"refining process"

#1233357

26 May 2016

Piles of salt are stored at a production site of Swakopmund Salt Company, Namibia, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salt is crystallized in salt lakes by the solar evaporation method. Then salt is scooped up by special machines, washed with salt and fresh water and dried in a hot air oven at about 185°C. Salt produced at the factory is intended for the market of 15 African countries. (

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#1233358

26 May 2016

Excavator loading salt at a salt factory near Swakopmund, Namibia, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salt is crystallized in salt lakes by the solar evaporation method. Then salt is scooped up by special machines, washed with salt and fresh water and dried in a hot air oven at about 185°C. Salt produced at the factory is intended for the market of 15 African countries. (

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#1233328

26 May 2016

Salt mining at a salt factory near Swakopmund, Namibia, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salt is crystallized in salt lakes by the solar evaporation method. Then salt is scooped up by special machines, washed with salt and fresh water and dried in a hot air oven at about 185°C. Salt produced at the factory is intended for the market of 15 African countries. (

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#1233329

26 May 2016

Salt mining at a salt factory near Swakopmund, Namibia, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salt is crystallized in salt lakes by the solar evaporation method. Then salt is scooped up by special machines, washed with salt and fresh water and dried in a hot air oven at about 185°C. Salt produced at the factory is intended for the market of 15 African countries. (

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#1233330

26 May 2016

Salt mining at a salt factory near Swakopmund, Namibia, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Salt is crystallized in salt lakes by the solar evaporation method. Then salt is scooped up by special machines, washed with salt and fresh water and dried in a hot air oven at about 185°C. Salt produced at the factory is intended for the market of 15 African countries. (

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#1068893

24 February 2016

An elder gold mining worker smashes the rocks from the underground pit by a hammer for the process of refining gold in Maning village in Camarines Norte, Philippines on 9 February.The town of Paracale in Camarines Norte, is one of the oldest town of small-scale gold mining operation in Philippines. It is estimated that gold was discovered beneath it in 1626, during Spanish ruled, and Spaniards worked the gold-bearing gravel in its rivers and streams. After almost four hundreds years, Palacale has still attracted prospectors, miners and casual labors. Meanwhile, Gold mining has long been a risky business especially for underground mining workers. Small-scale mining workers are always risk of injury and death from accidents. Moreover, they, including many children, suffer lung damage due to breathing dust and particulates, or range of neurological problems due to exposure to mercury, which is used to separate the gold from the rock and the sand. Mercury cause harmful not only to mining workers but also to locals who don't live or work in mining areas. Because mercury-contaminated water flows from mining areas into the river, where children play and fish live in.Three years ago, the government shut underground pits down along the coast near Palacale. Because more than one hundred mining workers died during mining operation in this area for a few years. But since last year, these pits have reopened and started mining operation again. Anonymous workers and residents say some local politicians accepted to open these pits again for the next election or a bribe. It is estimated that ninety percent of gold in Philippines is traded at the black markets or smuggled out of the country.

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