Ecobreves – PERU: Neutralizing Mercury

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

LIMA, Feb 24 2001 (IPS) - Peru's National Mining Society will make a presentation in May at the Fifth International Gold Symposium a new technology for neutralizing the contamination caused by the use of mercury in separating gold from its ore. The new method consists of chemically stabilizing the heavy metal, turning mercury into sulfur to reduce its volatility and its leaching properties.

The product is then transformed into a sulfur polymer cement, allowing the altered mercury to be stored in inert, stable blocks.