The Yanacocha gold mine piles up ore and drips cyanide through the heap. A solution containing dissolved gold is collected, extracted through an electro-chemical process, and refined. Elemental mercury, a highly toxic substance, is a by-product of this process. The mine sells the mercury to instrument manufacturers.
La mina de oro de Yanacocha apila los minerales crudos, y gotea cianuro por la pila. El residuo que contiene oro se recolecta, se extrae por un proceso electro-químico, y se refine. El mercurio elemental, una sustancia altamente tóxica, es un producto secundario de éste proceso. La mina vende el mercurio a empresas que fabrican instrumentos.
source: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/art2215.html
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