Gold rush in Mauritania | DW Documentary

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Күн бұрын

Mauritania is the latest country in the Sahara where gold has been found. Thousands are hoping to strike it rich - but digging for gold is dangerous and impacts upon human health and the environment.
This is because to find gold, you need to dig extremely deep holes in the ground; and to extract the precious metal, you need toxic mercury. But that doesn’t put the gold diggers off at all. They compete for the best mining sites and within a short space of time, an entire settlement has sprung up on the desert sands. Michele Cattani went to take a look.
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Пікірлер: 447

@apocalypticweasel9078 Жыл бұрын

i have a feeling the only one who is gonna get rich is the shop owner doubling his prices for that large captive audience

@someguy1559 Жыл бұрын

Lol I was laughing 'cause he was the only one who really understands how to get rich off a gold rush. It was the same way in California. The shop owners and service providers banked way more the average miner

@apocalypticweasel9078 Жыл бұрын

@@someguy1559 I know right I feel like getting over there to set up a shop myself 😅

@pumbajayden Жыл бұрын

@@someguy1559 real prospectors don't actually care, they just want to be free

@MusicheadRick Жыл бұрын

Also the ocean will become very rich. Soon fish are too toxic for human consumption. Good riddance we humans will wipe ourselves out.

@nelsonchinasamy9857 Жыл бұрын

Very true, it has happened where ever gold was discovered. A few maybe found some gold. But the ones that got rich were the service providers.

@nanzingdadi3205 Жыл бұрын

Finding GOLD is more easier than finding a VISA.. I totally agree with him on that 😂😂😂

@weirdshibainu Жыл бұрын

I live in Nevada, home to tens of dozens of ghost towns that were once thriving gold boom towns. Very few miners got rich, but the merchants did very well. Best of luck to these miners. Very dangerous work and unfortunately very poor environmental mining practices.

@yourmom9608 Жыл бұрын

With that logic we have few lions left

@eyespliced Жыл бұрын

Yep. The best way to make money during a gold rush is from behind a store's countertop.

@weirdshibainu Жыл бұрын

@@yourmom9608 Who are the lions?

@pwd7006 Жыл бұрын

@@weirdshibainu u will know until it sell at wealthiest place like milan or dubai and labeled as SAHARA GOLD

@weirdshibainu Жыл бұрын

@@pwd7006 It won't be labeled Sahara Gold

@mochalo4912 Жыл бұрын

Good Luck Mauritanian Brothers ,much love from Tunisia

@tkzsfen Жыл бұрын

200m deep? By shoveling? This is insane!

@beatrizcascelli Жыл бұрын

Great video! Thanks for highlighting an issue that few people are aware of.

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching:)

@themticker562 Жыл бұрын

@@DWDocumentary great video, except there's a dust color grading makes it biased documentary. See at 10:43 to 10.44. it was clear then suddenly it changes color.

@feyikunmiayanbeku5922 Жыл бұрын

I love this documentary. I can watch it over and over again. Would like to make something like this someday.

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

It’s great to hear that you like the docu. Good luck, we hope you can make that dream come true :)

@medbouchanna9673 Жыл бұрын

@@DWDocumentary plz make docu about western sahara the conflet btwen morroco and algrie

@kandakatlaraviteja4579 Жыл бұрын

Good informative documentary

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching and commenting:)

@anthonymcneill1465 Жыл бұрын

I enjoyed watching and learned much about their methods of mining gold in Mauritania and the risks, even the dangers involved. I send best wishes to them for all their diligent work in pursuing their dreams.

@l.d.t.6327 Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, their dreams, as in other parts of the world where poor people look for gold, cause a lot of misery, environmental pollution, deforestation and deaths among the poorly equipped miners.

@PK.Civil.Servant Жыл бұрын

Did you see how it is mined in Chad & west africa ?? Which then goes for refining in Switzerland and sold with their brand name

@Ptitnain2 Жыл бұрын

They all gonna die in poverty.

@AfricanMaverick Жыл бұрын

Ghana empire used to get its gold from there.

@gre894 Жыл бұрын

@@AfricanMaverick I guess ”empire” is a relative term

@MSMS-ug3zu Жыл бұрын

It raises many questions -- for so many years, international organizations have been advocating for education and lending a huge amount of money to countries such as Mauritania. But like this guy in the film who went up to the university level but could not find a job. So many people are struggling, despite of so-called "development projects". I hope to see those international organizations especially UN agencies held accountable one day.

@priyv8710 Жыл бұрын

Exactly...where are those projects for created for development of underprivileged goes to when the actual people don't get even get the chance to fulfill their dreams

@corneliankoaze9717 Жыл бұрын

What have UN agencies to do with the lack of development plans of the government in Mauretania?

@MSMS-ug3zu Жыл бұрын

@@corneliankoaze9717 It's UN agencies such as UNDP and UNICEF which dominate and dictate country's development plan. They have 'development plans', but are not necessarily relevant nor effective.

@tomhenry897 Жыл бұрын

Never happen

@albejaine Жыл бұрын

@@MSMS-ug3zu They man try to dictate but they surely do not dominate.

@peterkops6431 Жыл бұрын

The mercury issue is huge. My time in gold mining made that extremely apparent. Small miners used mercury for final extraction and many ended their days in misery. I was lucky as my Dad had a long mining history so we took precautions others did not. It’s really bad stuff.

@lostintashkent Жыл бұрын

Dear Peter. Can we please speak or at least know more about your experience with mercury? I run a development aid project for artisanal miners in Mauritania and we have a problem with denial among the mining community.

@peterkops6431 Жыл бұрын

@@lostintashkent Gloves and P3 rated masks. Always. Disposable overalls if possible. Dispose of clothing that has come into contact with mercury in a sealed container. Never let the mercury or water it is associated with run onto the ground. Sealed non corrosive drums to be used and buried with markers stating poisonous substances buried here. Mercury vapour deadly. Avoid at all costs.

@After_Pasta Жыл бұрын

dude with the store is the real genius

@costafilh0 Жыл бұрын

30K in gold in one day. What are you still doing at the Sahara? Or did you spend everything in one week partying?

@AB-hu2uw Жыл бұрын

gets sold below market rate ! not the spot price u see

@costafilh0 Жыл бұрын

@@AB-hu2uw even if it is half. Still enough money to leave the country. In a single day.

@AB-hu2uw Жыл бұрын

@@costafilh0 i doubt its anywhere near half and on top of that any proceeds will feed many mouths

@matthewmiller6568 Жыл бұрын

@@costafilh0 most like it's less than 10%.

@costafilh0 Жыл бұрын

That it is sad. Exploitation of people like that! Even if that's true, $3K will last you a few months in a lot of fvcked up countries like those unless you have like 10 kids or something. And he did that in a single day. Probably there are good and bad days, still, if it wasn't profitable people wouldn't do it. So I stand by my words even if the numbers are not perfect.

@salem-gq9lt Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your channel for shedding light on prospectors in Mauritania

@zenwisdom4259 Жыл бұрын

Hope is what drives people

@dannicrane5577 Жыл бұрын

Spain, Germany, Canada for study. Yeah right. 😂

@Tripleexel 6 ай бұрын

At least he applying not getting on a boat

@mdmaidulislamsafin6397 Жыл бұрын

I am a fan of the DW documentary. I am eagerly waiting for when the new documentary videos released.

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your support, we are glad you are enjoying our content :)

@brahimbmzo490 Жыл бұрын

For the last few years, it's convincing that the Sahara is full of gold, and it is good that Mauritanians are benefiting directly from artisanal and small gold mines. Thousands of people are getting rich from it all over the Sahara in Northern Chad, Southern Libya, Sudan, and Niger. It is now the new Saharan dream!

@woozyz2769 Жыл бұрын

Meh, it's actually just more gold for Europe. France has been collecting from Libya, Chad and Niger while Russia has been collecting from Sudan. In order to do this they need inside men aka puppet presidents and officials, France has been doing this since colonial times, nothing new same old same old

@charleskavoukjian3441 Жыл бұрын

Oh wow! That’s cool, I wonder how much gold is there

@ahmeddoudi5391 Жыл бұрын

@@charleskavoukjian3441 last year artisanal mines do more the 20 tonnes of gold

@charleskavoukjian3441 Жыл бұрын

@@ahmeddoudi5391 woah! Thats a lot of gold. It must be bottomless

@metalextras Жыл бұрын

Thank you DW! Gold's value will keep on increasing on this challenging time... Wishing them workers happiness in life...

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

@Ass_of_Amalek Жыл бұрын

they are poisoning themselves and the region with the mercury spills and vapour. and mercury is an extremely persistent poison since it's a poisonous element, so the area is basly impacted for centuries to come. the video mentions that this is upstream of major fishing grounds, that cod harm mauritania more than the gols is worth. these people are trying to get rich at everybody else's expense. though of course the main change should be the government oeganising a switch to mining methods that don't involve mercury - those are not as easy for an individual niner to do, but when done at scale, they are very economically viable and are industry standard in any reasonable country.

@yunuskadri3393 Жыл бұрын

Amazing documentary

@renegroulx7029 Жыл бұрын

"Sand forms when rocks break down from weathering and eroding over thousands and even millions of years." Millions of years ago, all these deserts were Mountains.

@benlemon849 Жыл бұрын

More like atlantis tsunami washed gold

@UncleJimmyOutWest Жыл бұрын

I don't think she's right.

@luxraider5384 Жыл бұрын

It doesnt work that way.

@alexgoslar4057 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing these insights.

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching! We're glad you like our content.

@faebalina7786 Жыл бұрын

I really hope these people become better resourced resourced and organised because there is no reason so many are still poor So their not selling below market price and being cut out of real profit It’s sad.Especially when big companies strike deals and buy the land.

@darkstar18498 Жыл бұрын

Human greed is why life on earth is hard and dangerous.

@user-xn7md2rr8d Жыл бұрын

DW Documentaries Best. Good job thanks guys 🎉🎉

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thank you for watching :)

@rusticfox4283 Жыл бұрын

omg it looks like the movie holes form above.

@SikderDiamond Жыл бұрын

The most precious gold of Mauritania is their music.

@Tmb1112 Жыл бұрын

Hope some of them can make it rich!!

@ahmeddoudi5391 Жыл бұрын

So many peoples become rich

@danielyang3995 Жыл бұрын

Best hope to these hardworking people!

@volkhen0 Жыл бұрын

Is this Mercury mined out together with gold or they have to add mercury to create amalgamate? If they add, they should evaporate mercury in closed system and reuse it after condensation.

@Phumlanetube Жыл бұрын

I've mined 500g of gold in my grannies backyard

@randoir1863 Жыл бұрын

NO METAL DETECTORS ???? Really ? CMON MAN ! lol Send in Parker from Gold rush and he'll mine that place clean in a season !!!!

@Dimapur Жыл бұрын

Looks like the ones selling food, shovels, spares and equipments, building materials will be making more money than the ones going for gold.

@oxcolette Жыл бұрын

I hope they all get rich!!

@indianintuitiontarot5 Жыл бұрын

Informative video

@jameschristophercirujano6650 Жыл бұрын

I bet the shopowner's gonna be 100x richer than any of these miners, or he might already be 100 times richer.

@mohammedsaysrashid3587 Жыл бұрын

Another wonderful documentary video shared by DW (DW )Documentary Channel .......video clearly showed desperate economic circumstances in Mauritania. Are that primary mining method donating successfully, usefully outcome from economy prospective? ...

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment!

@mansooraqureshi2696 Жыл бұрын

Hope they hit the jack pot,it looks daunting.Their hard work is commendable.

@MrWhite-yg6yk Жыл бұрын

Good luck and get rich my friends!

@theashdey9383 Жыл бұрын

Wanna know EXACTLY where this is going ? Watch The Gold Mafia documentary on Al Jazeera smh

@humor9847 Жыл бұрын

Thats true man

@SconHeadVideos 3 ай бұрын

I want to open a gold mine in Mauritania. But an equal gold mine where my workers get paid well. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate that. I want to not just help myself, but help good people who deserve it. Like this guy. Thank you

@doncarlodivargas5497 Жыл бұрын

Digging 200 meters down in dry sand? Really? 200 meter ? And vains, in sand? Has it been a river or something? Strange!

@BroodingPeeps Жыл бұрын

Any idea what's the bass instrumental playing in the background?

@alfidotv Жыл бұрын

this gold land need freedom

@tobia5267 Жыл бұрын

Good old 'murica is ready to bring all the freedom they need lol

@debdeepchatterjee48 Жыл бұрын

And democracy

@Atamv Жыл бұрын

Also some Wagner theft. 😁

@albashir7140 Жыл бұрын

That was an awesome report❤

@rancu5720 Жыл бұрын

Thanks DW for the best documentary always. Very objective

@jeronimodennis-ef5lq Жыл бұрын

I feel very sorry for these individuals health and misery 😢 and I wish them the best of luck🍀 if it wasn't because of the pollution I would make my way down there look for some gold myself

@aghileshemdani3144 Жыл бұрын

What Would you look for some gold in country who are not yours !?

@jeronimodennis-ef5lq Жыл бұрын

The world belongs to all of us I don't hide behind a flag, race or any army! All man should have equal rights to prosper through their own sweat blood and tears and not that of others.

@pavelstoikov3780 Жыл бұрын

@@jeronimodennis-ef5lq hi new profile Mar 12, 2023 :D

@massylii Жыл бұрын

@@jeronimodennis-ef5lq 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 do you think the world belongs to your mother? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Foff

@MrMcawesomeface Жыл бұрын

@@aghileshemdani3144 cause America needs to send some freedom over there, you guys found gold we gonna take it 😂

@jorgealbertobarbosalimamar983 Жыл бұрын

anyone knows the name of the tracks playing on this video? the intruduction song is very cool!!

@krishnansrinivasan830 Жыл бұрын

Nice & Informative :)

@DWDocumentary Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching:)

@jurynalivaiko4718 Жыл бұрын

beautiful documentary! Can somebody pls recognise that music track at the end of documentary?

@bloodymary146 Жыл бұрын

Thank God i am not a gold miner.

@BUNG_DARREN Жыл бұрын

Here we go again

@muktadirhasan345 Жыл бұрын

Did you notice how risk it 5:10

@Pwnasaur Жыл бұрын

So is there a way to provide these miners with appropriate scrubbers whilst they burn the mercury? Would this help?

@JIJO333 Жыл бұрын

DW the Best!

@marktime9235 10 ай бұрын

One word ... scary .... on many different levels

@Michael_theArch Жыл бұрын

Can you please upload the full documentary?

@rossr6616 Жыл бұрын

San Francisco Bay still has lots of Mercury from silver and gold mining over the last 150 years; even now about 2,000 pounds is flushed into the Bay annually from Sierra rivers

@Benson_aka_devils_advocate_88 Жыл бұрын

If you want to get rich during a gold rush than open a store to sell to miners!

@alphahuskyy Жыл бұрын

go get the gold, guys! you can do it!

@paradhoax Жыл бұрын

It happened in Algeria too, but the criminal military regime here arrested all the gold searchers, and now those criminal generals take it easily for themselves, nothing for the Algerian ppl.

@thedstorm8922 Жыл бұрын

Lol wtf are you talking about?

@luxraider5384 Жыл бұрын

@@thedstorm8922 algeria is ruled by the military

@awab5770 Жыл бұрын

“Finding a visa is more difficult then finding gold”

@crieff1sand2s Жыл бұрын

Great but depressing documentary.....😞👍

@eyespliced Жыл бұрын

The kicker with gold extraction, is that there are other methods to chemically extract the gold from the rocks it is contained within that are only _slightly_ more expensive, and while they do leave some nasty remains from processing they are much safer and are orders of magnitude less damaging than using mercury.

@waynewen4370 Жыл бұрын

the other way involves sodium cynanide, which for small scale miners are unable to set up considering u need large land with vats and alot of water and a charcoal burning plant.

@dpt6849 Жыл бұрын

Without water hard to sluice

@arbykane7158 Жыл бұрын

I was doing sensibilisation for HSE and also me and my team we trained lot of artisanal miners in Chami for free mercurey process.

@chrisblenkinsopp8588 Жыл бұрын

You would NEVER catch me going down a hole like that 60 meter one...!!

@theflanman420420 Жыл бұрын

200 meters deep? That is nightmare inducing. Respect to these people for trying to get out of poverty.

@EvilTurtle97 Жыл бұрын

Reminds me an awful lot of the novel 'Holes'.

@art-media209 Жыл бұрын

This is dangerous work.

@FreshtexBlackman Жыл бұрын

@9:27 Is that Mercury Teeth Poisoning?

@CrowSpirit1977 Жыл бұрын

They're all gonna go nuts from the mercury

@filibesko Жыл бұрын

The moment she said this town grew a lot recently, then showing couple sheds in the distance lol

@luxraider5384 Жыл бұрын

Mauretania is a shadow country of 4 million people

@fabiogaldino1971 Жыл бұрын

What keep growing isso desert and lack water

@lemmontree1 Жыл бұрын

4:50 Soundtrack please

@udaisinghkanwar7250 Жыл бұрын

I believe it truly is a gold rush, by the end of this year gold prices would have risen by at least 10% .

@ecsamuels4142 Жыл бұрын

I enjoy reading comments☺️

@Baldie731 Жыл бұрын

Narrator's voice, resembles jim browning's. i think.

@bbnCRLB Жыл бұрын

250g from 15kg of the sand. Doesn't sound efficient to me.

@paulineeboigbe6989 Жыл бұрын

I would love to buy gold. How do i do that?

@sheriffsheriff6134 Жыл бұрын

Wow..

@tahaansari9970 Жыл бұрын

In sha Allah

@paulocembranelli5514 Жыл бұрын

It is very likely that Europe is a major destination for this gold...

@texanplayer7651 Жыл бұрын

Who else do you expect to pay for this gold but the rich?

@saidos1 Жыл бұрын

Not only gold but also mercury as a food toxin in the fish

@jeclipse129 Жыл бұрын

And? What use do Mauritanians have for it? Gold for these men is HARAM.

@fabiogaldino1971 Жыл бұрын

South América

@GeoBlackPro Жыл бұрын

Still no metal detectors due to poverty...it's frustrating

@moelester6120 Жыл бұрын

marutania was the last country to abolish slavery in 1982. slavery is a huge part of islam yet majority of Muslims don't know this fact

@25oxendine Жыл бұрын

and Black Mauritanian will be the last to sit at this table

@31000or Жыл бұрын

Actually modern world just change his way of slavery and now why all slave

@moelester6120 Жыл бұрын

@@carymarshallfelton9188 I guess the difference is Christianity doesn't allow slavery and Jesus didn't own slaves but Christians did. while Islam allows slavery, Mohamad owned slaves and 6 year old brides and Muslims too owned slaves and were the last to abolish slavery

@josephquaye9756 Жыл бұрын

If per their findings on the Mercury and its effect on the environment and the ecosystem, the whole of West Africa is on time bomb.

@patrickformert8460 Жыл бұрын

What's happening you didn't report about Franch 24 being ban in France, doubl standed

@michaelfried3123 Жыл бұрын

Denial. Its not just a river in Egypt...

@Cheros Жыл бұрын

Short and sweet

@jweebo1463 Жыл бұрын

And the eye of the sahara grows red once more.

@skanderkechih2433 Жыл бұрын

How a out equal pay ?

@dinnokoluh Жыл бұрын

Somebody knows the name of of the song at 11:05?

@dhanjeepandey4252 Жыл бұрын

Good...

@simeongkitty Жыл бұрын

That miner do have a Dream

@themticker562 Жыл бұрын

great video, except there's a dust color grading makes it biased documentary. See at 10:43. it was clear then suddenly it changes color. fishy........................

@PaulSmith-jz2ys 5 ай бұрын

Mars probably contains significant amounts of gold.

@matteochiacchio4618 Жыл бұрын

Funny enough I was just watching A video in depth about the anuuakai and that there was a lot of gold from previous civilizations in this area. So it all makes sense that they are finding this high quality gold. This area in the world has many more secrets...

@viangreasespeed1165 Жыл бұрын

If all gold at the.sahara escavated,than the soil may be can grown plant

@halitosis75 Жыл бұрын

I'm amazed , given how rich Mauritania is in resources most people face poor quality of life and constant struggles. Where is the money from the huge iron ore exports.