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https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/amazon-striker-2/

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/the-devastating-costs-of-the-amazon-gold-rush-19365506/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gold-is-new-threat-to-amazon/

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Gold is worth a lot of money. One ounce of gold can sell for $1,700. The buying and selling of gold also aids many countries economies.

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As gold gains more worth and becomes more lucrative many people began to mine gold illegally. This caused the development of new laws to help prevent this and also prevent the use of excess mercury.

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Mercury is used in mining however it poison both people and ecosystems making it very dangerous to use. Mining also disrupts the environment from deforestation and the use of large holes which can make the land more susceptible to erosion.

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Gold is used in jewelry and many other luxury items. It is also considered a symbol of wealth in many countries.

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Gold was discovered in the Amazon region in the 1970's.

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Gold is mined in the Amazon river basin and countries like Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela.

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Large-scale mines use heavy machinery and thousands of worker to extract and purify the gold. Small-scale mines use land and river dredging to extract gold. Land dredging is a technique in which a large hole is dug high water pressure is used to blast the soil and expose gold. River dredging is a technique that use pipes to filter out gold.

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Gold mining helps to develop economies Mining leads to new job opportunities being available and also boost the economy because of how much gold is worth.

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Mercury is used to clump all the gold together. However mercury is very bad for health. Mercury usually becomes runoff after it is used in mines which causes it to be found in people's kidneys. Mercury contamination can lead to many very serious health issues.

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Mines all over the Amazon area cut down trees to make room for machinery and roads in order to gain as much gold as possible. This deforestation affects the ecosystem in many ways. For example it cause the riverbanks to become more susceptible to erosion. This can  decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen which causes many plants and animals that live in the river to die. This also affects indigenous populations because many depend on fish from the river as their main food source.

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In 1970 an increase need for gold led to a gold rush in the Amazon area. Although gold is very profitable ,sold at $1,700 an ounce, it is very damaging to the Amazon ecosystem. The high price of gold makes mining a very lucrative job finding one or two ounces a day can earn more than working other jobs for a month.