MBABANE – The surge in illegal mining activities in the country has given birth to another criminal enterprise - the black market trade of mercury.
Elemental or metallic mercury is a shiny, silver-white metal, historically referred to as quicksilver and is liquid at room temperature.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, it is used in older thermometers, fluorescent light bulbs and some electrical switches. When dropped, elemental mercury breaks into smaller droplets which can go through small cracks or become strongly attached to certain materials. At room temperature, exposed elemental mercury can evaporate to become an invisible, odourless toxic vapour. If heated, it is a colourless and odourless gas.
This chemical is in demand for illegal mining as zama zamas use it in the purification of gold. Following the surge of illegal mining in northern Hhohho, this publication investigated the source of the necessities used by the zama zamas and a web of criminal activities was unveiled.
This publication uncovered that foreign syndicates come into the country at intervals to sell the elemental mercury with about 5 millilitres (ml) retailing at E450.
This journalist took to the dingy corners of Manzini, where a foreign national said to be selling the mercury was to be located. What could have been a straight forward sale resulted in the alteration of locations and time intervals, as the initial sale was to happen at the President Centre – shopping complex in Manzini.
However, it was altered to a car wash at Fairview – a peri-urban township just four kilometres outside Manzini; the actual meeting took place in front of the Manzini Police Station.
During the brief interaction and exchange of money, the seller of the toxic chemical, informed this publication’s journalist that the alteration of meeting points was for security reasons.
He expressed fear that given the demand of the chemical, being smuggled and also being set-up were possibilities which he feared.
The foreign natural claimed to have gained access to the country’s illegal mining through ‘marketing’ his product through social media – Facebook.
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Illegal mining drains govt tax revenue – economist
MBABANE – Illegal mining significantly impacts the government’s tax revenue by operating outside formal channels, leading to substantial losses in potential income, says an economist.
Economist Thembinkosi Dube said the cause of illegal mining is unemployment and government has to optimise the mining sector.
It is worth noting that unemployment in the country is at 35.7 per cent, with 48.7 per cent on the youth.
Meanwhile, Dube said unemployment was the justification of the criminal act, but it stood as the genesis of the challenge. He said the unfortunate part is that illegal mining has negative ripple effects on the taxpayer and the country’s coffers.
To the taxpayer, he said, is the burden of incurring in the long-term a medical health bill for the illegal miners and the communities who are exposed to water contaminated by the elemental mercury. He said it was for this reason that government needs to take charge of the sites where the illegal mining is occurring and protect the national assets through deploying law enforcers.
*Full article available in our publication
