cfm  and sign the No Dirty Gold Pledge

For more information on Child Labor and gold go to:
http://www.rimmrights.org/childmining/child_labour_in_gold_mining.htm
http://www.onearth.org/blog/whats-happening-on-earth/child-labor-mercury-gold

For a vivid portrait of life in a South American bush mine visit:
http://www.onearth.org/article/the-real-price-of-gold-0