Analysis: Illegal gold mining in Peru set to continue – by Ben Heubl (Engineering and Technology – July 16, 2021)

https://eandt.theiet.org/

Peruvian authorities seem powerless to stop illegal gold mining that has wreaked havoc in the country’s rainforests and is poisoning the environment with mercury. E&T’s analysis shows that the practice boomed during the pandemic.

The price of gold is sensitive to crisis, but can itself be the cause of turmoil, especially in an environmental context.

During the past year and a half of the global pandemic, the gold price reached historic heights. As a result, an artisanal gold-mining boom swept the world, notably in countries that are but resource-rich.

From African states like Ghana or the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Indonesia in Asia, dangerous and often deadly illegal gold-mining has flourished.

Some criminal narcotics gangs are even said to have dropped the drug trade and are concentrating on artisanal gold mining because of its higher profitability.

For the rest of this article: https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2021/07/analysis-illegal-gold-mining-in-peru/