Let's not get distracted.
There's no arguing that mining conditions stink in much of the world. But blaming the gold industry for this is misguided. Similar stories could be found in countries with diamond mines, coal mines, uranium mines. And even worse things happen in the places that DON'T have such resources.
The problem is that countries are impoverished. Pick ANY similarly poor nation and you'll find similarly poor conditions.
BTW, I've done a little gold panning. If the gold in this 3rd grader's pan is representative of the norm, it's AWESOME. That's probably $30 to $50 worth! I wish I could get results like that.
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