Informal, small-scale gold miners extract 20 to 30 percent of all gold worldwide, and in Colombia, they produce 60 percent of all gold extracted nationally. As a rule, small-scale miners in remote communities face myriad challenges: Intermediaries demand low prices, there are few alternative ways to earn an income, and serious health problems related to mercury exposure plague miners. Now, with the onset of Covid-19, these problems have compounded: The market for gold has ground to a halt, business closures have caused a breakdown in the food supply, and these…
