Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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  • View through a muddy windshield shows trucks hauling waste rock at Batu Hijau, a copper and gold mine located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa east of Jakarta. Ore is removed from the open-pit mine with electric shovels and haul trucks. Tailings from processing are disposed in the ocean and waste rock in the rainforest raising environmental concerns.
    Gold_20060413_00538.tif
  • Gold camp at mile-wide Batu Hijau, a copper and gold mine where life is quiet in the newly built town. Villages were moved from their homes to make way for the mine.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_00332.tif
  • Gold from a mine in Ghana is packed and sorted for transport.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_00922.tif
  • African guards watch as helicopter takes $7M worth of gold bars out of the Newmont mine in Ghana. old from a mine in Ghana is packed and sorted for transport.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_01046.tif
  • Explosives set in pit at mile-wide Batu Hijau, a copper and gold min that is located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa east of Jakarta. <br />
After men set explosions, ore is removed from the open-pit mine with electric shovels and haul trucks. Tailings from processing are disposed in the ocean and waste rock in the rainforest raising environmental concerns.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_00813.tif
  • Randy Olson, a photographer on assignment for National Geographic at a gold mine in Ghana.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223065.TIF
  • Miners hold pans of water in an amalgam  pond mixing mercury with ore to separate out the gold. Workers absorb high levels of mercury by bathing and brushing their teeth in the discard. Health issues can include permanent lung damage and potential brain damage. Exposure can also cause irritation to eyes, skin, stomach, cause weakness, headaches and breathing problems.
    Gold_20060421_02357.tif
  • Miners hold pans full of water in an amalgam pond to mix mercury with ore and separate out the gold. Workers absorb high level of mercury which causes health issues. If inhaled, mercury can cause permanent lung damage and potential brain damage. Exposure can also cause irritation to eyes, skin, stomach, cause weakness, headaches and breathing problems.
    Gold_20060421_02198.tif
  • Women with young children walk through the unpaved streets of a gold mining town in northeastern Congo.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976459.TIF
  • Gold from a mine in Ghana is packed into plastic after being sorted for transport.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222965.JPG
  • Workers at Rajesh Exports, the largest gold exporter in the world. They are making jewelry in intricate, ornate designs that appeals to Indian buyers.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223059.JPG
  • A shopkeeper arranges his wares in the town of Karang Pani which supports the nearby gold mining operations.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223003.JPG
  • A high wing float plane soars over the water at Batu Hijau gold mine's dedicated port facilities at Benete Bay.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222953.JPG
  • Headlights illuminate the small passage for illegal mining in an underground shaft on Ashanti Gold land.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_01190.tif
  • Gold miners in Kalimantan where one takes a smoke break from the hard work.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223001.JPG
  • Drawers are full of gold bracelets at Rajesh Exports, the largest gold exporter in the world.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223061.TIF
  • Goldbricks from a mine in Ghana are packed and sorted for transport. They export about 500,000 ounces of gold in one mine a year.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223010.TIF
  • A teenager works with miners sluicing for gold at an improvised, illegal mine.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223016.JPG
  • Headlights illuminate the small passage for illegal mining in an underground shaft on Ashanti Gold land.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_01214.tif
  • Workers at Rajesh Exports, the largest gold exporter in the world.  A thousand people work in a huge building that resembles a prison. 95 percent of them also live in company housing.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223060.TIF
  • Illegal miners sort rock while huddled at their shaft on Ashanti Gold land.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223013.JPG
  • Gold miners bathe on the riverbanks of the Pra River. Heavy metals pollute the amalgam pond that they wade and wash in exploring them to high levels of mercury.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223020.JPG
  • Portrait of a gold miner in Kalimantan wearing protective clothing but his face is caked with splashed mud.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222996.TIF
  • Gold from a mine in Ghana is packed for transport by helicopter. Security is high and guards are armed.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223011.JPG
  • Illegal mining in an underground shaft on Ashanti Gold land.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_01280.tif
  • Illegal gold mining on the riverbanks of the Pra River where the landscape is destroyed by crowds digging for precious metal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223026.JPG
  • Indonesian farmers illegally dig for gold undercutting a torn up riverbank in Borneo.<br />
Thousands of workers have left their fields to join Indonesia’s gold rush of artisanal mining for the chance to make five dollars a day.<br />
<br />
Eastern Java has high unemployment, and many migrant workers initially came to Kalimantan to do artisanal timber work. But the government stomped out small operations in favor of two big companies so they could control the industry. All the artisanal timber workers switched to gold. <br />
<br />
Eastern Java is overcrowded and the government has an official transmigration program to Kalimantan. Workers earn more so they camp having access only to water from the amalgam ponds where they bath and drink.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198340.TIF
  • Haul trucks carry rock waste at Batu Hijau, an open pit copper and gold mine. The second largest mine in Indonesia has a tropical monsoonal climate with high rainfall, and an extended arid season with almost no rainfall. Other environmental considerations include significant seismic activity, with the associated risk of tsunamis, and acid rock drainage, not to mention the existence on site of an endangered species, the yellow-crested cockatoo.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222957.TIF
  • View through a muddy windshield shows trucks hauling waste rock at Batu Hijau, a copper and gold mine located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa east of Jakarta. Ore is removed from the open-pit mine with electric shovels and haul trucks. Tailings from processing are disposed in the ocean and waste rock in the rainforest raising environmental concerns.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222956.TIF
  • Aerial view of Batu Hijau gold mine's dedicated port facilities at Benete Bay on the coast of Sumbawa Island in Indonesia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222954.TIF
  • A gold miner in Kalimantan lights a smoke during a break from work.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222997.TIF
  • A plane flies around clouds over Batu Hijau gold mine's dedicated port facilities at Benete Bay in Indonesia's Sumbawa Island.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222952.TIF
  • Illegal gold mining on the riverbanks of the Pra River in Ghana. They worked in the tailings left by large industrial mines until run out by the military so they moved to riverbanks and work in a ruined landscape.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223018.TIF
  • Illegal gold mining on the riverbanks of the Pra River in Ghana. Miners worked in the tailings left by large industrial mines until run out by the military so they moved to riverbanks and work in a ruined landscape.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222968.TIF
  • Wokers at Rajesh Exports, the largest gold exporter in the world.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223058.TIF
  • Workers wear protective clothing when handling gold from a mine in Ghana as they pack and sort it for transport. Newmont Ghana gold mine pulls about 500,000 ounces a year from this mine.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223009.TIF
  • Bars of gold inside the largerst exporter of gold in the world.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222985.TIF
  • Illegal gold mining on the riverbanks of the Pra River. Artisanal miners work on the tailing piles around big industrial mines leaving a ruined landscape.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198352.TIF
  • Rough hands pressing excess mercury from extracted gold. Miners use mercury to separate gold from rock while they inhale toxic vapors during the refining process. A gram of gold may fetch $35 for a miner while adding a potentially heavy cost to his health including neurological and genetic damage.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198347.TIF
  • Gold bricks  from a mine in Ghana are packed and sorted for transport under armed guards by helicopter.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198349.JPG
  • Miners in a pond mixing mercury with ore to separate out the gold. Other miners bathe and brush their teeth in the pond that is laid with mercury. Miners test 1000 ppm and the normal range is 170-300. They earn $5US a day.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198348.JPG
  • Miners in a pond mix mercury with ore to separate out the gold. Other miners bathe and brush their teeth in the pond that is laid with mercury. Miners test 1000 ppm and the normal range is 170-300. They earn $5US a day.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222998.TIF
  • Miners use mercury to separate gold from rock while they inhale toxic vapors during the refining process. A gram of gold may fetch $35 for a miner while adding a potentially heavy cost to his health including neurological and genetic damage.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198341.TIF
  • Aerial view of mile-wide Batu Hijau, a copper and gold mine, located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa east of Jakarta. Ore is removed from the open-pit mine with electric shovels and haul trucks. Tailings from processing are disposed in the ocean and waste rock in the rainforest raising environmental concerns.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198339.TIF
  • Fevered by hopes of striking it rich, illegal miners claw sacks of “money stone” –gold ore- from the Pra River in Ghana. Their toll feeds the world’s hunger for gold, and leaves a ruined landscape in its wake.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198338.TIF
  • Miners in an amalgam pond mix mercury with ore to separate out the gold. Workers test high levels of mercury after working, bathing and brushing their teeth in the toxic water.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223002.TIF
  • Workers shovel and dig in an illegal gold mine on the riverbanks of the Pra River. The landscape is devastated in the process of obtaining the precious metal.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223019.TIF
  • A headlamp illuminates illegal mining in a shaft on Ashanti Gold land in Ghana.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223015.TIF
  • Illegal miners scraping for gold on the riverbanks of the Pra River. The ruined landscape causes environmental damage that is not repaired.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222970.TIF
  • Miners wear headlamps to negotiate narrow passages underground in an illegal mine shaft on Ashanti Gold land in Ghana.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223014.TIF
  • A young teenager stands on a submerged log to help miners sluice for gold in mine tailings at an improvised mine in Ghana.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198337.TIF
  • Gold mining in northeastern Congo. Quarantesept and Cinqante are gold mining towns near Ituri forest reserve in DR Congo. Hundreds of people from Congo and Uganda come to work at the mines.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976478.TIF
  • Rocks are smashed and washed by hand in search of gold flecks in an old mine tunnel left by Belgians. Miners hold flashlights to see underground when they work.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976460.TIF
  • Security Guards are armed to watch over men digging for gold in a pit. Quarantesept and Cinqante are gold mining towns just outside the Ituri forest reserve in DR Congo
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_1001265.TIF
  • Villagers in the war-weary Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo scrape for gold in a shaft dug decades ago by a Belgian company. Armed groups controlled Ituri’s rich mines, using gold to buy weapons. Hundreds of people from Congo and Uganda come to work at the mines.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976458.TIF
  • Pople walk by modest homes that line the unpaved road in a small gold mining town in northeastern Congo.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976456.TIF
  • A gold miner blasts soil into a sluice with a water hose.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6570_706636.JPG
  • Sweat pours down the face of an iIllegal miner scraping for gold on the riverbanks of the Pra River.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222969.TIF
  • Homes damaged and knocked down by surface mining blasting. The gold mining company never compensated the residents from the damage incurred in 1986.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223017.TIF
  • A bulldozer works in a slurry of mud pushing rock that is washed at a gold mine near Coldfoot, Alaska. Gold was discovered in 1899 and prosoectors abandoned it five years later. The area was used as a service stop for trucks for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline beside the "haul road" or Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay in the North Slope.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6659_705769.jpg
  • A man fixes mining equipment in a muddy pit in a search for gold in Borneo. Such operations leave a devastated landscape and miners test high for mercury earning about $5US a day.
    Gold_20060421_01818.tif
  • A man fixes mining equipment in a muddy pit in a search for gold in Borneo. Such operations leave a devastated landscape and miners test high for mercury earning about $5US a day.
    Gold_20060421_01781.tif
  • Men work on mining equipment in a muddy pit while searching for gold in Borneo. Such operations leave a devastated landscape and miners test high for mercury earning about $5US a day.
    Gold_20060421_01868.tif
  • Men work on mining equipment in a muddy pit in a search for gold in Borneo. Such operations leave a devastated landscape and miners test high for mercury earning about $5US a day.
    Gold_20060421_01790.tif
  • Men fixing mining equipment in a muddy pit where waste from the gold mining operation is collected. Amalgam ponds have high readings of mercury, yet workers bath and brush their teeth in the water.
    Gold_20060421_01814.tif
  • Men stand on a bamboo structure fixing mining equipment in a muddy amalgam pit they use to sluice gold..
    Gold_20060421_01800.tif
  • Men work ar a mine in a muddy pit and ruined landscape trying to repair broken equipment in Indonesia.
    Gold_20060421_01822.tif
  • Farmland is taken over by a gold mining corporation and what is left is a devastated landscape in Ghana.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222964.TIF
  • The mud speckled face of a miner pops up while he is repairing a sluice box in a muddy pit of a gold mining operation.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223000.JPG
  • Tags identifying miners hang on a numbered board in a display of old equipment at the AJ Gastineau Mill gold mine. Gold was discovered in Juneau at what is now known as Gold Creek, in 1880 and AJ was constructed in 1913 and shut down in 1921. Over the years, the mine recovered 500,00 ounces of gold from 12 million tons of ore.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075109.jpg
  • A man fixes mining equipment in a muddy pit in a search for gold in Borneo. Such operations leave a devastated landscape and miners test high for mercury earning about $5US a day.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222961.TIF
  • Workers repairing a sluice box on a gold mine which is muddy, difficult wor .
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222999.TIF
  • A scarf and safety best are worn by an Islamic woman truck driver at a copper and gold mine. She drives a truck that has 240 tons of rock that will yield about nine ounces of gold.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222991.JPG
  • Trucks hauling waste rock are monitored on screens and windows at a copper and gold mine.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222992.JPG
  • A scarf and safety best are worn by an Islamic woman truck driver at a copper and gold mine. She drives a truck that has 240 tons of rock that will yield about nine ounces of gold.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222995.TIF
  • A laborer at a copper and gold mine wears protective glasses that reflect other workers.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222993.JPG
  • A scarf and safety best are worn by an Islamic woman truck driver at a copper and gold mine. She drives a truck that has 240 tons of rock that will yield about nine ounces of gold.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222994.JPG
  • Aerials of Batu Hijau gold mine and Benete seaport and concentrator and pipeline that takes tailings into ocean trench. Trucks carry 240 tons of rock as they wind their way up through a maze of roads and terraced slopes..
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222955.TIF
  • Hoping to make a little money from Sudan's ocean of black gold, a woman sells tea to roughnecks at an oil rig near Bentiu. There are little encampments of refugees living around Rig 15 and moving with it as it moves.
    RANDY OLSON_MM6998_714568.jpg
  • Maintenance workers tend to a gigantic wheel of a truck that hauls hundred of tons of waste rock at a gold mining operation.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222990.JPG
  • A truck that hauls waste rock is washed at Batu Hijau mine. The fleet is a part of a large gold mine operation in Indonesia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222958.TIF
  • Workers ride an elevator up as they come off shift working to seal off a mercury mine. It is a 500 year old problem that has polluted underground water in Idrija and surrounding areas although closed in 1995. It was the second largest in the world. Mercury can be used to extract silver and gold, therefore the silver and gold-rush motivated mercury mining. The mining industry brought science, technological advancements, and industry to this mountainous region but it also created considerable medical problems and health hazard due to its toxicity.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_985667-2.TIF
  • Areas of Borneo have been turned into a moonscape by illegal gold miners in Central Kalimantan. Indonesian farmers turn their hoes to mining, illegally digging for gold on a torn up riverbank in Borneo. For the chance to make five dollars a day, thousands have left their fields to join Indonesia’s gold rush. East Java has high unemployment and there are many migrant workers on Kalimantan (Borneo) that came from Java initially to do artisanal timber work. The government stomped out the little timber guys in favor of two big companies so they could control (read “profit from”) the industry. So all the artisanal timber workers switched to gold. Miners test in the 1000-ppm plus range for mercury (normal is 170 to 300). Eastern Java is severely overcrowded and the government has an official transmigration program over to Kalimantan. In Eastern Java they can earn about 100RP a day hoeing the fields. Here they can earn upwards of 30,000-60,000RP ($3-$6) a day. So it is worth it to camp in this area, having only the water (full of mercury) from the amalgam ponds to bathe and drink.
    Gold_20060420_01098.tif
  • Gold mining near the town of Quarantesept in northeastern Congo. Hundreds of people from Congo and Uganda come to work at the mines.<br />
<br />
Villagers in the war-weary Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo scrape for gold in a shaft dug decades ago by a Belgian company. Until recently, armed groups controlled Ituri’s rich mines, using gold to buy weapons.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7209_976457.TIF
  • Illegal miners scraping for gold on the riverbanks of the Pra River outside of Prestea, Ghana, Africa.
    GOLDGHANA_20060925_02104.tif
  • A painting of gold mining and production hangs on a wall at the mine.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1223012.TIF
  • A dilapidated bridge leading to and from the gold mines.
    RANDY OLSON_RF4319_1114393.JPG