Introduction of Mercury-Free Gold Extraction to Small-Scale Miners in the Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique

Background. The majority of small-scale gold miners worldwide, including those in Mozambique, use mercury to extract gold. Over the last fifty years, gold production from small-scale mining has been accelerating and consequently the amount of mercury released to the environment has increased dramatically, causing major global health problems. In 2018, a team from the Danish non-governmental organization Dialogos introduced the mercury-free gold extraction method in the Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique in the villages of Waqueia and Nanlia. Objectives. The objective of this project was to teach local miners this method to reduce mercury pollution. An additional objective was to compare the local gold extraction method and the mercury-free gold extraction method in terms of gold recovery. The hypothesis was that the level of gold recovery would be higher with the mercury-free method compared to the locally used amalgamation method. Materials and Methods. An experimental study comparing the two gold extra...