The Most Dangerous Black Market You've Never Heard Of 

*WATCH NEXT:* Buying Organs on the Black Market - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XmD8tL1Dz0g.html

Literally every Vice video has people saying "This is so good, just like the old Vice" they never stopped making this type of content lol.

For those wanting to quantify what a 'pennyweight' of gold is, it's an archaic measurement of mass equal to about 1.55 grams. Today the monetary value of 1 pennyweight of gold is about $80 usd. "5 or 6 pennyweight a day"...$400-$500 Even distributed among a crew of a dozen people, that's about 1-4 weeks of income for one days' work. Just throwing that out there because I myself had absolutely no idea what it was and couldn't find the answer in the comments. =)

I live in Guyana and I wasn't aware of the problem with mercury. It seems as if the government doesn't even bring up this issue and take actions to resolve it. It may be considered illegal, but a lot of illegal things are swept under the rug and laws aren't strictly enforced because this is how things are like in developing countries. As the men say in this documentary, their living depends on this and it's how they earn money to support their families and send their children to school.

Wow, excellent piece shining light on a huge problem that many are a part of, but unaware of..

Good to see Vice getting back to their roots. Can we get some future North Korean / Russian / China stuff?

Banning materials without providing a replacement, has and will never work. As the man said, only large scale mining companies will be able to do it. But that’s the whole point today. Transfer the wealth to large corporations, as the US did during the pandemic

I remember several years ago heroin addiction destroyed my life, I suffered from severe depression and a mental disorder until I was recommended to psilocybin mushroom treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly I'm 8 years clean now. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

"I have to do it for my family." The ultimate expression of a Government that has failed, causing one to turn to desperate and illegal action to provide for ones' family.

When I was a teen, I accidently dropped a mercury thermometer and it cracked . I spent the week thinking I was going to die from a tiny bit that will not effect you. So I can't imagine being exposed like these people

There are so few documentaries about Guyana! Despite the heavy nature of the video, it is still nice to see something about that region of the world. My mom grew up in a village near Georgetown. I have many stories but not a lot of images of what it may have looked like. More documentaries about smaller countries please!

That one dude talking about Mercury not being dangerous was very convincing

i don't know whether its my obsession or its the quality of work that just keeps pulling me to this damn good content. i congratulate Shane smith the founder of vice and the quality of their work from Middle East, to Ukraine, Antartitic to baltic regions from south east to north including africa. covering almost everything of real importance for world community. Terrorism, conflicts health social and political issues. the vice is up there on top the table, thank you for becoming an integral part of my phd thesis.

This was a great piece but I have just a couple of recommendations: 1) As an environmental engineer, I know first hand how easy it is to get caught up in my thoughts and switch between units when speaking to audiences unfamiliar with SI unit conversions. When the scientist said they have 30,000 ug/m3 and then gave a reference point that 1 mg/m3 is very, very high I suspect that his implying they are 30x over a 'very high' contaminate concentration went unnoticed by a lot of the audience. A lot of videos now will supplement the narrative with text showing helpful tidbits, and I'd recommend throwing in a block of text with those kind of scenes to show the audience that conversion for context (my teams do this all the time in presentations). 2) for a 30 min piece on mercury proliferation in south America, not a lot of time was spent explaining the risks and routes for exposure and toxicity. Maybe much of the older audience remember mercury being in the public eye back in the days where it was contentious as a fuel additive, but the risks regarding bioaccumulation are probably not as well understood as the producers here may expect. The scientist and the narrator both allude to 'persistence' but that doesn't really communicate the pernicious reality of mercury contamination in natural systems. A few more minutes explaining this could have conveyed some well-founded fears toward the audience regarding this dangerous metal. The shots of people handling it are unsettling but pretty cool though. It really is mercurial and a fascinating and amazingly-useful metal... too bad it will shred every cognitive function of these poor miners over a long enough exposure time.

Yet nothing about Exxon ruining those fresh waters and nothing about all the trees being cut down. As a Guyanese we all know how rich the country is but the poor infrastructure and greed has lead down a terrible path. Gold is too plentiful in Guyana and it’ll never stopped being mined. Big up all my Guyanese and all my Caribbean people ✊🏾❤️

Excellent documentary! I was unaware of the impacts of mercury and our environment, governments not locking down on this, how poor people are influenced to work in these mines because they have to feed their families/maintain a living, how places like Canada, Switzerland, and others are supporting this industry, how the black market is a multi-millions industry-esp. with mercury, and I learned so much more. Thank you so much for sharing.

As a fellow Guyanese, our country needs help. Being exploited, and no development happening in our country is devastating. Our people are suffering physically, mentally and economically.

Imagine how desperate you’d have to be to mine Mercury with your bare hands?

the man saying he has 16 siblings is the most guyanese thing i have ever heard.

Guyanese in the house 🇬🇾✊🏽❤️🖤💛🤍💚. I’m first born in the country for my family from there. Only thing good I can take away from this is seeing a Vice documentary on my country. Besides Jim Jones I usually don’t hear too much content coverage on Guyana. Praying the economy flourishes and dilemmas lightens up 💔.

Crazy enough my father showed me how to process gold with mercury when I was maybe 12 years old, of course very small scale and we were in a well ventilated garage.

As a guyanese, I'd like to say that it's awesome to see some exposure for my small country that's often ignored in the grand scheme of things. And yeah. It's pretty sad that this is what our citizens resort to but this is how we live. We are a nice people though, very friend... Socome visit and explore the other aspects of our culture. ( and no I didn't even know that this happens here) Thanks VICE ! ❤️

I had learned how to do that as a child in the 80’s in Colorado. They would test pans of soil from river beds to see if it was worth panning for gold there. They would break transistor tubes from old tvs to get the mercury, run it through a test pan of soil, then put the mercury in a hollowed out potato and bake it for a few hours in a fire, then check to see how much gold flake remained.

We watch from our devices that exist because of the gold they feed their families with. It's really fucked up but I won't judge anyone for feeding their family. I do think the one guy said the big gold mining companies are probably doing much worse with the blessing of their governments. Like always the little guy gets a raw deal while the rich and privileged judge and rule.

I often complain about my 9-5 warehouse job, watching this definitely helps put things into perspective

Mercury is literally the most amazing looking metal I've ever seen. It's fun to stare at it...like a dangerous beauty.

"It's illegal yea, but you aren't doing nothing like extraterrestrial."

My hope is that shining a light on this problem will lead to steps leading out of it. What a sobering but enlightening doc. Thank you.

@12:29 the mercury has given him super powers to drive straight even though the wheel is pointing 90 degrees😂

7:00 i really wanna appreciate that extractor for taking responsibility to build a system to keep him safe, that was smart af

5:01 That's the Gnarliest coke nail ivd ever seen

Historically, mercury was used extensively in hydraulic gold mining in order to help the gold to sink through the flowing water-gravel mixture. Thin gold particles may form mercury-gold amalgam and therefore increase the gold recovery rates. Large-scale use of mercury stopped in the 1960s. However, mercury is still used in small scale, often clandestine, gold prospecting. It is estimated that 45,000 metric tons of mercury used in California for placer mining have not been recovered. Mercury was also used in silver mining.

7.30 it's music to my ears , what a voice

You taught me something today. It seems that the mining industry is always at odds with Maroon peoples. If it isn't stealing and poisoning their lands, its poisoning them directly in this way.

I heard that back in the PS2 era, Sony was dragged in this mining issue due to when PS2 was so in demand, these poor miners were forced to work double time to harvest more rare earth. Because one of the rare components of the hardware's microchip was imported from this part of the globe.

Empowering & inspirational! Thank you

Super fascinating coverage of an underground economy we hear absolutely nothing about. Would love to see/read more about how things have changed almost a year on (which is also to say I hope they have... at all).

I love how that 1 guy is like '' Mercury is not as bad as people say it is'' lol. It is not what people say it is its scientific facts

"They have to build a fence in the river" Don't give the government ideas.

My new defence in any argument or conflict : “it’s not like I was doin’ anyting extraterrestrial “

5:00 damn boy that’s some serious manicure you got going 😂

That one dude nailed it - the government needs to step up and teach them how to mine gold safely

Great video! A few things: 1. I'm stuck on the Surinamese government banning mercury but allowing cyanide to be used in the mining process. The Maroon man made a valid point about the fact that it is no safer than the substance they've placed a ban on. 2. The boat inspector guy seems like he has received a good handful of kickbacks throughout his career. I suspect this is the primary reason why this smuggling operation is still thriving after so many years of trying to put an end to it. 3. Dr. Wip mentioned the dangers of emissions contaminating the air. I didn't even think about how this is affecting the air quality in the region. I could easily see how this would affect the wildlife. Sadly, it appears the damage has already been done and the demand for mercury won't ease up any time soon. Again, thanks Vice!

When I was a little boy and was sick with pneumonia in the late 1980's, I had to constantly have my oral temperature monitored with a mercury thermometer. It took forever to measure my temperature and as a frustrated 6 year old, I bit the end off of a mercury thermometer and got a tiny mouthful of a few drops of mercury that I immediately spat into the sink. My mom freaked out and rushed me to the emergency room, knowing how poisonous it was. Fortunately, I did not swallow any mercury and was not seriously injured. Knowing mercury can cause severe airway and esophageal burns as only 2 dangers as a former emergency nurse, I am shocked to see those poor souls handling mercury with their bare hands and breathing in mercury fumes.

5:00 Holy huge thumb nail, Batman!

Hard to get people to stop doing something that they need to survive. Would be nice to find a reasonable alternative to the mercury.

In the 90s, when I was in grade school, I had a toy maze that had a ball of mercury in it that you had to guide through the maze. I thought it was the coolest thing and I use to bring it to school to show my classmates. Crazy how dangerous it is.

Im quarter guyanese n its cool to see channels i actually watch talk about things id never know otherwise

God bless Dr. Archer, what a remarkable woman, battling the stigma that mercury-handling workers face while fighting for their health in the first line! Probably with inadequate means too!!

They knew it was toxic, but the weight of taking care of their family outweigh their safety.

I’d be so bored if I didn’t have vice in my life. Massive respect to you guys.

All blessing for Guyana. Beautiful country. wonderful hard working people and rich natural resources. next video should focus on the influx of Venezuelan and Haitian.

Glad I know about it, now I can participate! Thx Vice!!

This is like a scene out of Mad Max: Fury Road. What a world we live in

Cool to see my country represented honestly.

I could only get through 2 thirds of this and I was so shocked and tearful had to stop. I'm just sorry they have to be put through this to survive.

5.02 the miners thumbnail was like a claw 🙉😂

VICE leading the short documentary space yet again. Well done, bravo.

That opening shot with the mercury drizzling in someone's palm was so unexpected. RIP.

13:33 The gullwing door on that 4 Dr sedan is wild! Trying to figure out where the person is that can be seen in the reflection...

Always Great docs! But COLOR N FONT of subtitles diffclt to read. Love Vice

I wasn't aware of this mercury crisis. Watching this video reminded me how as a child we would play with the bit of mercury from a old broken mercury type thermometer. People do crazy things in the name of money. They are crazier in the name of gold.

I am 51 now. Lately I have looked around and wondered.... Which is most important? Technological Advancement Or Human Progression? Have we lost the chance to CHOOSE?

✨🌎❣️ Excellent Environmental Reporting 👍

I still think gravity methods are more effective at fine gold recovery but they do require upfront investment. Mercury is effective at trapping the fine gold particles but there is also mercury loss to the environment during the process - so it isn't going to be 100% recovery regardless of the option you use. Plus, its use in the field not being regulated means people are using alot of different methods with mercury. Something like a shaker table is ideal but even a spiral pan (for a couple hundred bucks or so) would recover the same amount in my view. It might not be investment they have readily available but it puts money in their pockets instead of the mercury traders and would provide a path forward of getting out of this cycle. You run sluices for volume and use the spiral pan or something like a gold cube for running the concentrate.

A wise man once said "when the rivers are all dried up, and the trees cut down, man will then realize that he will not be able to eat money."

The worst part is they sell the idea that they need murcury and that it's the only way to extract the most amount of gold. Borax can do an equal or better job when used properly. Also, it's non toxic.

Incredible experiences awesome wars people have endured and gone through..

As usual, great reporting! The captions were often hard to read though. Some darker background would help under the text.

Guyana 🇬🇾 that's my home country!!! Thanks Vice for covering this problem miners face !!

Imagine i'm living in Guyana and didn't even know they does smuggle mercury damn.

It’s so wild to me to see that person holding mercury in his bare hand😱

“They gotta build a fence in the mf river” idk his tone and seriousness about the situation says alot

Guyanese are some of the most determined and hardest working people on this planet. 🇬🇾 May God bless the GT people.

Each generation needs to learn about the dangers concerning mercury. Many movies and reports, (documentaries), illustrate how mercury can affect living organisms... from, ailments, mutations, and death.

holy crap that dude at 6:52 reminds me so much of Keegan-Michael Key

Thanks for awareness 👋

VICE NEWS is slowly adopting Nolan level cinematography and Zimmer kind of sound track.

Never thought mercury can have this much effect outside a thermometer

13:10 - "It's illegal, yea, but you ain't doin' nuttin', like, extratellestrial." I felt that.

I clicked on this video and was surprised to see this was taking place in my country. Good to know

Y'all finally did a piece on GUYANA!! Please more from here. Love Vice

Thanks for the awesome work in bringing this piece...meticulous work all around...unfortunately I am not sure if the catastrophe unfolding will get addressed at all with we as a global civilization not seeing us as one...we are right now going in the other direction...with multilateral world organizations being hollowed out for myopic "power play" by rich & powerful countries & the increasing reliance on a dated & corrosive form of so called development called "economic development" that uses a dated & destructive form a wealth management, Capitalism.....the answer i think is not going to come from the top its up to us in the bottom, it needs to be bottom up from education to innovation to demanding change every one has to play a part they can...that's how this can change

Most dangerous Black market ! Wasn't expecting it ,to be my country, Great documentary all round 👏👏👏🇬🇾

My brother and I had a little kid chemistry set or something like that from Germany. I swear it had mercury in it, but maybe (hopefully it wasn’t pure, or was something else). I used to sit on the kitchen floor pouring it from hand to hand thinking “oooh liquid metal!” How much exposure would you have to have to it on the skin to notice any ill effects?

The gold miners talk about getting punished if they don't find gold. This is some dystopian stuff. I'm glad the smelter was using a respirator and air flow system and capture. I imagine a lot of smelters don't have such a set up.

Chemist here: Cyanide actually decomposes relatively quick from soil and atmosphere. If it decomposes in soil, it usually fertilizes the soil in the process. However, mercury fixes itself into fat tissue. This means that it travels up the food chain with no good way of getting out. This is why, per ounce, large fish like tuna have much more mercury than smaller fish like salmon.

This is unbeliavable. I can't imagine what the future holds for us humans... very sad indeed.

The Miner: I want my identity to be concealed. Vice: We can do that, let us just get some sick drone shots of the area around us though.

An absolutely fascinating piece, well done to all involved!

I’ve live in Guyana my whole life and never once heard of mercury smuggling.

Great video as usual but depending on the background those yellow subtitles sure are hard to read.

I'm 65 and can remember playing with mercury when I was a kid. We even broke some thermometers on purpose just to get it. Thank God I have no known problems from it today.

Jeez! How long did this take to make? It's incredibly high quality!

I got mercury poisoning last summer thanks to the massive wildfire we had in Oregon and let me tell you, it was not an experience I want to relive!!

Not related to the video, but a 1 min ad you can’t skip? Unbelievable

crazy how after this video, ive heard about this a lot more

I'm from South Africa. Pelé sounds like he's speaking Afrikaans which is one of our local languages. It's fascinating... Edit: Lol I'm not saying that he is speaking Afrikaans! Afrikaans is a derivative of the Dutch language.. I'm trying to say that I understood Pelé much more than I understood the Dutch language.. hence the "fascinating..." That's all...

This might be the single worst case of hiding a source's identity I have ever seen, who is the actual target of the expose?

This is sooooo good, just like the old Vice!!!