Emission and Dispersion of Gaseous Mercury from Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining Plants in Palu City, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Decrease of usage of mercury and of the emission of mercury are urgent requirement for our health on a global scale. In Indonesia, however, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is actively operated, and a considerable amount of mercury is consumed in the process. In Poboya area of Palu City, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, more than 760 of ASGM are in operation. In the ASGM plants in Poboya, about 180 tons of mercury is estimated to be consumed to produce gold amalgam every year, leading to yield 45kg of purified gold. In the gold purification process, gaseous mercury is emitted into the atmosphere without treatment. The current research is to measure the space distribution of the mercury concentration around the gold mining plant in Poboya. Extremely high concentration of mercury exceeding WHO guideline of 1000ng/m3 was observed in Poboya. In addition, high concentration of mercury as high as 70ng/m3 observed at the sampling point 8km apart from the center of Poboya indicated that the gaseous mercury could have prevailed over Palu City and threatened health of the residents.