03 Jan 2011 11:00
The gold diggers wash the soil during the day and all night hoping to reveal the precious metal. The majority of prospectors arrive illegally from neighboring countries like Zimbabwe. The gold nuggets, belonging to the state, end up in the hands of Nigerian, Somalian, Zimbabwean, Israeli and Lebanese merchants. The state is left with the ground and rivers where the water is no longer suitable for drinking and the ground infertile. The rivers become heavily polluted from mercury used to extract the gold, poisoning aquatic life in the river and posing a serious health risks for the gold diggers.