VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Efforts to eradicate the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining should be strengthened, environmental health specialist and senior adviser to Nexus3 Foundation, Yuyun Ismawati, has said.

During a virtual discussion on the use of mercury in gold mining, observed from here on Wednesday, Ismawati also highlighted that there are still small-scale gold mines that are utilizing mercury and their products can be found online.

"This online sale should be regulated. We await the Trade Ministry to issue a regulation regarding the handling or action against these online sellers. We hope that there will be a criminal penalty for mercury sellers," she expounded.

In addition, she said she is also expecting a prohibition on cinnabar mining, which is usually processed to obtain mercury.

She explained that within Law No 3 of 2020 on Changes toward Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining, mining cinnabar has not been forbidden.

Furthermore, there have yet to be any regulations issued that specifically forbid the use of cinnabar and its processing in order to extract mercury, she added.

According to a 2020 report on the Mercury Eradication and Reduction National Action Plan (RAN PPM), the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining was reduced by 10.45 tons during the period from 2019 to 2020, she noted.

The reduction of mercury in the lamp and battery industry reached 374.4 kilogram, while the reduction of emissions containing mercury in the energy priority sector reached 719 kilogram, she informed.

Use of mercury in health devices, such as thermometers, was also curtailed by 4.73 tons, she added.

According to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the number of illegal mining locations is pegged at 2,654, and 85 percent of them comprise illegal gold mines.

The estimated use of mercury within each location is pegged at 6.2-85.63 kilogram per year, so the total mercury usage stands at 13.94-192.53 tons per year, Ismawati said. (Antaranews)