Blood Money
Poor Eritreans increasingly joining gold rush
More than a dozen foreign mining firms are now working in Eritrea, but poor villagers in the Red Sea state's remote lowlands are also increasingly using their bare hands to claim some of the riches.
National service is mandatory for young Eritreans, and when someone will be granted "demobilization" is often unknown. Some Eritreans spend most of their adult lives in national service, whether in the military, building roads or working in cafes.
Mining company officials say the groups of impoverished Eritreans who search for gold on their licences use primitive and often unconventional methods.
"Every day on site I see local Eritreans working in groups, men and women," Timothy Strong, Eritrea manager for British company London Africa, told Reuters. "They use one rock to crush, and the base of their sandals to pan for the gold."
The dangers of rudimentary, artisanal mining are well known, where no safety standards are enforced and children carry piles of rocks between deep vertical pits.
"In the more advanced areas they also use mercury to extract the gold from the rock, which kills local wildlife, and in an agricultural area it gets into the food source. It also burns your skin and the fumes send you crazy," Strong said.
