For those wanting to quantify what a 'pennyweight' of gold is, it's an archaic measurement of mass equal to about 1.55 grams. Today the monetary value of 1 pennyweight of gold is about $80 usd. "5 or 6 pennyweight a day"...$400-$500 Even distributed among a crew of a dozen people, that's about 1-4 weeks of income for one days' work. Just throwing that out there because I myself had absolutely no idea what it was and couldn't find the answer in the comments. =)
@@tar5us452 Yeah - makes sense. I didn't really think about that - I was just going off of spot weight. What do you think? $10? Dealer sells for $30 to middle-man, middle-man sells bulk at $60/$70 to the big companies, then they sell above spot to investors and stuff?
This was a great piece but I have just a couple of recommendations: 1) As an environmental engineer, I know first hand how easy it is to get caught up in my thoughts and switch between units when speaking to audiences unfamiliar with SI unit conversions. When the scientist said they have 30,000 ug/m3 and then gave a reference point that 1 mg/m3 is very, very high I suspect that his implying they are 30x over a 'very high' contaminate concentration went unnoticed by a lot of the audience. A lot of videos now will supplement the narrative with text showing helpful tidbits, and I'd recommend throwing in a block of text with those kind of scenes to show the audience that conversion for context (my teams do this all the time in presentations). 2) for a 30 min piece on mercury proliferation in south America, not a lot of time was spent explaining the risks and routes for exposure and toxicity. Maybe much of the older audience remember mercury being in the public eye back in the days where it was contentious as a fuel additive, but the risks regarding bioaccumulation are probably not as well understood as the producers here may expect. The scientist and the narrator both allude to 'persistence' but that doesn't really communicate the pernicious reality of mercury contamination in natural systems. A few more minutes explaining this could have conveyed some well-founded fears toward the audience regarding this dangerous metal. The shots of people handling it are unsettling but pretty cool though. It really is mercurial and a fascinating and amazingly-useful metal... too bad it will shred every cognitive function of these poor miners over a long enough exposure time.
I think I botched those units myself. haha. Now that I re-read my comment i'm thinking he said it was 30,000 ng/m3 and then mentioned 1 ug/m3 was high... either way it is the same ratio and could be confusing.
This is just a part of the full film 'MERCURY'. Link is in the description. Maybe they go more in detail who knows. With what you're educated on, I would watch that and then judge. But for what you are saying, good to know! Now I'm curious to watch their full film doc.
@@devon9075 You can edit your comment for any corrections. Just click on the three dots that appear in the upper right corner when you hover your cursor over your comment. :)
I live in Guyana and I wasn't aware of the problem with mercury. It seems as if the government doesn't even bring up this issue and take actions to resolve it. It may be considered illegal, but a lot of illegal things are swept under the rug and laws aren't strictly enforced because this is how things are like in developing countries. As the men say in this documentary, their living depends on this and it's how they earn money to support their families and send their children to school.
@@MS-tc2fs Do you even know what you're talking about? How can Guyana make such transition when it's still broke and struggling. We're still highly dependent on the primary sector for revenue. Besides, education is indeed free for programming. If you do CAPE subjects such as IT or Computer Science, you learn how to code.
This is the first time I have ever had contact with any human from Guyana! Most people have never heard of your country. Your country is so unsupported… so corrupt that the governments of each country recognize that mining cyanide & mercury widely support this and other corrupt practices An open secret to most big FMCG companies. I would love to know more about your country. Many western people are not allowed to travel there (I worked for a big company in Latin America, based in New York and was not even allowed to request a visa… Suriname and Guyana didn’t even “appear” on our “markets map”.). We need to learn about your culture, your country! Please can you upload content!!
Banning materials without providing a replacement, has and will never work. As the man said, only large scale mining companies will be able to do it. But that’s the whole point today. Transfer the wealth to large corporations, as the US did during the pandemic
It is way more complicated than “rich corporation evil.” There are some pretty real reasons to not dump a bunch of mercury into your country,,,like what does it do to the poor kids who are drinking from a source just downstream or who play next to the small smelting plant, or the miners themselves. And yes, there have been a few cases where “ban it” worked- like with qualudes in the 70s. The reason you don’t hear about qualudes is that the US cracked down hard on the main ingredient….and almost overnight qualude overdoses and deaths dropped to practically zero.
Yet nothing about Exxon ruining those fresh waters and nothing about all the trees being cut down. As a Guyanese we all know how rich the country is but the poor infrastructure and greed has lead down a terrible path. Gold is too plentiful in Guyana and it’ll never stopped being mined. Big up all my Guyanese and all my Caribbean people ✊🏾❤️
I would like to donate at least 40% of my proceeds after watching this towards a good cause. It is not our fault American people use so much oil and their government buy up resources from us and make us rich. i do feel bad now.
@Repent! Because that will stop unfettered greed and capitalism. Ultimately, yes, but yeah kind of falling on deaf ears when they're living the problem.
Power to The People. Kleptocrat poison and guillotine dreams my friend. Sounds like you're describing the dystopian concentration camp that was once my City here in the US. Same war, different soil. Open sewers as open caskets for classist and fascist plutocrat bastards. ✊🏴💥📡💥
"show us other ways, teach us to use them and we stop using mercury" These people just try to make a living for their family. mostly by wasting their own health....
people can afford to have many kids. the world is ours and there is enough space on it for everyone to have their own land and farm to feed their family.
There are so few documentaries about Guyana! Despite the heavy nature of the video, it is still nice to see something about that region of the world. My mom grew up in a village near Georgetown. I have many stories but not a lot of images of what it may have looked like. More documentaries about smaller countries please!
I remember several years ago heroin addiction destroyed my life, I suffered from severe depression and a mental disorder until I was recommended to psilocybin mushroom treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly I'm 8 years clean now. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.
they saved you from death bud, let's be honest here mushrooms are one of the most amazing things on this planet I wish people could all realize. they can solve a lot of problems, more than mental treatments.
yes, that's right, I researched and found out that shrooms are helpful in many ways but nobody talks about where to get them. Very hard to get a reliable source I can reach out to
they've helped me a lot as well I'm a war vet diagnosed with PTSD. A lot of issues spun out of control when I came home. This is something i looked up and tried after trying the roller coaster of antidepressants. Day and night difference
Yep, you can handle elemental Mercury pretty safely. I wouldn’t ingest it (technically safe in small quantities) though, cause it’s reacts with damned near *everything* and a lot of the products of those reactions are far, far more toxic - and obviously, the base metal isn’t exactly healthy.
the problems are the inhalation of mercury vapor when they boil the mercury off the gold, and the spread of mercury compounds all over the region from the waterways and the vapor, as the distributed mercury slowly reacts with other substances. I think you can even find elevated mercury levels in places that are only connected to gold mining areas by rainfall. the stuff poisons the whole region for decades to come, most of all the rivers. the industry has a terrible harm-benefit ration for a country. it has massively detrimental effects on society, kinda like how leaded gasoline used to make people stupid and violent.
As a guyanese, I'd like to say that it's awesome to see some exposure for my small country that's often ignored in the grand scheme of things. And yeah. It's pretty sad that this is what our citizens resort to but this is how we live. We are a nice people though, very friend... Socome visit and explore the other aspects of our culture. ( and no I didn't even know that this happens here) Thanks VICE ! ❤️
Exposure like this nah good I’m from skeldon it’s make rich people from all over come and take over starving the village man dem and then work for dem self to working for some white man or something
i don't know whether its my obsession or its the quality of work that just keeps pulling me to this damn good content. i congratulate Shane smith the founder of vice and the quality of their work from Middle East, to Ukraine, Antartitic to baltic regions from south east to north including africa. covering almost everything of real importance for world community. Terrorism, conflicts health social and political issues. the vice is up there on top the table, thank you for becoming an integral part of my phd thesis.
When I was a teen, I accidently dropped a mercury thermometer and it cracked . I spent the week thinking I was going to die from a tiny bit that will not effect you. So I can't imagine being exposed like these people
As with anything like this "get educated" on it. Mercury stays in the body and remains there and repeated exposure whether working with it or exposed environmentally, even consuming things like fish too often over a long period will cause toxicity and health problems eventually. Mercury is notoriously hard to get out of the body and relatively expensive. Chelation tech is getting better and Types of Blood filtration. Mercury is very difficult to get dislodged from the body tissues in order to remove it.
Anecdotal evidence can sound convincing when people speak with confidence, but it isn't statistically relevant and is often impacted by confirmation bias.
@@TreesTrees Seen the video by Cody's Lab where he swills it around in his mouth? Mercury checks at the hospital afterwards came up negative. It's the vapour that's dangerous, or getting it in an open wound or actually ingesting it. Using a fume hood and cartridge respiratory system that's rated for mercury vapour, as well as gloves, is sufficient in most cases for handling mercury. Similarly for burning it off. Cyanide is also a dangerous substance. Mercury is the lesser of the two evils as long as there are measures to recycle the mercury evaporated off as vapour. Widespread release into the air is obviously bad, as is it leeching into groundwater, but then cyanide would be worse in the groundwater, especially if it made its way into an aquifer at some point.
I had learned how to do that as a child in the 80’s in Colorado. They would test pans of soil from river beds to see if it was worth panning for gold there. They would break transistor tubes from old tvs to get the mercury, run it through a test pan of soil, then put the mercury in a hollowed out potato and bake it for a few hours in a fire, then check to see how much gold flake remained.
Vacuum tube. Like light bulbs, vacuum tubes needed to be devoid of oxygen because of their filament. So in the old days the air would be sucked out to avoid combustion/filament burning out, hence the name vacuum tube. Transistors came after tube technology. Not harping just sharing some information I think is neat.
Guyanese in the house 🇬🇾✊🏽❤️🖤💛🤍💚. I’m first born in the country for my family from there. Only thing good I can take away from this is seeing a Vice documentary on my country. Besides Jim Jones I usually don’t hear too much content coverage on Guyana. Praying the economy flourishes and dilemmas lightens up 💔.
@@ladyaly864 lmao wtf you never watched gold rush its a gold trap with baffle and miners moss in it and the miners moss catches fine gold the baffles catch the big stuff and the water washes the dirt away
"I have to do it for my family." The ultimate expression of a Government that has failed, causing one to turn to desperate and illegal action to provide for ones' family.
@@aquariuscheers9191 It's more about why there are criminals not so much as acknowledging they exist. With no safety nets, one bad turn of events can lead to a desparate situation. On the other hand, apparently handouts like welfare causes exploitative behavior.
You taught me something today. It seems that the mining industry is always at odds with Maroon peoples. If it isn't stealing and poisoning their lands, its poisoning them directly in this way.
Excellent documentary! I was unaware of the impacts of mercury and our environment, governments not locking down on this, how poor people are influenced to work in these mines because they have to feed their families/maintain a living, how places like Canada, Switzerland, and others are supporting this industry, how the black market is a multi-millions industry-esp. with mercury, and I learned so much more. Thank you so much for sharing.
"impacts of mercury and our environment" Everything we do impacts our Environment, the question is, are the benefits worth the costs, and mercury is a very important element for industry. "how poor people are influenced to work in these mines because they have to feed their families/maintain a living" By being given a wage? A job? Whats so bad about that? "places like Canada, Switzerland, and others are supporting this industry" yes again, whats so bad about that, we need mercury, they provide mercury. That's called trade. "how the black market is a multi-millions industry" Then lets make it white, legitimize the market, make it more profitable, increase investment, help the poor people getting mercury etc. Prohibition does not work anyway.
@paulcruz68 if people think they are in fact mining in a safe way when they are not, they wont seek out more knowledge on the matter. What, exactly, do you think the role of a government that collects taxes and holds the power to forcibly conscript citizens into an army should be? Because from what ive seen, people that use the kind of logic and rhetoric you use tend to make excuse after excuse until the government that imposes these things upon its civilians has almost zero responsibility to care for its citizens in return.
Great video! A few things: 1. I'm stuck on the Surinamese government banning mercury but allowing cyanide to be used in the mining process. The Maroon man made a valid point about the fact that it is no safer than the substance they've placed a ban on. 2. The boat inspector guy seems like he has received a good handful of kickbacks throughout his career. I suspect this is the primary reason why this smuggling operation is still thriving after so many years of trying to put an end to it. 3. Dr. Wip mentioned the dangers of emissions contaminating the air. I didn't even think about how this is affecting the air quality in the region. I could easily see how this would affect the wildlife. Sadly, it appears the damage has already been done and the demand for mercury won't ease up any time soon. Again, thanks Vice!
Cyanide is harmless if you have the antidote. IIRC, it reacts with cyanocobalin to form vitamin B12. The only problem is you need the equipment and expertise not to kill yourself. Also there's simply not enough of the mercury to poison the only country, but there's enough to render the immediately area downstream of the mines uninhabitable.
@@victordonchenko4837 It is estimated that 1 to 4 grams of a souble mercury (II) salt is lethal. But only 0.2 grams of sodium cyanide is deadly. So in the short term cyanides are more dangerous.
Crazy enough my father showed me how to process gold with mercury when I was maybe 12 years old, of course very small scale and we were in a well ventilated garage.
@@JGunit try using the term "Fatherfuckin" river". I like it....has much more gonadal rhythm to it makes me smile yes it goes deep as it should. Yes the Fatherfuckers of the world indeed tis so much more accurate
We watch from our devices that exist because of the gold they feed their families with. It's really fucked up but I won't judge anyone for feeding their family. I do think the one guy said the big gold mining companies are probably doing much worse with the blessing of their governments. Like always the little guy gets a raw deal while the rich and privileged judge and rule.
@@goodkrypollo1706 I agree as individuals the amount of gold in our phones is very very small aprox 1/35th of 1 gram. So every 35 phone is equal to 1 gram. And if you think China the manufacturing mecca of cell phones isn't buying gold from those as you called them "God forsaken places". Your not being honest with yourself.
When I was a little boy and was sick with pneumonia in the late 1980's, I had to constantly have my oral temperature monitored with a mercury thermometer. It took forever to measure my temperature and as a frustrated 6 year old, I bit the end off of a mercury thermometer and got a tiny mouthful of a few drops of mercury that I immediately spat into the sink. My mom freaked out and rushed me to the emergency room, knowing how poisonous it was. Fortunately, I did not swallow any mercury and was not seriously injured. Knowing mercury can cause severe airway and esophageal burns as only 2 dangers as a former emergency nurse, I am shocked to see those poor souls handling mercury with their bare hands and breathing in mercury fumes.
After watching this. Now think of privileged pics complaining at universities about micro aggression that never happened as the white supremacist USA gave them scholarship to act like cundz
@@TheFn414 lol you look at overall survival as if that's the only metrics to consider 😂 maybe work a job like me and speak with young people on a weekly basis whose lungs are destroyed or are suffering other horrendous lingering effects
@@RUclips_is_full_of_trolls Im 25. Iv had covid 2 times now… I have antibodies built up… And ALL of my friends have also had it and have had nothing happen…. I also work in the Healthcare Field and see over 40 patients a day… And guess what Most of them are young… I have seen cases of Young people have bad effects… But you wanna know what the one factor that is the same between EVERYONE that has Adverse effects to this virus? Ever. Single. One. Had a pre Existing health condition… Everyone… I have yet to see a patient who is healthy. With 0 Pre-existing health conditions come in and have a Adverse reaction to the virus… None.
God bless Dr. Archer, what a remarkable woman, battling the stigma that mercury-handling workers face while fighting for their health in the first line! Probably with inadequate means too!!
dont worry, they will make a short docu on trans right again soon, hide the dislike ratio and pple in comments will say vice lost it. Next day upload a docu about crack heads and weed and the same people comment "now this is the old vice we all love"
My science teacher showed us mercury in grade 6 science class (he wore gloves and a mask). One of the best science teachers EVER. It was "general" science but he knew A LOT about EVERYTHING !!
I am 51 now. Lately I have looked around and wondered.... Which is most important? Technological Advancement Or Human Progression? Have we lost the chance to CHOOSE?
Historically, mercury was used extensively in hydraulic gold mining in order to help the gold to sink through the flowing water-gravel mixture. Thin gold particles may form mercury-gold amalgam and therefore increase the gold recovery rates. Large-scale use of mercury stopped in the 1960s. However, mercury is still used in small scale, often clandestine, gold prospecting. It is estimated that 45,000 metric tons of mercury used in California for placer mining have not been recovered. Mercury was also used in silver mining.
The thing is that to mine small gold effectively without mercury you need a lot more money for better equipment or you need to work with cyanide which also requires more money to properly contain and work with. There's not really a better way for these small time illegal miners that I know of. Probably some dudes from Alaska/Canada could show them a way to get a similar amount of gold with the right equipment.
Cyanide is for hardrock mining where you are going after microscopic gold in ore. Gravity systems are used for river deposited gold, as seen here. Though mercury or cyanide both can make it require less precision, with mercury being the simpler of the two.
While working for a hatchery I had several gold claims that produced platinum and small amounts of iridium, gold and palladium. The best way to pull gold from the rivers and stream beds when it is so miniscule is using tightly woven artificial turf, on a long 9-20 degree ramp. We pin it down to corrugated metal roof slates, up to 50 feet long. The tiny gold pieces get trapped into the mesh of the turf, the wave of the corrugated metal sheets makes spots where the gold gathers. We made enough money to pay for most supplies ( steaks, pot, whiskey, beer, hunting and fly fishing gear, outdoor tents, feather beds and gear, clothes and boats ) needed to remain in the forest 10 months a year. It takes little investment and not much hard work
IF the home owner has a up to date claim on his or her property, ( 25$ a year plus about $2.50 for the claim ) and the municipality wants to widened road they will still be able to take from you the desired land mass, BUT they will have to give you length×width×depth 50 meters beyond the bedrock what YOU deem your claim to be worth - where all the home owners on your street without ownership of their property mineral rights will be offered a pittance compared to the lands true value, if they deny acceptance of that payment they will be asked to sign saying they refused, now they loose the land and get nothing in return, not even a tax break.
I still think gravity methods are more effective at fine gold recovery but they do require upfront investment. Mercury is effective at trapping the fine gold particles but there is also mercury loss to the environment during the process - so it isn't going to be 100% recovery regardless of the option you use. Plus, its use in the field not being regulated means people are using alot of different methods with mercury. Something like a shaker table is ideal but even a spiral pan (for a couple hundred bucks or so) would recover the same amount in my view. It might not be investment they have readily available but it puts money in their pockets instead of the mercury traders and would provide a path forward of getting out of this cycle. You run sluices for volume and use the spiral pan or something like a gold cube for running the concentrate.
I heard that back in the PS2 era, Sony was dragged in this mining issue due to when PS2 was so in demand, these poor miners were forced to work double time to harvest more rare earth. Because one of the rare components of the hardware's microchip was imported from this part of the globe.
All blessing for Guyana. Beautiful country. wonderful hard working people and rich natural resources. next video should focus on the influx of Venezuelan and Haitian.
In the 90s, when I was in grade school, I had a toy maze that had a ball of mercury in it that you had to guide through the maze. I thought it was the coolest thing and I use to bring it to school to show my classmates. Crazy how dangerous it is.
A few decades before that American children used to bring guns (shotguns and rifles) to school as part of their "show and tell." Talk about dangerous. lol
Wanna hear something crazy? I had the same toy as a kid in the 80s, only the maze was coated with something hydrophobic and it just used a drop of water. It's like we're moving backwards.
😂🤣😂We all know these trees are the only ones that will ever grown on this planet and that evaporated water coming down in the rains don't refill rivers...That "Wise Man" was making a fool out of you...😂🤣😂
I'm from South Africa. Pelé sounds like he's speaking Afrikaans which is one of our local languages. It's fascinating... Edit: Lol I'm not saying that he is speaking Afrikaans! Afrikaans is a derivative of the Dutch language.. I'm trying to say that I understood Pelé much more than I understood the Dutch language.. hence the "fascinating..." That's all...
@@boarbot7829 yes I know that. But I've been to Holland, you can hear the similarities but not like in this video. I understood most of what he said... That's why I was amazed
As a fellow Guyanese, our country needs help. Being exploited, and no development happening in our country is devastating. Our people are suffering physically, mentally and economically.
The gold miners talk about getting punished if they don't find gold. This is some dystopian stuff. I'm glad the smelter was using a respirator and air flow system and capture. I imagine a lot of smelters don't have such a set up.
I wasn't aware of this mercury crisis. Watching this video reminded me how as a child we would play with the bit of mercury from a old broken mercury type thermometer. People do crazy things in the name of money. They are crazier in the name of gold.
I recently watched a video about reclaiming gold/platinum from e-waste. They found microbes living in gold mines that selectively eat gold. These guys can stop using mercury, just crush up the stone very finely and run it through a bioreactor then filter out the microbes (purple stuff). Much higher extraction rates (get like 85% of gold out instead of 50%). Safer, more environmentally friendly, might be a bit slower not sure but with higher extraction rates, slower won't matter.
I mean how do you think these people could afford that? When they still use the most primitive mining techniques out there? I have property in Guyana, and there are far bigger problems. I’m personally working towards opening a plastic recycling plant there. You have to see the country of Guyana to understand it
N I thought I knew so much lol. Sheesh some of the people who comments I read on RUclips know far more about some things then I ever knew lol. I really be amazed at the knowledge I gain from just comments. Super cool stuff man
@@mitchellreed9720 sorry, I also left a message on the filter tech video's site. Just trying to connect 2 strings. ruclips.net/video/4yGPm1U7U6s/видео.html
@@mitchellreed9720 You’re better off opening a call center / IT support center. The country needs expansion of the IT industry which has allowed countries like India to establish a middle class.
The worst part is they sell the idea that they need murcury and that it's the only way to extract the most amount of gold. Borax can do an equal or better job when used properly. Also, it's non toxic.
After watching this. Now think of privileged pics complaining at universities about micro aggression that never happened as the white supremacist USA gave them scholarship to act like cundz
I'm 65 and can remember playing with mercury when I was a kid. We even broke some thermometers on purpose just to get it. Thank God I have no known problems from it today.
Chemist here: Cyanide actually decomposes relatively quick from soil and atmosphere. If it decomposes in soil, it usually fertilizes the soil in the process. However, mercury fixes itself into fat tissue. This means that it travels up the food chain with no good way of getting out. This is why, per ounce, large fish like tuna have much more mercury than smaller fish like salmon.
@@deadinside8781 there is no need to worry. The amount of tuna that would be required to cause harm to an adult is extremely large. Assuming that you are over the age of 25 and have a BMI less than 30, you should be perfectly fine. Children should limit their intake though since heavy metals like mercury can have a massive impact on brain development.
It Detrimental that these Peasants work 💪👷 Sun Up To Sun Down and if they don't find Anything in the Soil they don't get Paid for their Efforts, This is Slavery and Evil at its Best!
Vice has a huge habit of doing this all the time. The Mexican pharmacy documentary they did they had license plates and street signs in B roll footage of the people they were interviewing about the cartel. Vice sucks.
Well you can. Book a flight and hotel and go gold shopping. Obviously the trip will be more expensive than the gold. It is almost as if companies that sell gold in developed countries sell it at a mark up to cover their transportation costs and salaries of everyone in the supply chain.
My home country, I'm just so happy to see scenes of the beautiful country. I'm so surprised at this mercury trade going on and I hope a better solution can be found.
Just your friendly daily reminder from Vice that the world's a horrible place, everything is dying or burning, everyone is corrupt and life is hopeless and futile. Have a nice day!
criminal organizations in 2021 all over the world are very discreet now...my county in Mexico is going through war with cartels and it is very deep but not a lot of people know whats really going down..ever. Only the Government. Anywhere it is, the Government is always there as a Partner and giving out permissions.
I got expelled one time for taking mercury to school. I didn't know 😬. They had to shut down the school. The EPA did an emergency assembly on the dangers of mercury. It was a helluva experience
@Deporting Americans Back to Europe no one cares, least of all you. You just looked for the first contrarian thing you could find in order to start arguments, trollface. So shut up and get drafted.
@@Barkingstingray in africa they are alot of places that speak some kind of belgium mix. The belgians used to be one of the largest slave traders in africa.
Really do like that vice is getting back into this sort of journalism. Nothing wrong with the pop-culture focus over the years. Love it, but this grit is what I always watched vice for.
I think it's like that all over the U.S, except maybe Hawaii and Alaska. I know here in IN it's the same deal, there's an advised monthly limit on the consumption of locally caught fish.
Any process involving mercury will have some residue or runoff. As Ane said, you know for a fact SOMEWHERE in the world people are processing with Mercury. The guy with the mercury fan is just burning it off and it floats around. Sure it is tiny. The problem is that because it is inert and stays in the system, even a tiny amount after generations will begin to build into larger and larger levels in the ecosystem. The reason why we hear about fish is because they are lower in the eco chain so they are first to start accumulating it, and second they are aqueous and basically any runoff will end up in the water at the end of the day. It also accumulates in higher levels. If a tiny amount is in plankton, dx mercury, then a fish eating 20 plankton a day has 20dx, then a fish that eats that fish 10 times a day has 200dx mercury... this effect is known as bioaccumulation. Amphibians are also considered first level benchmarks for contamination, because they filter a lot through their skin. This issue was raised by herpetologists in the late 90s who started to see massive drops in amphibian populations.
Any fish that predates on other fish smaller in the food chain are usually full of mercury and supposed to be eaten rarely if ever. The causes as other people have said is generally linked back to industry, most specifically textiles amongst other large industries are frequent offenders.
Yo . So glad to see this. I'm from Suriname and also worked in the gold mining. When I was on top of the sand. They gave me 1 dop Mercury to spray on the sand. And after 3 weeks of working u get the same weight of mercury u threw again. All of it came with the gold . They separate by burning them.
@@riversider2506 Well then in 10 years they will face minamata disease and will give birth to blue babies which will die after birth that's what happened in japan i don't blame them as they are desperate but simply put they are working for their children only for their grandchildren to die from birth defects......😕😕😕😕
@@JCImageInc. That's just shuffling certain guys to the top usaually in these poor unstable countries once they reach the top they themselves become corrupt and if fear of loosing power like their predecesor they themselves become dictator
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
*WATCH NEXT:* Buying Organs on the Black Market - ruclips.net/video/XmD8tL1Dz0g/видео.html
🎉🎉🎉 1:21
scary, black market. does it exist? people asking about it? Organs? Hospitals?
❤❤❤@@raidjendoubi7235
Like pipe organs or glands?
@@NicholasVincent-ol1zk can I get a huge p? Please.
For those wanting to quantify what a 'pennyweight' of gold is, it's an archaic measurement of mass equal to about 1.55 grams. Today the monetary value of 1 pennyweight of gold is about $80 usd. "5 or 6 pennyweight a day"...$400-$500 Even distributed among a crew of a dozen people, that's about 1-4 weeks of income for one days' work.
Just throwing that out there because I myself had absolutely no idea what it was and couldn't find the answer in the comments. =)
They aren't getting $80/pennyweight at the small dealers they are selling to.
@@tar5us452 damn
@@tar5us452 Yeah - makes sense. I didn't really think about that - I was just going off of spot weight.
What do you think? $10? Dealer sells for $30 to middle-man, middle-man sells bulk at $60/$70 to the big companies, then they sell above spot to investors and stuff?
Thnk you, 2021 and humans need to do this im ashamed off my race
You da real MVP my man
This was a great piece but I have just a couple of recommendations: 1) As an environmental engineer, I know first hand how easy it is to get caught up in my thoughts and switch between units when speaking to audiences unfamiliar with SI unit conversions. When the scientist said they have 30,000 ug/m3 and then gave a reference point that 1 mg/m3 is very, very high I suspect that his implying they are 30x over a 'very high' contaminate concentration went unnoticed by a lot of the audience. A lot of videos now will supplement the narrative with text showing helpful tidbits, and I'd recommend throwing in a block of text with those kind of scenes to show the audience that conversion for context (my teams do this all the time in presentations). 2) for a 30 min piece on mercury proliferation in south America, not a lot of time was spent explaining the risks and routes for exposure and toxicity. Maybe much of the older audience remember mercury being in the public eye back in the days where it was contentious as a fuel additive, but the risks regarding bioaccumulation are probably not as well understood as the producers here may expect. The scientist and the narrator both allude to 'persistence' but that doesn't really communicate the pernicious reality of mercury contamination in natural systems. A few more minutes explaining this could have conveyed some well-founded fears toward the audience regarding this dangerous metal. The shots of people handling it are unsettling but pretty cool though. It really is mercurial and a fascinating and amazingly-useful metal... too bad it will shred every cognitive function of these poor miners over a long enough exposure time.
I think I botched those units myself. haha. Now that I re-read my comment i'm thinking he said it was 30,000 ng/m3 and then mentioned 1 ug/m3 was high... either way it is the same ratio and could be confusing.
To add to this, it would have been nice to hear more about the alternatives to mercury and their respective risks.
Why don't you just make a documentary if you're so gay for Mercury
This is just a part of the full film 'MERCURY'. Link is in the description. Maybe they go more in detail who knows. With what you're educated on, I would watch that and then judge. But for what you are saying, good to know! Now I'm curious to watch their full film doc.
@@devon9075 You can edit your comment for any corrections. Just click on the three dots that appear in the upper right corner when you hover your cursor over your comment. :)
I live in Guyana and I wasn't aware of the problem with mercury. It seems as if the government doesn't even bring up this issue and take actions to resolve it. It may be considered illegal, but a lot of illegal things are swept under the rug and laws aren't strictly enforced because this is how things are like in developing countries. As the men say in this documentary, their living depends on this and it's how they earn money to support their families and send their children to school.
Guyana needs a transition to an IT based economy. The govt needs to push for increased internet speeds and free education in coding (Python, Java)
@@MS-tc2fs Do you even know what you're talking about? How can Guyana make such transition when it's still broke and struggling. We're still highly dependent on the primary sector for revenue. Besides, education is indeed free for programming. If you do CAPE subjects such as IT or Computer Science, you learn how to code.
@@momouwu1937 Poisoning yourselves with mercury is counterproductive to the development of society
@@momouwu1937 lol yeah that is pretty damn delusional and I’ve never been to and know only a little about Guyana 😅
This is the first time I have ever had contact with any human from Guyana! Most people have never heard of your country. Your country is so unsupported… so corrupt that the governments of each country recognize that mining cyanide & mercury widely support this and other corrupt practices An open secret to most big FMCG companies. I would love to know more about your country. Many western people are not allowed to travel there (I worked for a big company in Latin America, based in New York and was not even allowed to request a visa… Suriname and Guyana didn’t even “appear” on our “markets map”.). We need to learn about your culture, your country! Please can you upload content!!
Banning materials without providing a replacement, has and will never work. As the man said, only large scale mining companies will be able to do it. But that’s the whole point today. Transfer the wealth to large corporations, as the US did during the pandemic
During the pandemic? That has been happening for the last 100 years. Wealth inequality isn't a new thing.
There's a reason why they say the rich get richer and the poor gets poorer.
@@John-Perry its true but the pandemic amplified it tremendously
It is way more complicated than “rich corporation evil.” There are some pretty real reasons to not dump a bunch of mercury into your country,,,like what does it do to the poor kids who are drinking from a source just downstream or who play next to the small smelting plant, or the miners themselves. And yes, there have been a few cases where “ban it” worked- like with qualudes in the 70s. The reason you don’t hear about qualudes is that the US cracked down hard on the main ingredient….and almost overnight qualude overdoses and deaths dropped to practically zero.
@@Itried20takennames is cyanide safer in drinking water?
Yet nothing about Exxon ruining those fresh waters and nothing about all the trees being cut down. As a Guyanese we all know how rich the country is but the poor infrastructure and greed has lead down a terrible path. Gold is too plentiful in Guyana and it’ll never stopped being mined. Big up all my Guyanese and all my Caribbean people ✊🏾❤️
👋👋
I would like to donate at least 40% of my proceeds after watching this towards a good cause. It is not our fault American people use so much oil and their government buy up resources from us and make us rich. i do feel bad now.
@Repent! Because that will stop unfettered greed and capitalism. Ultimately, yes, but yeah kind of falling on deaf ears when they're living the problem.
@@TRC2002 it's funny how some users, out of millions, are known. I've seen Repent! around; They must have no life at all.
Power to The People. Kleptocrat poison and guillotine dreams my friend. Sounds like you're describing the dystopian concentration camp that was once my City here in the US. Same war, different soil. Open sewers as open caskets for classist and fascist plutocrat bastards. ✊🏴💥📡💥
Wow, excellent piece shining light on a huge problem that many are a part of, but unaware of..
ON
INSTAGRAM
"show us other ways, teach us to use them and we stop using mercury"
These people just try to make a living for their family. mostly by wasting their own health....
Just ask one question to dispel it all. Where are all the sick people, show them?
the man saying he has 16 siblings is the most guyanese thing i have ever heard.
You Guyanese?😂😂😂😂😂
somebody has to stop breeding
Not Black people
@@mrlampcompressor1614 people who can't afford kids should stop having kids
people can afford to have many kids. the world is ours and there is enough space on it for everyone to have their own land and farm to feed their family.
There are so few documentaries about Guyana! Despite the heavy nature of the video, it is still nice to see something about that region of the world. My mom grew up in a village near Georgetown. I have many stories but not a lot of images of what it may have looked like.
More documentaries about smaller countries please!
Not exactly, if you remember watching the Jonestown Massacre on PBS or Seconds from Disaster on NatoGeo, then you probably remember Guyana
I not from Guyana but I wish the people who used that beach would stop littering their trash everywhere. 👩🔧👨🔧
@@GbrJose not too many people know about this place me included till today
type up worlds deadlest roads guyana on you tube they do one there
@@GbrJose my mom is from there and I’d love to see a documentary
I remember several years ago heroin addiction destroyed my life, I suffered from severe depression and a mental disorder until I was recommended to psilocybin mushroom treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly I'm 8 years clean now. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.
they saved you from death bud, let's be honest here mushrooms are one of the most amazing things on this planet I wish people could all realize. they can solve a lot of problems, more than mental treatments.
yes, that's right, I researched and found out that shrooms are helpful in many ways but nobody talks about where to get them. Very hard to get a reliable source I can reach out to
Yeah, but I'm pretty sure of Sporeville he's an intelligent mycologist.
they've helped me a lot as well I'm a war vet diagnosed with PTSD. A lot of issues spun out of control when I came home. This is something i looked up and tried after trying the roller coaster of antidepressants. Day and night difference
How do I reach out to him? Is he on Instagram
Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to mine Mercury with your bare hands?
You can actually hold pure mercury with your bare hands with no health consequences, look up Cody’s lab eats mercury lol
Actually RUclips deleted that video but he also holds it
Yep, you can handle elemental Mercury pretty safely. I wouldn’t ingest it (technically safe in small quantities) though, cause it’s reacts with damned near *everything* and a lot of the products of those reactions are far, far more toxic - and obviously, the base metal isn’t exactly healthy.
the problems are the inhalation of mercury vapor when they boil the mercury off the gold, and the spread of mercury compounds all over the region from the waterways and the vapor, as the distributed mercury slowly reacts with other substances. I think you can even find elevated mercury levels in places that are only connected to gold mining areas by rainfall. the stuff poisons the whole region for decades to come, most of all the rivers. the industry has a terrible harm-benefit ration for a country. it has massively detrimental effects on society, kinda like how leaded gasoline used to make people stupid and violent.
Sometimes if you live below the poverty, and you desperately need the wealth, to some people, it's necessary, even if it is risky.
As a guyanese, I'd like to say that it's awesome to see some exposure for my small country that's often ignored in the grand scheme of things. And yeah. It's pretty sad that this is what our citizens resort to but this is how we live. We are a nice people though, very friend... Socome visit and explore the other aspects of our culture. ( and no I didn't even know that this happens here) Thanks VICE ! ❤️
🇬🇾❤
Exposure like this nah good I’m from skeldon it’s make rich people from all over come and take over starving the village man dem and then work for dem self to working for some white man or something
Isn’t guyana famous for melons
Since 2019 I traveled to Colombia I was intrigued with that part of the Amazon where they are hidden, without a doubt I will go to know soon
Please be safe, pandemics and mercury poisoning never produces afterlives.
i don't know whether its my obsession or its the quality of work that just keeps pulling me to this damn good content. i congratulate Shane smith the founder of vice and the quality of their work from Middle East, to Ukraine, Antartitic to baltic regions from south east to north including africa. covering almost everything of real importance for world community. Terrorism, conflicts health social and political issues. the vice is up there on top the table, thank you for becoming an integral part of my phd thesis.
What is your thesis about?
When I was a teen, I accidently dropped a mercury thermometer and it cracked . I spent the week thinking I was going to die from a tiny bit that will not effect you. So I can't imagine being exposed like these people
You mean affect? Fkin idiot
As with anything like this "get educated" on it. Mercury stays in the body and remains there and repeated exposure whether working with it or exposed environmentally, even consuming things like fish too often over a long period will cause toxicity and health problems eventually. Mercury is notoriously hard to get out of the body and relatively expensive. Chelation tech is getting better and Types of Blood filtration. Mercury is very difficult to get dislodged from the body tissues in order to remove it.
@@datarake7222 calm your tits lol
I think they use a different liquid since like the 70s
When my thermometer broke I swallowed the mercury, and I'm a Guyanese 🇬🇾.
Mercury is literally the most amazing looking metal I've ever seen. It's fun to stare at it...like a dangerous beauty.
Uhhh.. nurse right?? Lol check out bismuth way prettier and not sketch what so ever like this is
I poured it out of an thermometer in middle school it feels weightless but cool
Reminds me of Radium clocks everyone used to have.
go look at melted aluminum instead
yeah, its cool but...... this will make your day then haha ruclips.net/video/jeghGhVdt9s/видео.html&ab_channel=LockPickingLawyer
That one dude talking about Mercury not being dangerous was very convincing
Don't drink the funny looking drippy metal. Please.
Anecdotal evidence can sound convincing when people speak with confidence, but it isn't statistically relevant and is often impacted by confirmation bias.
It depends on the type. U can Handel metallic mercury pretty safely
@@TreesTrees statistically government’s lie when it benefits them so statistically people either believe everything or nothing they say
@@TreesTrees Seen the video by Cody's Lab where he swills it around in his mouth?
Mercury checks at the hospital afterwards came up negative. It's the vapour that's dangerous, or getting it in an open wound or actually ingesting it. Using a fume hood and cartridge respiratory system that's rated for mercury vapour, as well as gloves, is sufficient in most cases for handling mercury. Similarly for burning it off.
Cyanide is also a dangerous substance. Mercury is the lesser of the two evils as long as there are measures to recycle the mercury evaporated off as vapour. Widespread release into the air is obviously bad, as is it leeching into groundwater, but then cyanide would be worse in the groundwater, especially if it made its way into an aquifer at some point.
Cool to see my country represented honestly.
@BlackPill Bussy what
@BlackPill Bussy I'm Guyanese its not a German flag its the ruling political party flags the" people progressive party"
@@clairmontbabb2771 yeah and im pretty sure they're belgian not german
It was 2014 2015 election year ppp flag, pnc one was like Kenya 🇰🇪
@exposing truth ignorant
I had learned how to do that as a child in the 80’s in Colorado. They would test pans of soil from river beds to see if it was worth panning for gold there. They would break transistor tubes from old tvs to get the mercury, run it through a test pan of soil, then put the mercury in a hollowed out potato and bake it for a few hours in a fire, then check to see how much gold flake remained.
@Charles Coderre WRONG- in a more primitive form they are transistors
So dangerous
O wow
Vacuum tube. Like light bulbs, vacuum tubes needed to be devoid of oxygen because of their filament. So in the old days the air would be sucked out to avoid combustion/filament burning out, hence the name vacuum tube. Transistors came after tube technology.
Not harping just sharing some information I think is neat.
@Charles Coderre He's meaning mercury rectifiers most likely.
Guyanese in the house 🇬🇾✊🏽❤️🖤💛🤍💚. I’m first born in the country for my family from there. Only thing good I can take away from this is seeing a Vice documentary on my country. Besides Jim Jones I usually don’t hear too much content coverage on Guyana. Praying the economy flourishes and dilemmas lightens up 💔.
Hard to get people to stop doing something that they need to survive. Would be nice to find a reasonable alternative to the mercury.
There is an alternative, it’s called a sloose box
@@Smegma_pirate You must be the only one in the world that knows what that box looks like...I googled it and it found NOTHING on the internet...😂🤣😂
@@ladyaly864 lmao wtf you never watched gold rush its a gold trap with baffle and miners moss in it and the miners moss catches fine gold the baffles catch the big stuff and the water washes the dirt away
@@Smegma_pirate sluice box en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placer_mining
@@ladyaly864 He is correct, but spelled it wrong...Sluice Box.
"I have to do it for my family." The ultimate expression of a Government that has failed, causing one to turn to desperate and illegal action to provide for ones' family.
I guess the US has failed then too because there are plenty of criminals here
@@aquariuscheers9191 It's more about why there are criminals not so much as acknowledging they exist. With no safety nets, one bad turn of events can lead to a desparate situation. On the other hand, apparently handouts like welfare causes exploitative behavior.
@@BongRipBing Heisenberg has entered the chat
The US will be soon change it’s name to New Venezuela
@@AllShallBeRevealed1776 it is already Europe's Dog. Why do you think our leaders have been of European Descent?
I often complain about my 9-5 warehouse job, watching this definitely helps put things into perspective
I mean a shitty job is still a shitty job though. Just because someone has it worse doesn't mitigate or invalidate your own struggles.
@@Jakeomgwtfisevenhappening🎯
There's always somebody who has it worse. But anybody who is being held down by another is wrong
"It's illegal yea, but you aren't doing nothing like extraterrestrial."
I mean, it’s not like you are bringing in uranium 🤷🏾♂️
Lmao. Wtf is this dude saying?!?
not like drugs
You taught me something today.
It seems that the mining industry is always at odds with Maroon peoples.
If it isn't stealing and poisoning their lands, its poisoning them directly in this way.
they seem more like a darker brown to me than maroon
@@TreyAnderson528 that’s not what maroons mean it’s a pretty interesting culture if you want to read up
@@TreyAnderson528 not really applicable
@@TreyAnderson528 cringe
@@TreyAnderson528 bruh
Excellent documentary! I was unaware of the impacts of mercury and our environment, governments not locking down on this, how poor people are influenced to work in these mines because they have to feed their families/maintain a living, how places like Canada, Switzerland, and others are supporting this industry, how the black market is a multi-millions industry-esp. with mercury, and I learned so much more. Thank you so much for sharing.
As a whole Africa is one if not the most corrupt places in the world.
Haven't you read a single science book written in the USA since 1980??? WTF?!?! Lazy!!
@@ericswain4177 this video doesn't have anything to do with Africa, it takes place in South America.
"impacts of mercury and our environment" Everything we do impacts our Environment, the question is, are the benefits worth the costs, and mercury is a very important element for industry.
"how poor people are influenced to work in these mines because they have to feed their families/maintain a living" By being given a wage? A job? Whats so bad about that?
"places like Canada, Switzerland, and others are supporting this industry" yes again, whats so bad about that, we need mercury, they provide mercury. That's called trade.
"how the black market is a multi-millions industry" Then lets make it white, legitimize the market, make it more profitable, increase investment, help the poor people getting mercury etc. Prohibition does not work anyway.
@@ericswain4177 they are in South America Eric.
That one dude nailed it - the government needs to step up and teach them how to mine gold safely
@Jam D or do the work yourself while we wait. Sloth is as much a sin as greed.
@paulcruz68 if people think they are in fact mining in a safe way when they are not, they wont seek out more knowledge on the matter. What, exactly, do you think the role of a government that collects taxes and holds the power to forcibly conscript citizens into an army should be? Because from what ive seen, people that use the kind of logic and rhetoric you use tend to make excuse after excuse until the government that imposes these things upon its civilians has almost zero responsibility to care for its citizens in return.
Great video!
A few things:
1. I'm stuck on the Surinamese government banning mercury but allowing cyanide to be used in the mining process. The Maroon man made a valid point about the fact that it is no safer than the substance they've placed a ban on.
2. The boat inspector guy seems like he has received a good handful of kickbacks throughout his career. I suspect this is the primary reason why this smuggling operation is still thriving after so many years of trying to put an end to it.
3. Dr. Wip mentioned the dangers of emissions contaminating the air. I didn't even think about how this is affecting the air quality in the region. I could easily see how this would affect the wildlife. Sadly, it appears the damage has already been done and the demand for mercury won't ease up any time soon.
Again, thanks Vice!
Cyanide is harmless if you have the antidote. IIRC, it reacts with cyanocobalin to form vitamin B12. The only problem is you need the equipment and expertise not to kill yourself.
Also there's simply not enough of the mercury to poison the only country, but there's enough to render the immediately area downstream of the mines uninhabitable.
@@samsonsoturian6013 vitamin b12 is cyanide whaa?
Cyanide is not as dangerous as mercury. Cyanide dilutes and decomposes, mercury stays around and accumulates.
@@victordonchenko4837 It is estimated that 1 to 4 grams of a souble mercury (II) salt is lethal. But only 0.2 grams of sodium cyanide is deadly. So in the short term cyanides are more dangerous.
Crazy enough my father showed me how to process gold with mercury when I was maybe 12 years old, of course very small scale and we were in a well ventilated garage.
I remember my father he gave me a mask and told me to not breath in and to hold my
"They have to build a fence in the river"
Don't give the government ideas.
* "They gotta build a fence in the mothafuckin' river"
@@JGunit beater is the civilised translator
@@JGunit try using the term "Fatherfuckin" river". I like it....has much more gonadal rhythm to it makes me smile yes it goes deep as it should. Yes the Fatherfuckers of the world indeed tis so much more accurate
@@HigherWaysWoman copy that
@@HigherWaysWoman no
We watch from our devices that exist because of the gold they feed their families with. It's really fucked up but I won't judge anyone for feeding their family. I do think the one guy said the big gold mining companies are probably doing much worse with the blessing of their governments. Like always the little guy gets a raw deal while the rich and privileged judge and rule.
The amount of gold in your phone is trivial. Also, not all gold and silver comes from this godforsaken place.
@@goodkrypollo1706 I agree as individuals the amount of gold in our phones is very very small aprox 1/35th of 1 gram. So every 35 phone is equal to 1 gram. And if you think China the manufacturing mecca of cell phones isn't buying gold from those as you called them "God forsaken places". Your not being honest with yourself.
@@mp6756 there's other ways to extract gold cheaply without using cyanide and mercury.
When I was a little boy and was sick with pneumonia in the late 1980's, I had to constantly have my oral temperature monitored with a mercury thermometer. It took forever to measure my temperature and as a frustrated 6 year old, I bit the end off of a mercury thermometer and got a tiny mouthful of a few drops of mercury that I immediately spat into the sink. My mom freaked out and rushed me to the emergency room, knowing how poisonous it was. Fortunately, I did not swallow any mercury and was not seriously injured. Knowing mercury can cause severe airway and esophageal burns as only 2 dangers as a former emergency nurse, I am shocked to see those poor souls handling mercury with their bare hands and breathing in mercury fumes.
7:00 i really wanna appreciate that extractor for taking responsibility to build a system to keep him safe,
that was smart af
Only to put it into the ground water so he along with everyone else can drink it later. Yep...sUpER sMaRt
After watching this. Now think of privileged pics complaining at universities about micro aggression that never happened as the white supremacist USA gave them scholarship to act like cundz
That's an interesting take.
@@thisgame2 Lol get help dude.
@@bobt8578 i think he said the water gets pumped back into the system while the mercury deposits.. that's how i understood it at least
I love how that 1 guy is like '' Mercury is not as bad as people say it is'' lol. It is not what people say it is its scientific facts
Just like COVID 19 -.-
@@TonyMontana-qp9bu ya? Crazy covid has a 99% survival rate. But you dont wanna hear some real facts.
@@TheFn414 lol you look at overall survival as if that's the only metrics to consider 😂 maybe work a job like me and speak with young people on a weekly basis whose lungs are destroyed or are suffering other horrendous lingering effects
@@TheFn414 about 92% of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan made it home alive... I guess battlefield injuries aren't that bad either 😅
@@RUclips_is_full_of_trolls Im 25. Iv had covid 2 times now… I have antibodies built up… And ALL of my friends have also had it and have had nothing happen…. I also work in the Healthcare Field and see over 40 patients a day… And guess what Most of them are young… I have seen cases of Young people have bad effects… But you wanna know what the one factor that is the same between EVERYONE that has Adverse effects to this virus? Ever. Single. One. Had a pre Existing health condition… Everyone… I have yet to see a patient who is healthy. With 0 Pre-existing health conditions come in and have a Adverse reaction to the virus… None.
God bless Dr. Archer, what a remarkable woman, battling the stigma that mercury-handling workers face while fighting for their health in the first line! Probably with inadequate means too!!
VICE leading the short documentary space yet again. Well done, bravo.
dont worry, they will make a short docu on trans right again soon, hide the dislike ratio and pple in comments will say vice lost it.
Next day upload a docu about crack heads and weed and the same people comment "now this is the old vice we all love"
Bout time
This is like a scene out of Mad Max: Fury Road. What a world we live in
The u
My science teacher showed us mercury in grade 6 science class (he wore gloves and a mask). One of the best science teachers EVER. It was "general" science but he knew A LOT about EVERYTHING !!
5:01 That's the Gnarliest coke nail ivd ever seen
That boy can toot a whole gram with that nail 😆
@@codeinecowboy8607 lol ABSOLUTELY correct... come to think of it...what your nails be lookin like these days Cowboy
I noticed that and thought “nah, must mean something else…what do I know?”. So thanks for confirming! 😆
That was a extension I just use a scooper lol
I am 51 now.
Lately I have looked around and wondered....
Which is most important?
Technological Advancement
Or
Human Progression?
Have we lost the chance to CHOOSE?
Blame Democrats. The obvious corruption. They literally funded the caravan and now the Taliban.
Illuminati told me to tell u delete your comment
What’s the difference?
Historically, mercury was used extensively in hydraulic gold mining in order to help the gold to sink through the flowing water-gravel mixture.
Thin gold particles may form mercury-gold amalgam and therefore increase the gold recovery rates.
Large-scale use of mercury stopped in the 1960s.
However, mercury is still used in small scale, often clandestine, gold prospecting.
It is estimated that 45,000 metric tons of mercury used in California for placer mining have not been recovered.
Mercury was also used in silver mining.
The thing is that to mine small gold effectively without mercury you need a lot more money for better equipment or you need to work with cyanide which also requires more money to properly contain and work with. There's not really a better way for these small time illegal miners that I know of. Probably some dudes from Alaska/Canada could show them a way to get a similar amount of gold with the right equipment.
Cyanide is for hardrock mining where you are going after microscopic gold in ore. Gravity systems are used for river deposited gold, as seen here. Though mercury or cyanide both can make it require less precision, with mercury being the simpler of the two.
While working for a hatchery I had several gold claims that produced platinum and small amounts of iridium, gold and palladium.
The best way to pull gold from the rivers and stream beds when it is so miniscule is using tightly woven artificial turf, on a long 9-20 degree ramp. We pin it down to corrugated metal roof slates, up to 50 feet long.
The tiny gold pieces get trapped into the mesh of the turf, the wave of the corrugated metal sheets makes spots where the gold gathers.
We made enough money to pay for most supplies ( steaks, pot, whiskey, beer, hunting and fly fishing gear, outdoor tents, feather beds and gear, clothes and boats ) needed to remain in the forest 10 months a year.
It takes little investment and not much hard work
How about stopping mining and live a life worth living?
IF the home owner has a up to date claim on his or her property, ( 25$ a year plus about $2.50 for the claim ) and the municipality wants to widened road they will still be able to take from you the desired land mass, BUT they will have to give you length×width×depth 50 meters beyond the bedrock what YOU deem your claim to be worth - where all the home owners on your street without ownership of their property mineral rights will be offered a pittance compared to the lands true value, if they deny acceptance of that payment they will be asked to sign saying they refused, now they loose the land and get nothing in return, not even a tax break.
@@jj5962 they make 1-4 weeks of income in a single day on a good day. Sounds like they live good to me
Y'all finally did a piece on GUYANA!! Please more from here. Love Vice
I still think gravity methods are more effective at fine gold recovery but they do require upfront investment. Mercury is effective at trapping the fine gold particles but there is also mercury loss to the environment during the process - so it isn't going to be 100% recovery regardless of the option you use. Plus, its use in the field not being regulated means people are using alot of different methods with mercury. Something like a shaker table is ideal but even a spiral pan (for a couple hundred bucks or so) would recover the same amount in my view. It might not be investment they have readily available but it puts money in their pockets instead of the mercury traders and would provide a path forward of getting out of this cycle. You run sluices for volume and use the spiral pan or something like a gold cube for running the concentrate.
I heard that back in the PS2 era, Sony was dragged in this mining issue due to when PS2 was so in demand, these poor miners were forced to work double time to harvest more rare earth. Because one of the rare components of the hardware's microchip was imported from this part of the globe.
I’d be so bored if I didn’t have vice in my life. Massive respect to you guys.
Damn this is crazy sad. Get a life bro
just started watching it use to remind me of how 60 minutes use to be back in the 60's and 70\s when it was worth watching
All blessing for Guyana.
Beautiful country. wonderful hard working people and rich natural resources.
next video should focus on the influx of Venezuelan and Haitian.
In the 90s, when I was in grade school, I had a toy maze that had a ball of mercury in it that you had to guide through the maze. I thought it was the coolest thing and I use to bring it to school to show my classmates. Crazy how dangerous it is.
A few decades before that American children used to bring guns (shotguns and rifles) to school as part of their "show and tell." Talk about dangerous. lol
@@mahavakyas002 And before that, kids were working in factories 😆
@@kurtdewittphoto before that, many did not make it past a few years old
And before that teachers would beat students back to their senses with a stick
Wanna hear something crazy? I had the same toy as a kid in the 80s, only the maze was coated with something hydrophobic and it just used a drop of water. It's like we're moving backwards.
A wise man once said "when the rivers are all dried up, and the trees cut down, man will then realize that he will not be able to eat money."
😂🤣😂We all know these trees are the only ones that will ever grown on this planet and that evaporated water coming down in the rains don't refill rivers...That "Wise Man" was making a fool out of you...😂🤣😂
@@ladyaly864 are you on crack cocaine?
I think it was the last fish caught.
@@jnanacaksusa3932 haha you are correct.
@12:29 the mercury has given him super powers to drive straight even though the wheel is pointing 90 degrees😂
Guyana 🇬🇾 that's my home country!!! Thanks Vice for covering this problem miners face !!
Up
Imagine i'm living in Guyana and didn't even know they does smuggle mercury damn.
@Rosco Pecouletrane Just came out lol
lol when I see stuff like this I think the same..and then I wake up again and go to work 🤦🏿♀️🤷🏿♀️😅
@Rosco Pecouletrane that is how Guyanese people speak
You know what's up with the flags that look like the german flag everywhere? Black red gold
Thats the power of the internet🤔
I clicked on this video and was surprised to see this was taking place in my country. Good to know
They knew it was toxic, but the weight of taking care of their family outweigh their safety.
I'm from South Africa. Pelé sounds like he's speaking Afrikaans which is one of our local languages. It's fascinating...
Edit: Lol I'm not saying that he is speaking Afrikaans!
Afrikaans is a derivative of the Dutch language..
I'm trying to say that I understood Pelé much more than I understood the Dutch language.. hence the "fascinating..."
That's all...
It’s because Afrikaans is very close to Dutch which is pretty much what he’s speaking- both SA and Suriname were Dutch colonies.
@@boarbot7829 yes I know that. But I've been to Holland, you can hear the similarities but not like in this video. I understood most of what he said... That's why I was amazed
@@kadijadiallo1950 cool! That’s great to know.
They an interesting people there no doubt!
Its really sounds like full on dutch :-) the interviewer is also a dutchie for sure XD
Im quarter guyanese n its cool to see channels i actually watch talk about things id never know otherwise
The fact that we get free documentaries on RUclips by VICE News is truly a gift 👍
They're making bank. Don't worry.
VICE NEWS is slowly adopting Nolan level cinematography and Zimmer kind of sound track.
Best thing that could ever happen for them
As a fellow Guyanese, our country needs help. Being exploited, and no development happening in our country is devastating. Our people are suffering physically, mentally and economically.
do sumfin
Your government's fault
Doesn't look like she did manual labor a day in her life
Never thought mercury can have this much effect outside a thermometer
It's bad stuff. It bioaccumulates up the food chain. Also sometime look up where the phrase "Mad as a hatter" comes from.
Its been found in the ocean fish for over 20 years. All fish in the oceans have it in their bodies.
They don't even use it in thermometers anymore .
@Albert S i learned that while being pregnant with my first child. I hardly ever ate any tune while pregnant especially not the first trimester
Bc you didn’t pay attention in science class
Vice News is the absolute best documentary channel on RUclips. Consistently great and always interesting.
Was and is starting to get back to their roots and not the woke crap they’ve been spewing
🤣
Thank you for bringing awareness to this insidious problem
It destroys the human body. I know how it's used in illegal mining. Instead of dealing with poverty, greed will find a way to exploit.
The gold miners talk about getting punished if they don't find gold. This is some dystopian stuff. I'm glad the smelter was using a respirator and air flow system and capture. I imagine a lot of smelters don't have such a set up.
he needs to shave better for the respirator to work correctly
I notice he didn't show any captured mercury
🚦SERCH ADITYA RATHORE-HE ALSO MAKES INFORMATIVE CONTENT LIKE VICE NEWS
Really enjoyed the narrators voice. He does his own thing and it sounds great.
I wasn't aware of this mercury crisis. Watching this video reminded me how as a child we would play with the bit of mercury from a old broken mercury type thermometer. People do crazy things in the name of money. They are crazier in the name of gold.
I recently watched a video about reclaiming gold/platinum from e-waste. They found microbes living in gold mines that selectively eat gold.
These guys can stop using mercury, just crush up the stone very finely and run it through a bioreactor then filter out the microbes (purple stuff). Much higher extraction rates (get like 85% of gold out instead of 50%).
Safer, more environmentally friendly, might be a bit slower not sure but with higher extraction rates, slower won't matter.
Go teach them . Not just preach.
I mean how do you think these people could afford that? When they still use the most primitive mining techniques out there? I have property in Guyana, and there are far bigger problems. I’m personally working towards opening a plastic recycling plant there. You have to see the country of Guyana to understand it
N I thought I knew so much lol. Sheesh some of the people who comments I read on RUclips know far more about some things then I ever knew lol. I really be amazed at the knowledge I gain from just comments. Super cool stuff man
@@mitchellreed9720 sorry, I also left a message on the filter tech video's site. Just trying to connect 2 strings.
ruclips.net/video/4yGPm1U7U6s/видео.html
@@mitchellreed9720 You’re better off opening a call center / IT support center. The country needs expansion of the IT industry which has allowed countries like India to establish a middle class.
The worst part is they sell the idea that they need murcury and that it's the only way to extract the most amount of gold.
Borax can do an equal or better job when used properly. Also, it's non toxic.
Tell that to the ants and rats that eat the peanut butter I put Borax in. Oh you can't they are dead.
@@pussyfilterincrediblehonke3079 wrong time but funny
20 Mule Team Borax Good Stuff Used it for years to Tan Bever Hides..
Mercury poisoning vs Starving. It's a hard choice to make but I see that most miners pick the former.
Anytime a human says "I'm doing this so my kids can go to school" you have to think something's not right with this world
After watching this. Now think of privileged pics complaining at universities about micro aggression that never happened as the white supremacist USA gave them scholarship to act like cundz
@@thisgame2 just because a country is developed, doesn’t mean it’s perfect. but whyre you comparing the two?
Starvation never produces afterlives though.
I'm 65 and can remember playing with mercury when I was a kid. We even broke some thermometers on purpose just to get it. Thank God I have no known problems from it today.
Chemist here: Cyanide actually decomposes relatively quick from soil and atmosphere. If it decomposes in soil, it usually fertilizes the soil in the process.
However, mercury fixes itself into fat tissue. This means that it travels up the food chain with no good way of getting out. This is why, per ounce, large fish like tuna have much more mercury than smaller fish like salmon.
Question, if one eats canned tuna here and there, should they be tested for their mercury level? I'm guessing it stays in the human body.
@@deadinside8781 there is no need to worry. The amount of tuna that would be required to cause harm to an adult is extremely large. Assuming that you are over the age of 25 and have a BMI less than 30, you should be perfectly fine. Children should limit their intake though since heavy metals like mercury can have a massive impact on brain development.
@@linusavogadro142 oh thanks a lot for responding, I'll keep that in mind✌️
I'm trying to make a gold magnet with copper and silver .will it work?
I'm trying to make a gold magnet with copper and silver
Will it work
Yea it was really fun narrating this documentary, first time and not the last time
This was you? If so, do you work for VICE offices??
Great work, your tone was spot on
This was "FUN!?"
Great job
That Surinamese language was absolutely beautiful
This might be the single worst case of hiding a source's identity I have ever seen, who is the actual target of the expose?
?
There is no single “target”….? It’s a documentary about the (legal and illicit) mercury trade in Guyana
It Detrimental that these Peasants work 💪👷 Sun Up To Sun Down and if they don't find Anything in the Soil they don't get Paid for their Efforts, This is Slavery and Evil at its Best!
@@boulou5995 they are humans, not peasants. Stop degrading them further through the use of out dated terms!!
Vice has a huge habit of doing this all the time. The Mexican pharmacy documentary they did they had license plates and street signs in B roll footage of the people they were interviewing about the cartel. Vice sucks.
Y'all should rerun Michael k williams black market series that y'all did.
The car jacking episode was dope
they finished almost all of season 2 before he passed
I think he died.
@@Bombstark yeah he did, they know, this person is just saying to upload the full season to RUclips
My new defence in any argument or conflict : “it’s not like I was doin’ anyting extraterrestrial “
I wish we could buy gold directly from the people who dig it up. Eff the westerners who take advantage of these people
Yea because only westerners use gold and do bad things. Genius level thinking
Well you can. Book a flight and hotel and go gold shopping. Obviously the trip will be more expensive than the gold. It is almost as if companies that sell gold in developed countries sell it at a mark up to cover their transportation costs and salaries of everyone in the supply chain.
My home country, I'm just so happy to see scenes of the beautiful country. I'm so surprised at this mercury trade going on and I hope a better solution can be found.
Just your friendly daily reminder from Vice that the world's a horrible place, everything is dying or burning, everyone is corrupt and life is hopeless and futile. Have a nice day!
I’ve live in Guyana my whole life and never once heard of mercury smuggling.
criminal organizations in 2021 all over the world are very discreet now...my county in Mexico is going through war with cartels and it is very deep but not a lot of people know whats really going down..ever. Only the Government. Anywhere it is, the Government is always there as a Partner and giving out permissions.
i take it you're wealthy and live in a big city, Georgetown? ;-|
It's because you are not an investigative journalist..
@@techcafe0 lol no I live in #64 village next to the beach.
@@techcafe0 I've lived in the Country side of Guyana & never heard of mercury smuggling either 🤷🏾♂️
"Pele" definitely seems like he's still in the game.
Pele the biggest guy in the game.
@@matn2952 It make sense, using this name, he must be the biggest guy in the game
OG Pele , That Man said "5 Months" 😂 I Know a Hustla When I See One
Most dangerous Black market ! Wasn't expecting it ,to be my country, Great documentary all round 👏👏👏🇬🇾
Lmaooo they covered the miners identity but not the guys working with him 😂🤦🏾♂️
😂😂😂
My first thought 🤣
I got mercury poisoning last summer thanks to the massive wildfire we had in Oregon and let me tell you, it was not an experience I want to relive!!
I saw the fire in southern Oregon last summer too. Around the Klamath Falls area
What was it like
There's mercury in Forest fires?? Damn
Say what? Do tell
What happened during the poisoning
Great quality documentary
I got expelled one time for taking mercury to school. I didn't know 😬. They had to shut down the school. The EPA did an emergency assembly on the dangers of mercury. It was a helluva experience
haha, woops!
This is actually the first piece I've seen about everyday life in Guyana.
@Deporting Americans Back to Europe found the racist troll
@Deporting Americans Back to Europe no one cares, least of all you. You just looked for the first contrarian thing you could find in order to start arguments, trollface. So shut up and get drafted.
@Deporting Americans Back to Europe you need to get your phone taken away, kid.
@Deporting Americans Back to Europe go cry out in a prison shower, troll
It’s so wild to me to see that person holding mercury in his bare hand😱
There are safer ways to collect gold, but this is the cheapest material.
Yeah, Slavework is Cheap... for the Companies and Slave Owners -_-
@@doinked895 a lot of these people are just small scale miners, not big company employees.
Guyanese accents are so interesting. It's like a mix of Jamaican and Irish lol.
True
We call it creoles
I noticed a lot of german words too, flashe for bottle, klein for small, when they were interviewing the guy on the beach
@@Barkingstingray in africa they are alot of places that speak some kind of belgium mix.
The belgians used to be one of the largest slave traders in africa.
In Surinam they speak Dutch, which is the official language.
Just gotta say the camera work is top notch
Really do like that vice is getting back into this sort of journalism.
Nothing wrong with the pop-culture focus over the years. Love it, but this grit is what I always watched vice for.
I see this very often. Vice and vice news are 2 different channels for a reason
Damnnnn no matter what I will always love ❤️ my country 🇬🇾 much love and respect to VICE for putting Guyana out to the world 💯
Y'all need to start promoting culture. a doc about smugglers ain't exactly what we wanna use to promote Island spices.
Very informative doccies yoy are making. Is it possible to change the colour of the subtitles. Very hard to read over light backgrounds in the film
Go back to school with that spelling, holy
We love and respect Guyana, the people of color, historically of the rainforest!!
Not supposed to eat too many fish from the FL Everglades either because of toxic mercury levels.
What is the cause?
“Gaseous mercury, poured into the atmosphere naturally and by human industry, is traveling on trade winds from as far away as Europe and Africa.”
I think it's like that all over the U.S, except maybe Hawaii and Alaska. I know here in IN it's the same deal, there's an advised monthly limit on the consumption of locally caught fish.
Any process involving mercury will have some residue or runoff. As Ane said, you know for a fact SOMEWHERE in the world people are processing with Mercury. The guy with the mercury fan is just burning it off and it floats around. Sure it is tiny. The problem is that because it is inert and stays in the system, even a tiny amount after generations will begin to build into larger and larger levels in the ecosystem. The reason why we hear about fish is because they are lower in the eco chain so they are first to start accumulating it, and second they are aqueous and basically any runoff will end up in the water at the end of the day. It also accumulates in higher levels. If a tiny amount is in plankton, dx mercury, then a fish eating 20 plankton a day has 20dx, then a fish that eats that fish 10 times a day has 200dx mercury... this effect is known as bioaccumulation. Amphibians are also considered first level benchmarks for contamination, because they filter a lot through their skin. This issue was raised by herpetologists in the late 90s who started to see massive drops in amphibian populations.
Any fish that predates on other fish smaller in the food chain are usually full of mercury and supposed to be eaten rarely if ever. The causes as other people have said is generally linked back to industry, most specifically textiles amongst other large industries are frequent offenders.
I got acute mercury poisoning from eating tuna too regularly, not fun
Yo . So glad to see this. I'm from Suriname and also worked in the gold mining. When I was on top of the sand. They gave me 1 dop Mercury to spray on the sand. And after 3 weeks of working u get the same weight of mercury u threw again. All of it came with the gold . They separate by burning them.
so what are you working now?
It's not like these people have other opportunities to put food on the table.
Exactly 🤦♂️.. I'm seeing some people in the comments that's MAD ignorant 🤡's
@@riversider2506 Well then in 10 years they will face minamata disease and will give birth to blue babies which will die after birth that's what happened in japan i don't blame them as they are desperate but simply put they are working for their children only for their grandchildren to die from birth defects......😕😕😕😕
They do, it's called revolution.
@@JCImageInc. That's just shuffling certain guys to the top usaually in these poor unstable countries once they reach the top they themselves become corrupt and if fear of loosing power like their predecesor they themselves become dictator
@@anandisrocking007 japan did it and banned disabled people from having children till the 90s
you are going to trust that miner who says mercury isnt dangerous? I wouldnt trust a guy that drives a truck with a steering wheel like that lmao
He keeps turning like that he gonna be heading the opposite direction
7.30 it's music to my ears , what a voice
Jeez! How long did this take to make? It's incredibly high quality!