The Human Cost of Gold | National Geographic Magazine: Scrapping Gold From Old Belgian Mines | DR Congo

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Scrapping Gold From Old Belgian Mines | DR Congo

Most Africans in the Congo work where the Belgians already explored.  Congolese try to eke little bits of gold from the old mine tunnels and cracks in the earth left by the Belgians. Belgians moved very quickly into their colony with heavy machinery to extract gold to finance the war effort during WWII. I found this guy a couple of KM down an old shaft holding a flashlight in his mouth and knocking two rocks together to try and find gold.