E3S Web of Conferences 73, 06002 (2018) https://doi.org/10.

1051/e3sconf/20187306002
ICENIS 2018

Mercury toxicity potential from artisanal and small scale

gold mines in Lebong Regency, Bengkulu Province

Ali Munawar1*, Hery Suhartoyo2, and Putri Suci Asriani3

1 SoilScience Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia
2 Forestry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia
3 Agricultural Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia

Abstract. Artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) is considered as the largest source of mercury
pollution worldwide. The ASGM has been practiced for years in the area of Lebong Regency of Bengkulu
Province. To extract gold from the ores, miners use a simple technique called Gelondong. This practice
involves amalgamation process which forms amalgam, a mixure composed of mercury and gold. These
amalgamation generates liquid and solid wastes (tailings) which still contain significant amount of
mercury. Consequently, ASGM activities can potentially create mercury contamination of the
environment, especially aquatic ecosystems. This study was aimed to investigate the concentration and
distribution of total mercury in rivers to which wastes from ASGM communities in three villages of North
Lebong District were dumped. Water and streambed sediments along the rivers were collected and
brought to the laboratory for total mercury analysis. Data showed that total mercury was not detected in
the river water but high in the river sediments with high variations among lactions from 0.11 to 110.37 mg
kg-1. Apparently, total mercury tended to decrease with the distance from it source. High amounts of
mercury in the river sediments could potentially spread to wider area and cause bioaccumulation in
aquatic organisms, especially fish which can be dangerous to consume.

Keywords: small gold mines; mercury; contamination; river, sediments.

1 Introduction amounts of mercury residues to public streams or rivers

Artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM) is
one important causes of deforestation and the considered
as the largest source of mercury pollution on Earth [1].
In many areas in developing countries ASGM activities
cause destruction of forest through reoval of soil and
vegetation, leaving wastes on the sites [2]. In most
ASGM practices, miners use mercury to extract gold
from ores through amalgamation process in which gold
is separated from the ores and form amalgam, a mixture
of mercury and gold. This amalgam is then heated to
evaporate the mercury, leaving gold particles [1, 3].
Lebong Regency is one of important areas of
ASGM in Bengkulu, Indonesia. Like in other parts of the
country, most ASGM use Gelondong techique. This
practice involve several stages: ore size reduction
(crushing and milling), concentrating with water,
amalgamation with mercury, and gold recovery through
evaporation of the mercury from mercury-gold amalgam
[2, 4]. Because water is used in this technique, the
miners usually build the equipment in their yards or near
a river. This practice produces liquid as well as solid
wastes (tailings), while the recovery stage releases
mercury to the atmosphere [1-4]. Miners discard liquid
wastes and the tailings that still contain significant
*
Corresponding author: a.munawar008@gmail.com
whitout any treatment. Therefore, mercury may be
transported and accumulated in the streambed sediments
and can contaminate aquatic ecosystem where it may
then bioaccumulate in fish muscles which can be
dangerous to consume and agricultural lands where it
can be absorbed by growing crops [1, 6, 7].
Based on the above mentioned processes, it is
obvious that ASGM practices can create mercury
toxicity effects to the environment and human health are
very obvious. This initial study was aimed to investigate
the concentration and distribution of mercury in rivers to
which wastes were dumped from ASGMs in the North
Lebong District.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Site Condition
This study was conducted in North Lebong District,
especially in the area of three villages: Lebong
Tambang, Sukasari, and Kampung Jawa, where most of
the population are traditional gold miners (ASGM). The
mining activities in the area have been taking places for

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 73, 06002 (2018)
ICENIS 2018
years in an old hard rock vein mountain left by the Dutch
colonial. The miners take gold ores from the mountain
and process them in their yards. To extract the gold, they
use the Grinding Mills (Gelondong) technique which
involves amalgamation using mercury. This process
produces liquid wastes and solid wastes (tailings). These
wastes are initially dumped to a small pond before being
discharged to a river so-called Air Racun which passes
through Lebong Tambang, Lokasari, and Kampung Jawa
villages and eventually flows to a relatively bigger river
called Air Kotok.
2.2. Water and Sediment Sampling
Composite water and streambed sediments were
collected from six locations: (1) Location 1, in the upper
stream of Air Racun river, about 50-m up from gold ore
processing in Lebong Tambang village; (2) Location 2,
about 200 m-down stream of Air Racun river from
Location 1 in Lebong Tambang village; (3) Location 3,
about 600 m-down stream of Air Racun river from
Location 2 in Kampung Jawa village, (4) Location 4, the
down stream of the Air Racun river, about 800 m-down
from Location 3 in Kampung Jawa village; (5) Location
5, about 20-m up from the tributary of the Air Racun
river and Air Kotok river in Kampung Jawa village; and
(6) Location 6, in the Air Kotok river about 500 m-down
stream from the tributary of Air Racun river and Air
Kotok river. The water samples were collected using a
plastic cup at least three replicate grabs at 0-15 cm
depth, placed in plastic bottles, and kept in a cooling
box. The collected water samples were then acidified
with concentrated nitric acid and filtered through a
Whatman 45 filter paper, and brought to the Integrated
Research and Testing Institute Laboratory, Gadjah Mada
University, Yogyakarta for total mercury (Hg) analysis
using Mercury Analyzer method.
The composite sediment samples were taken at
least three replicate grabs from the streambed of the
rivers using plastic shovels, placed into plastic bags, kept
in a cooling box, and brought to the Soil Science
Laboratory, University of Bengkulu for further sample
preparation. The collected sediment samples were air-
dried, sieved through a 2-mm diameter sieve, and
brought to the Integrated Research and Testing Institute
Laboratory, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta for
total Hg analysis using Mercury Analyzer.
3 Results and Discussions
Total mercury (Hg) concentrations in the water and river
sediments are outlined in Table 1. Mercury (Hg) was not
detected in water at all sampling locations, but found
high in river sediments, including in the most
upperstream of the Air Racun river, a point before water
body flows passing the gold ore processing area. The
presence of a relatively high total Hg concentration
(5.12 mg kg-1) in the upperstream might be due to the
2
https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20187306002
additions of Hg from the evaporated Hg to the
atmosphere during its recovery process.
Table 1. Total mercury (Hg) concentration in water
and sediment at different locations.
Locations Total Hg Concentration
(mg kg-1)
Water Sediment
Location 1 ND 5.12
Location 2 ND 110.37
Location 3 ND 94.01
Location 4 ND 21.00
Location 5 ND 0.11
Location 6 ND 86.66
ND = Not Detected
Table 1 indicates that total Hg concentrations in
river sediments were very high but varied along the river
flow (locations) which passed across the gold ore
processing area (Location 2 to Location 4). Apparently
total Hg concentrations in the sediments of Air Racun
river decreased along the stream flow, from 110.37 mg
kg-1 in Location 2 to 21.00 mg kg-1 in Location 4 or at
the end of the Air Racun river stream. This may explain
that the total Hg deposition in the streambed is
dependent on the distance from the source. The closer
the locations from the source, the higher the total Hg was
deposited. Because Hg element is a noble metal with low
solubility in water, most Hg tended to settle in the
streambed of the river. This deposited Hg could then be
transformed by anarobic organisms into to
methylmercury (MeHg). This compound is known to be
readily absorbed and retained by any organisms such as
phytoplankton, ingested by zooplanton and fish, thereby
contaminating the food chain [1, 3]. Therefore, it is
obviously dangerous to consume fish that live in rivers
or other aquatic ecosystems. Studies in 19 developing
countries in South America, Asia, and Africa found
residents of nearby & downstream communities of
ASGM areas that consumed fish heavily contaminated
with methylmercury experienced neurologic effects,
kidney effects, and immunotoxic effects [3].
Table 1 also explains that although its
concentration in the downstream of the Air Racun river
was relatively lower compared to the upperstream,
discharged Hg from the Air Racun river stream seemed
to have increased Hg accumulation in the Air Kotok
river. Total Hg concentration in the sediments of Air
Kotok river located 500-m down from the tributary of
the Air Racun river (Location 6) was much higher (86.66
mg kg-1) than that of the upperstream before the tributary
(Location 5) (0.11 mg kg-1) . High Hg concentration in
the streambed sediments of Air Kotok river could
potentially contaminate downstream community of the
river. This potential contamination could be possibly
spread to the bigger river to which Air Kotok flows, the
Ketahun river.
E3S Web of Conferences 73, 06002 (2018)
ICENIS 2018
4 Conlusions
This study indicates that the total Hg released from
gold extraction using amalgamation as practiced in most
ASGMs in the North Lebong District had potential threat
to the environment, especially aquatic ecosystem such as
river. Although not detected in the river water, high total
Hg concentrations in the sediments of the Air Racun and
Air Kotok rivers could potentially be toxic to and
absorbed by aquatic organisms especially fish, and over
time accumulate in their muscles and be dangerous to
consume. Potential spread of mercury contamination to
the wider environment could occur as identified by its
higher concentration in the streambed sediments of Air
Kotok.
Serious attention must be paid to the development
of ASGM in the area. This is not only to protect mk
spreading potential threats of the mercury but also to
reduce further environmental destruction such as
deforestation of the area. This is important especially to
enhance the low-carbon development movement in
Indonesia.
The authors thank the Directorate of Research and Community
Service, the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher
Education of the Republic of Indonesia which has funded the
3
https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20187306002
study through the Applied Research of Higher Education
Institution’s Excellence 2018.
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 ABSTRAK
Artisanal dan pertambangan emas skala kecil (ASGM) dianggap sebagai sumber merkuri
terbesar polusi di seluruh dunia. ASGM telah dipraktikkan selama bertahun-tahun di wilayah
Kabupaten Lebong, Bengkulu Provinsi. Untuk mengekstrak emas dari bijih, penambang
menggunakan teknik sederhana yang disebut Gelondong. Praktek ini melibatkan proses
amalgamasi yang membentuk amalgam, campuran yang terdiri dari merkuri dan emas. Ini
amalgamasi menghasilkan limbah cair dan padat (tailing) yang masih mengandung air raksa.
Akibatnya, kegiatan ASGM berpotensi menimbulkan pencemaran merkuri di lingkungan,
khususnya ekosistem perairan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui konsentrasi dan
distribusi total merkuri di sungai-sungai yang menjadi sumber limbah dari komunitas ASGM di
tiga desa Lebong Utara dibuang. Air dan sedimen dasar sungai di sepanjang sungai dikumpulkan
dan dibawa ke laboratorium untuk analisis total merkuri. Data menunjukkan bahwa total merkuri
tidak terdeteksi di air sungai tetapi tinggi sedimen sungai dengan variasi tinggi antara laktasi 0,11-
110,37 mg/kg. Ternyata, total merkuri cenderung menurun dengan semakin jauhnya jarak dari
sumbernya. Jumlah yang tinggi dari merkuri di sedimen sungai berpotensi menyebar ke wilayah
yang lebih luas dan menyebabkan bioakumulasi di organisme air, terutama ikan yang berbahaya
untuk dikonsumsi.
Kata kunci: tambang emas kecil; merkuri; kontaminasi; sungai, sedimen.

1. Pendahuluan

Artisanal dan pertambangan emas skala kecil (ASGM) merupakan salah satu penyebab
penting deforestasi dan dianggap sebagai sumber pencemaran merkuri terbesar di Bumi [1]. Di
banyak daerah di negara berkembang kegiatan ASGM menyebabkan perusakan hutan melalui
pemulihan tanah dan vegetasi, meninggalkan limbah di lokasi [2]. Dalam sebagian besar praktik
ASGM, penambang menggunakan merkuri untuk mengekstrak emas dari bijih melalui proses
pencampuran dimana emas dipisahkan dari bijih dan membentuk amalgam, campuran merkuri dan
emas. Campuran ini kemudian dipanaskan untuk menguapkan merkuri, meninggalkan partikel
emas [1,3].
Kabupaten Lebong merupakan salah satu daerah penting dari ASGM di Bengkulu,
Indonesia. Seperti di daerah lain, kebanyakan ASGM menggunakan teknik Gelondong. Praktek
ini melibatkan beberapa tahap: pengurangan ukuran bijih (penghancuran dan penggilingan),
pemekatan dengan air, pencampuran dengan merkuri, dan perolehan kembali emas melalui
penguapan merkuri dari campuran merkuri-emas [2,4]. Karena air digunakan dalam teknik ini, para
penambang biasanya membangun peralatan di pekarangan mereka atau di dekat sungai. Praktik ini
menghasilkan limbah cair maupun limbah padat (tailing), sementara proses pemulihan melepaskan
merkuri ke atmosfer [1-4]. Penambang membuang limbah cair dan tailing yang masih mengandung
residu merkuri dalam jumlah yang signifikan ke aliran umum atau sungai tanpa pengolahan
apapun. Oleh karena itu, merkuri dapat diangkut dan terakumulasi di sedimen dasar sungai dan
dapat mencemari ekosistem perairan yang kemudian dapat terakumulasi dalam otot ikan yang
dapat berbahaya untuk dikonsumsi dan lahan pertanian yang dapat diserap oleh tanaman budidaya
[1, 6, 7]
.

Berdasarkan proses tersebut, jelas bahwa praktik ASGM dapat menimbulkan efek
toksisitas merkuri terhadap lingkungan dan kesehatan manusia yang sangat jelas. Studi awal ini
bertujuan untuk mengetahui konsentrasi dan distribusi merkuri di sungai-sungai yang menjadi
tempat pembuangan limbah ASGM di Kecamatan Lebong Utara.
2. Bahan-bahan dan metode-metode

2.1. Kondisi Lokasi Studi

Penelitian ini dilakukan di Kecamatan Lebong Utara khususnya di wilayah tiga desa yaitu
Lebong Tambang, Sukasari, dan Kampung Jawa yang sebagian besar penduduknya merupakan
penambang emas tradisional (ASGM). Kegiatan pertambangan di daerah tersebut telah
berlangsung selama bertahun-tahun di sebuah gunung urat batu tua yang ditinggalkan oleh kolonial
Belanda. Para penambang mengambil bijih emas dari gunung dan mengolahnya di pekarangan
mereka. Untuk mengekstrak emas, mereka menggunakan teknik Grinding Mills (Gelondong) yang
melibatkan amalgamasi menggunakan merkuri. Proses ini menghasilkan limbah cair dan limbah
padat (tailing). Limbah ini awalnya dibuang ke kolam kecil sebelum dibuang ke sungai yang
disebut Air Racun yang melewati desa Lebong Tambang, Lokasari, dan Kampung Jawa dan
akhirnya mengalir ke sungai yang relatif lebih besar bernama Air Kotok.

2.2. Pengambilan Sampel Air dan Sedimen

Air komposit dan sedimen dasar sungai dikumpulkan dari enam lokasi: (1) Lokasi 1, di
hulu sungai Air Racun, sekitar 50 m dari tempat pengolahan bijih emas di desa Lebong Tambang;
(2) Lokasi 2, sekitar 200 m di hilir sungai Air Racun dari Lokasi 1 di desa Lebong Tambang; (3)
Lokasi 3, sekitar 600 m ke hilir sungai Air Racun dari Lokasi 2 di desa Kampung Jawa, (4) Lokasi
4, hilir sungai Air Racun, sekitar 800 m ke bawah dari Lokasi 3 di Kampung Jawa Desa; (5) Lokasi
5, sekitar 20 m dari anak sungai Air Racun dan sungai Air Kotok di desa Kampung Jawa; dan (6)
Lokasi 6, di sungai Air Kotok sekitar 500 m ke hilir dari anak sungai Air Racun dan sungai Air
Kotok. Sampel air diambil dengan menggunakan gelas plastik minimal tiga kali ulangan pada
kedalaman 0-15 cm, dimasukkan ke dalam botol plastik, dan disimpan dalam kotak pendingin.
Sampel air yang terkumpul kemudian diasamkan dengan asam nitrat pekat dan disaring melalui
kertas saring Whatman 45, dan dibawa ke Laboratorium Balai Penelitian dan Pengujian Terpadu
Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta untuk dianalisis total merkuri (Hg) menggunakan metode
Mercury Analyzer. Sampel sedimen komposit diambil minimal tiga kali ulangan dari dasar aliran
sungai menggunakan sekop plastik, dimasukkan ke dalam kantong plastik, disimpan dalam kotak
pendingin, dan dibawa ke Laboratorium Ilmu Tanah Universitas Bengkulu untuk persiapan sampel
lebih lanjut. Sampel sedimen yang terkumpul diangin-anginkan, diayak dengan ayakan
berdiameter 2 mm, dan dibawa ke Laboratorium Balai Penelitian dan Pengujian Terpadu
Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta untuk dianalisis total Hg menggunakan Mercury Analyzer.
3. Hasil dan Diskusi
Konsentrasi total merkuri (Hg) dalam air dan sedimen sungai diuraikan pada Tabel 1.
Merkuri (Hg) tidak terdeteksi dalam air di semua lokasi pengambilan sampel, tetapi ditemukan
tinggi di sedimen sungai, termasuk di bagian paling hulu sungai Air Racun, titik sebelum badan
air mengalir melewati area pengolahan bijih emas. Persentase total konsentrasi Hg yang relatif
tinggi (5,12 mg kg-1) di hulu mungkin disebabkan oleh penambahan Hg dari Hg yang diuapkan
ke atmosfer selama proses pemulihannya.

Tabel 1. menunjukkan bahwa konsentrasi total Hg pada sedimen sungai sangat tinggi
namun bervariasi di sepanjang aliran sungai (lokasi) yang melintasi area pengolahan bijih emas
(Lokasi 2 sampai Lokasi 4). Ternyata konsentrasi total Hg di sedimen sungai Air Racun menurun
di sepanjang aliran sungai, dari 110,37 mg kg-1 di Lokasi 2 menjadi 21,00 mg kg-1 di Lokasi 4
atau di ujung aliran sungai Air Racun. Ini mungkin menjelaskan bahwa total deposisi Hg di dasar
aliran tergantung pada jarak dari sumbernya. Semakin dekat lokasi dari sumbernya, semakin tinggi
total Hg yang diendapkan. Karena unsur Hg merupakan logam mulia dengan kelarutan rendah
dalam air, sebagian besar Hg cenderung mengendap di dasar sungai. Hg yang disimpan ini
kemudian dapat diubah oleh organisme anaerobik menjadi metilmerkuri (MeHg). Senyawa ini
diketahui mudah diserap dan disimpan oleh organisme apa pun seperti fitoplankton, dicerna oleh
zooplanton dan ikan, sehingga mencemari rantai makanan [1, 3]. Oleh karena itu, jelas berbahaya
mengkonsumsi ikan yang hidup di sungai atau ekosistem perairan lainnya. Studi di 19 negara
berkembang di Amerika Selatan, Asia, dan Afrika menemukan bahwa penduduk sekitar &
komunitas hilir daerah ASGM yang mengkonsumsi ikan yang terkontaminasi metilmerkuri
mengalami efek neurologis, efek ginjal, dan efek imunotoksik [3].

Tabel 1 juga menjelaskan bahwa meskipun konsentrasinya di hilir sungai Air Racun relatif
lebih rendah dibandingkan di hulu, namun pelepasan Hg dari aliran sungai Air Racun tampaknya
telah meningkatkan akumulasi Hg di sungai Air Kotok. Konsentrasi total Hg pada sedimen sungai
Air Kotok yang terletak 500 m dari anak sungai Air Racun (Lokasi 6) jauh lebih tinggi (86,66 mg
kg-1) dibandingkan dengan hulu sebelum anak sungai (Lokasi 5) ( 0,11 mg kg-1) . Konsentrasi
Hg yang tinggi pada sedimen dasar sungai Air Kotok berpotensi mencemari masyarakat hilir
sungai. Potensi pencemaran ini kemungkinan bisa menyebar ke sungai yang lebih besar tempat
Air Kotok mengalir, yaitu sungai Ketahun.

4. Kesimpulan
Kajian ini menunjukkan bahwa pelepasan total Hg dari ekstraksi emas dengan amalgamasi
seperti yang dilakukan pada sebagian besar ASGM di Kecamatan Lebong Utara berpotensi
mengancam lingkungan, khususnya ekosistem perairan seperti sungai. Meskipun tidak terdeteksi
di air sungai, konsentrasi Hg total yang tinggi pada sedimen sungai Air Racun dan Air Kotok
berpotensi menjadi racun dan diserap oleh organisme air terutama ikan, dan lama kelamaan
menumpuk di ototnya dan berbahaya untuk dikonsumsi. Potensi penyebaran pencemaran merkuri
ke lingkungan yang lebih luas dapat terjadi seperti yang diidentifikasi oleh konsentrasinya yang
lebih tinggi di sedimen dasar sungai Air Kotok. Perhatian serius harus diberikan pada
pengembangan ASGM di daerah. Hal ini tidak hanya untuk melindungi, menyebarkan potensi
ancaman merkuri tetapi juga untuk mengurangi kerusakan lingkungan lebih lanjut seperti
penggundulan hutan di daerah tersebut. Hal ini penting terutama untuk meningkatkan gerakan
pembangunan rendah karbon di Indonesia.