An artisanal miner, locally known as a zama-zama, mines for gold at a mining operation in Stormhill, west of Johannesburg, on Aug. 11, 2023. Shiraaz Mohamed/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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A woman and her child stand in front of a landscape denuded by gold mining in the southern Peruvian jungle in the Madre de Dios region. This picture is from 2015. Today, there's an effort to plant saplings to revive the forest. Ernesto Benavides/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A view of the mountains surrounding the area where a landslide hit a gold mine in Ilic district of Erzincan province, in Turkey, on Tuesday. Mehmet Yalciner/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption
A new report focuses on Wagner's operations in Sudan, Mali and the Central African Republic. Vladimir Nikolayev/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
How 'blood gold' from Africa is funding Russia's war on Ukraine
An aerial picture shows an illegal mining camp during an operation by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources against Amazon deforestation at the Yanomami territory in Roraima state, Brazil, on Feb. 24. Alan Chaves/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Patrick Sitwayi, 57, lives in Upper Mcambalala and has silicosis from working in the gold mines for 22 years. Photographer Thom Pierce has been covering the miners. Thom Pierce hide caption
Gold Miners Breathe The Dust, Fall Ill: 'They Did Not Give Me Nothing'
This aerial view shows the effects of gold mining on Peru's rain forest. Courtesy of Gregory Asner, Carnegie Institution for Science hide caption
A miner holds a nugget of mercury mixed with gold. The mercury is used to extract gold from river sludge. Rodrigo Abd/AP hide caption