How to wash gold in Sulawesi

The island of Sulawesi or "Celebes" from the height resembles an orchid. The island is inhabited by cute and complacent Indonesians who adore bright celebration and festivals. This island is amazing variety of landscapes, mountains give way to the plains, and the plains - the tropical forests. Four Sulawesi peninsula isolated from one another by deep gorges, mountains and forests. The island is divided administratively into four provinces: Sulawesi Selatan, Tengah, Tenggara Sulawesi Utara. On the edge of the south-eastern part of the 250 km from the capital of Kendari lies Bombali district, separated from the rest of the island by small mountains. In the old days there grew a large amount of rice, and now everything is like a desert. In August 2008 Bombane were found huge deposits of gold and since then broke out "gold rush." Hundreds of people come here in the hope of getting rich.

30 Photo © Carsten Bungaard

01) Gold mining is here for almost a year, and by that time have accumulated many Abandoned workings.





02) Pandey (16) is lifted out of the mine. He dropped out of school and started mining.



03) The roots of a dying tree.



04) Suparman shows today's "catch". On the day of the illegal miners earn 10 to 20 dollars.



05) Illegals use mercury to catch particles of gold dust from the mud. Then, mercury and gold is filtered through a cloth to Gold Division.



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07) work in the mines and children. For them, it seems more of a game than work.



08) Michael has a rest after work.



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10) Tadir died of cancer. His family accompanied him on his last journey.



11) An empty house is among the artificial lakes. All at work.



12) Family Abbas is engaged in agriculture. Due to the fact that illegal workers mines built upstream of the dam the river nearly dried up and the occupation Abas was threatened.



13) In the evening, in the camp of illegal miners to be unsafe.



14) In addition to a band of robbers in the camps of the miners of prostitution.



15) At the end of the working day of a miner washing in the same water in which he had recently washed gold.



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