Rainforests and rivers of Borneo are turning into devastated landscapes by illegal gold mining. As cultivating their fields became unprofitable in the last few years, farmers turned their businesses into small-scale mining in search of gold. Men, women and children work in the mines, trying to make a living. Their methods are low-tech, and working in the mines is hard and dangerous. 

The hunt to extract the precious metal starts with clearing forests and grassland. The mining crew then splashes water against the loose ground using high-pressure pumps. With only shovels, picks and water, they dig large open pit mines that are up to 25 meters deep, risking their lives by getting buried alive under the risk of a collapsing wall. 

The gold-bearing mud is then pumped onto wooden sluices that are located on the upper edge of the mine. Carpets are placed over the sluices where running water carries away the lighter material, leaving behind the heavier gold flakes. The carpets are carefully examined at the end of the day, and the catch is later sold on the market.

A second method uses basic floating platforms that follow rivers deep into the forest, searching for gold on the river banks. These rafts serve as a mobile basis from which sediments on the riverbed are filtered by the same method of using sluices, carpets and gravity. The waste material, known as tailings, is disposed of back into the river.

In both ways, miners dig their way through the wilderness of Borneo, leaving behind a devastated moonscape. The effects are worsened by using mercury to extract the gold, which poses the risk of contamination of the environment. Deforestation not only leads to the loss of valuable ecosystems but also results in soil erosion without the protective cover of vegetation. 

Artisanal gold mining is illegal under Indonesian law, but the areas are extremely remote, hard to reach and difficult to regulate. 

Observing the mines from a distance, one would get the feeling of looking at an anthill, where tiny creatures collectively manage to reshape the earth. It’s easy to judge from a distance, but on the ground, people fighting to make a living without any better alternatives in impoverished, rural areas.