(2006-2013) To this day, Mongolia is defined by a nomadic culture, a culture where living life with and through nature is at the centre. And it is a tough life, shaped by the harsh climate, the bleak vegetation and the eternal search for new pastures and water for the nomads' herd. Zud is the Mongolian word for a natural disaster in which animals cannot find enough food due to extremely cold conditions, where the amount of snow and ice prevents animals from foraging for plants. In February 2010 alone more than 2 million animals died as a result of such a disaster. In Mongolian culture, the term Zud implies the constant threat of existential risks, particularly associated with the lack of financial security for nomads. The pressures to give up the nomadic lifestyle are substantial. People long for "Western abundance"and dream of a more comfortable and secure life in the cities. However, unemployment and social deprivation are rife in urban centres, particularly Ulaanbaatar. The chances of making a living in the city are slim for a penniless family of nomads. 40% of Mongolians live under the national poverty line. This makes Mongolia one of the poorest countries on the planet. But Mongolia is rich in mineral resources, gold in particular. However, since the discovery of significant gold deposits, nomadic culture and nature have been under threat. Since the disbanding of the Soviet Union and the transition towards a free-market economy at the start of the 1990s, industrial gold mining in Mongolia has increased substantially. In parallel, however, illegal gold mining has also taken hold, because, according to an old law of the steppe, the gold belongs to the local inhabitants. It is understandable also that news of the exploitation of the precious metal by foreign companies incites a sense of injustice and, often, outrage amongst the nomads. Some nomads started to dig for gold independently. Initially there were only a few. Today, however, there are approximately 100,000 people in Mongolia who dig for gold. And they are digging illegally. These illegal gold miners have been nicknamed "Ninjas", because someone observed that they resemble characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when they carry their green gold-panning buckets on their backs. The nickname caught on from there. The majority of Ninjas are former nomads, hoping to strike it rich. In some cases they abandon their cattle completely in order to dig for the precious metal. If he is lucky, a Ninja can earn between 10 and 20 dollars a day. However, many of them are not so lucky. They are unable to make the substantial investments in technical appliances, dynamite and mercury, without which gold mining is not possible. Due to their lack of expertise, in many cases they dig veins of gold which are already depleted or have a poor yield. There are no immediate markets for the "illegal" gold either. Mongolia does not manufacture significant amounts of jewelry. What remains is the black market, but it is difficult for Ninjas to secure a good price. A Ninja can try to take his gold abroad in order to sell it there, but in most cases, the illegal gold is sold straight to the big mining companies at poor rates. Sustainability. This term describes best the nomadic way of treating the environment. It is an intrinsic element of customary nomadic norms. Their tradition prohibits the removal of precious metals and stones from the soil. To extract wealth from the soil is to become an outlaw. Consequently Ninjas are not held in high esteem in Mongolia, and they too are ashamed of digging in the soil. They are deeply aware that they are destroying nature and violating values perceived to be sacrosanct by their ancestors. Nevertheless, more and more people are digging for gold in Mongolia. Digging entails beating, drilling and blasting holes, caves and passages into the stony soils of Mongolia with the simplest of means. The Ninjas rarely have the opportunity and the necessary expertise to create safe tunnels underground. There is hardly any wood in the Gobi Desert. Supporting the ceilings of tunnels is impossible. Dynamite is the only means to blow up solid rock. According to gold miners, many Ninjas are buried alive in unpro-tected mines or they are maimed in the process of controlled explosions. However, there are no official statistics. In order to extract the gold, the stone is broken up and crushed into fine lumps until it finally turns to sand. This is done by crushing the rock with iron bars or in mills with solid stone millwheels. In the Gobi Desert, the amount of water available is a significant dilemma for gold miners. There is limited running water, necessary for washing the sand containing the gold. Because of this, lorry loads of the unwashed ore are taken to the water-rich north of the country, or groundwater is pumped into tankers in order to wash the gold at the original site. Alternatively, there is the possibility to filter the gold without water using what are known as "drywashers". Mercury is used to remove gold from the stones. The resulting amalgam of crushed rock and mercury is heated up in order to vaporize the mercury and extract the solid gold. Dangerously, the vaporizing of mercury often happens near the cooking areas inside the yurts, where people cook, eat and sleep. The Ninjas, their wives, children and animals absorb the highly toxic mercury. While some mercury is carelessly disposed of or spilled, it is also spread over time across huge areas by the wind through the vapour inside the yurts or by leeching into the ground water. Either way, mercury reaches the wells, springs and waterways, and as a result contaminates the food chain of nomads and animals. In this food chain, man presents the last link. Being exposed to this toxin over years destroys the brain and can lead to complete insanity, in addition to increasing the numbers of miscarriages and infant deformities in both people and animals.
contact
Margot Klingsporn
Photo- und Presseagentur FOCUS
Alter Fischmarkt 3
D-20457 Hamburg,
Germany phone +49 / 40 / 45 02 23 - 11
