The True Cost of Gold
By Deborah McKew, Communications and Publications Director
Ancient Beginnings
A water-powered ball-mill in West Java © Lauren diBiccari
A tragic hero, a mythical ram, an impossible task. Could this be the origin story of small-scale gold mining?
The Greek myth of the Golden Fleece, inspired by an actual voyage that took place more than 3,500 years ago, provides clues. Jason and his Argonauts embark on a quest to find the magical golden fleece. He sails from Greece to an ancient city near the Black Sea, whose people were renowned for using sheep’s wool to trap the tiny but heavy gold flakes and nuggets from flowing mountain streams. When the fleece had absorbed all that it could hold, this “golden fleece” was hung up to dry, and then gently beaten; the gold would fall to the ground and be recovered.
With a lustrous yellow hue that glints in the sparkling sunshine, it’s not surprising that gold is believed to be the first of the seven metals of antiquity to be discovered and used by curious and innovative early man. It didn’t take long for the shiny metal to become sought after by kings and heroes alike.
What’s Mercury Got to Do with It?
With demand growing, miners discovered a new way to process the gold—using mercury mined from cinnabar to replace the sheepskins. Archeological evidence dates this practice to nearly 3,000 years ago.
Close up of backyard ball-mill in West Java © Lauren diBiccari
In some regions, gold miners (also known as gold washers) pan for gold in low lying riverbeds. Most of the gold is in the form of dust, making it nearly impossible to manually separate out from mud and silt.
To solve that problem, miners pour liquid mercury into large barrels, called ball-mills, which hold the silt. The barrels are rotated allowing the gold particles to bind to the mercury and form a hardened metal alloy, or amalgam.
In some places, such as Indonesia, miners excavate the land (see infographic). Rock containing gold particles is broken into smaller pieces, which are placed in the ball-mills and rotated to break the rock into smaller particles. Once this is complete, water and liquid mercury are added to the barrel to create the amalgam. The contents are then dumped down a sluice. As the water pours out of the bottom, it flows into a bucket. A person watches and waits until the amalgam of mercury and gold flows out. The amalgam is then heated to vaporize the mercury, which pollutes the air. This practice remains the same as it did several millennia ago.
During the entire process, usually conducted in or near living quarters, miners are exposed to mercury and its health risks. Mercury use in this process is inefficient, resulting in fair amounts of the toxic metal to remain in the mine tailings, the slushy waste after rinsing the amalgam. Excess mercury ends up in the ground, seeping into local waterways. Once having entered the environment, mercury can be converted into its organic form called methylmercury, which can be absorbed in the food web and become toxic to the wildlife that consume it.
This mercury-based process is favored by many artisanal small-scale gold miners over other methods of gold extraction because mercury is currently affordable relative to the price of gold, accessible, simple to use, and can be processed anywhere, allowing miners to produce gold quickly and independently.
However, poor mining practices coupled with improper use and disposal of mercury have resulted in large amounts of mercury emitted and released into the environment. Artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sites are often associated with significant ecological and human health impacts. Miners, mining communities, and communities located downstream/downwind of mining operations often show signs of mercury exposure.
BRI Research Projects
BRI’s founder David Evers has been studying the impacts of mercury in wildlife for more than three decades. BRI’s work in this field spans the globe. Mercury is a naturally occurring element that can be released into the environment from fires, volcanic eruptions, or geothermal activities—but mercury is primarily released through human activities, with ASGM the largest contributor of mercury to the environment.
In 2024, BRI published a collection of scientific papers for a special issue in the journal Ecotoxicology about mercury’s impact on the environment. This infographic highlights some of the findings from a literature review of ASGM:
Indonesia – Land of Beauty and Hidden Threats
The team leaving the last sampling site with the ball-mill buildings in the background in North Sumatra © Lauren diBiccari
Indonesia, comprised of over 17,000 islands, is the world’s largest archipelago. Located in a vast arc between the Indian Ocean and the China Sea in Southeast Asia, the archipelago is rich in natural resources and is strategically located along the equator astride major lines of sea communication between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The country is also home to numerous ASGM sites.
Since 2020, BRI has been working in collaboration with the local conservation group Nexus3 Foundation to study the extent of the ASGM issue in Indonesia, with funding provided by the U.S. Department of State.
After delays due to the pandemic, BRI researchers traveled to Indonesia on three occasions —the first was in July 2023 to scout potential sampling sites and to build connections with local researchers and community members. In Spring and Fall of 2024 BRI and local field crews worked at sites in West Java and North Sumatra. The goals of the fieldwork are to: assess mercury exposure to wild birds living in proximity to ASGM activities; compare those levels to wild birds at sites unaffected by ASGM; and conduct capacity building by training local researchers to collect blood and feather samples.
“It’s a beautiful, wonderful place,” says Kevin Regan, BRI’s international bird mercury research lead scientist. “Everyone we’ve worked with has been super helpful and engaged.”
Field conditions are challenging on the islands. With climate changes, the rainy season now extends into spring, so when the crews were out, they often experienced heavy rains, 80°+ temperatures daily, and “basically the most humid you could possibly be,” says BRI wildlife biologist Lauren DiBiccari. Lauren describes the landscape as rolling hills covered in rice paddy fields that lead downhill to forested areas, where the field crews capture birds for sampling.
Building Local Capacity
Kevin sampling a tailorbird as our collaborators wait to take the bird for processing in West Java © Lauren diBiccari
Field crews include BRI biologists, several Nexus3 staff, several local university researchers, and a few local villagers acting as guides and translators. BRI would not be able to conduct our research in most places in the world without the support of local government agencies, environmental groups, and other stakeholders.
The Indonesia work is part of an ongoing study, but preliminary results from the first round of sampling (blood and feathers collected) suggest that birds living near ASGM activities may be exposed to high levels of mercury. Many miners live in simple structures where they process the gold, exposing them and their families to mercury, risking serious human health issues. Studies are being conducted to examine these health issues more closely.
One of the main goals of this project, which the U.S. Department of State has recently extended for several more years, is to build capacity—to teach local researchers how to capture and sample the birds. The samples are analyzed in a local lab and data are sent to BRI for analysis and inclusion in our global mercury database.
Reducing mercury in the ASGM sector is a tough challenge, but not an impossible one. There are options to replace the mercury with other materials. The industry is complex, one that covers an integral web of legal, economic, social, and technical issues. But as long as there is a demand for shiny gold objects, there will be gold mining. BRI’s work is leading to more efficient and sustainable practices that are not deleterious to human or environmental health.
One thing is certain, miners won’t be going back to using sheepskins for gold collection any time soon.
A Growing Team for Growing Mission
By Allison Foster, Science Communications Coordinator
In 2020, BRI employed 27 full-time staff. At the start of 2025, that number more than doubled to 62 full-time employees – with open spots to fill!
At our 25th anniversary summit in 2023, the number of staff who had been at BRI for 5+ years was equal to those who had been there for less than 5 years. No matter which table you sat at, you were almost guaranteed to be engrossed in a story of someone reminiscing the early memories of BRI – from crazy fieldwork stories of loon captures to the cramped first office locations in the Portland suburbs.
The staff here care deeply about the work they do. It’s not uncommon for a staff member to begin as a volunteer or seasonal biologist, and then grow into leadership roles. Take Dustin Meattey, for example. He first met Kate Taylor while volunteering to do loon surveys in Rhode Island in 2004 and joined BRI’s staff full-time in 2007. Fast forward more than 15 years later and in addition to being Director of our Waterfowl Program, his titles include Director of Field Operations and Staff Advisor. Perhaps a better description is “Friend to Everyone!”
As BRI’s staff grew, so did BRI itself. Over time, our research programs increased and diversified to represent our growing skills and interests. Each person who joins our team brings a unique skill set – from environmental contaminants monitoring to science communication; altogether making up our vibrant team, passionate and dedicated to wildlife conservation.
In BRI’s early years, most field research relied on observations and game cameras. Over the past two decades, there have been huge leaps in technological advances, allowing our biologists to use remote sensing technology to study wildlife. Scientists in our Wildlife Remote Acoustics and Imagery Lab (WRAIL) pilot unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs) and autonomous recording units (ARUs) that generate thousands of hours of data.
Close to home, these expansions include offshore wind energy development. Scientific integrity is at the forefront of all the work we do. While our Center for Research on Offshore Wind and the Environment (CROWE) works to increase overall knowledge of wildlife and ecosystems that may be affected by the development of offshore wind energy, our new consulting group, Applied Ecology for Renewable Energy (AERE) is another outlet that provides scientific support for commercial and private offshore development. The division between AERE and CROWE allows us to delineate between our consulting services and research programs.
Wilson Kasaine and Equinox, a twinned elephant recorded since the Amboseli Trust for Elephants project started in 1972.
Our staff come from around the world – from England to Colombia — and bring an abundance of knowledge about the areas they come from. Iain Stenhouse, director of our Marine Bird Program ignited his love for seabirds along the Scottish coast, and Josh Guilbert sparked his passion for bat conservation growing up in New Zealand.
Wilson Kasaine grew up in Kenya in a rich Maasai community, where he worked as a professional safari guide for many years. Wilson joined BRI’s staff full-time in 2023, leading our biodiversity research program in Kenya. He is always keen to share his knowledge of African flora and fauna.
Working together with local communities is crucial for generating knowledge to be used by all. Whether it’s working with Indigenous communities in Maine or empowering tribes in Africa, our commitment to respectful, ethical, transparent, and trust-based research is what guides all our work, in Maine and beyond.
As the Seasons Change…
By Allison Foster, Science Communications Coordinator
Alabama has two distinct black bear populations – one in Northeast Alabama and another in Southwest Alabama! This black bear was safely captured for population monitoring by state biologists and hands on experience for wildlife students like myself!
Growing up in Florida, my white winters consisted of sand from the Gulf of Mexico beaches. I always joke that I’m a reverse snowbird, moving from the warm beaches to the frigid winters of Maine.
Living in New England has awakened my appreciation for seasonality, and its relationship to our stages of life. Wandering along nature trails that I frequent in my neighborhood, I observe the changes in nature around me. Which leaves will turn color first? Which birds are calling?
This notion of seasonality has been around for centuries, dating back to Hippocrates, who noted that the climate and season affect our physical being. Seasonality affects almost every aspect of our lives—from seasonal allergies to “winter blues.”
A refreshing aspect of seasonality is the reminder that things come and go. It is very rare that things stay exactly as they are.
Much like wildlife, we go through different seasons and stages of lives. Our life cycles on Earth are centered around a 365-day year—but we are not operating at 100 percent all that time. In the winter, bears hibernate, and the world around them retreats to solitude, too. Obviously polar bears hide away in the sub-zero temperatures, but even black bears in Florida and Alabama go into a semi-hibernation state of torpor to save energy.
These patterns are not only reflected in biological processes, but often in real life and society, too. Oftentimes people may say “this season of life,” but that refers to a very real feeling. In Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katherine May encourages us to lean into the cold and darkness and embrace the winter season in our own lives.
When I started at BRI this past June, the offices were more empty than full as the field season was in full swing. As temperatures begin to drop, fieldwork slowly comes to an end, and the offices are full of life again.
Sometimes life is busy and go go go, and other times it’s slow and unassuming, perhaps boring. The perspective at which you look at life will also impact how you see the world around you.
At BRI, natural observation is an important part of our scientific process. Observing where the animals are tells us a lot about them. Importantly, the environment around wildlife will offer a lot of clues, too. Which foods are they eating? What sort of habitat are they using?
Cruising on Webb Lake with Micah Miller as the sun sets on a loon survey in August 2024.
Noticing small changes is an important skill to acquire, especially as a biologist. On a loon survey earlier this summer, I was cruising around the lake with our loon program director Micah Miller before sunset when he noticed the nearby “tik-tik-tik” of an eagle and considered how that could affect the loons we were trying to observe.
Fieldwork demands all of your senses to be at 100 percent—keeping an eye on the weather, listening for bird calls, and jumping into data collection with all hands on deck.
Spending time outside and paying attention to the world around us greatly improves our mental health. It’s no wonder that even though our biologists spend some early mornings in the field, they always sport a pleasant attitude.
To engage in citizen science, you can record your observations with iNaturalist and connect with others in your community to see the changes around your environment. Next time you’re on a walk, I encourage you to stop, observe, and consider the world around you. How, over the course of a year can so many changes happen, and how do those changes manifest in the environment around us?
Some great books that chronicle these observations of the world around us are Summer World and Winter World, by Bern Heinrich. Another beautiful book is The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature by David George Haskell.
Bridging Science and Sustainability: BRI’s Role in Renewable Energy and Environmental Conservation
By Eleanor Eckel, Science Policy Coordinator
Photo credit © Martin Rogozinski
The future of renewable energy in the United States is more than a technical challenge—it’s a story of people, expertise, and collaboration. As the demand for clean energy surges, the need for environmental consulting has never been greater. It’s a space where science, policy, and purpose converge.
BRI has been at the forefront of navigating complex environmental permitting and due diligence processes, lending its expertise to infrastructure and residential projects alike. The organization’s deep understanding of wildlife and ecosystems makes it uniquely equipped to address the challenges of renewable energy development. This expertise is crucial in ensuring projects comply with tightening environmental regulations while protecting the biodiversity that makes these landscapes so special.
For BRI, this work isn’t just about checking regulatory boxes—it’s about advancing science to solve real-world problems. In 2024, the organization expanded its mission with the creation of two specialized groups: The Applied Ecology for Renewable Energy (AERE) group and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Consulting Group.
AERE: Pioneering Solutions for Renewable Energy
AERE, launched in the summer of 2024, provides essential support for renewable energy projects, with a strong focus on minimizing environmental impacts. Led by a passionate team of biologists, ecologists, and policy experts, AERE’s mission is to help provide the tools and expertise needed to minimize environmental impacts while driving the U.S. toward its ambitious clean energy goals.
Merra Howe, AERE’s deputy director, embodies the groups mission. Her work bridges the gap between science and policy, providing scientific and policy guidance related to offshore wind and wildlife to external clients and managing the development of avian and bat monitoring and mitigation plans on behalf of offshore wind clients to ensure compliance with federal requirements.
“We always strive to use the best available science to guide the offshore wind industry,” Merra explains. “It’s incredibly rewarding working to both minimize the potential effects of offshore wind projects on birds and bats while facilitating the development of these unprecedented, massive green energy projects in the U.S. that are critical to meeting global emission reduction targets and tackling climate change.”
For Merra, the heart of the work lies in collaboration. “I most enjoy the collaborative nature of the work, both internally within our diverse team of biologists, quantitative ecologists, and project managers to achieve our work deliverables, as well as externally with our clients, who genuinely also care deeply about protecting birds and bats around their projects. I appreciate the challenge of communicating complex science to these clients and enjoy thinking of ways to continue to improve this process.”
NRDA: Restoring What’s Been Lost
Photo credit © sorn340, iStock
In the fall of 2024, BRI took another bold step with the launch of its NRDA Consulting Group. This team is dedicated to helping federal, state, and Tribal agencies hold polluters accountable for the damage their actions cause to natural resources. From oil spills to hazardous substance releases, NRDA’s mission is to turn adversity into restoration.
Jamie Holmes, senior scientist and co-director of NRDA Consulting, speaks to the group’s impactful work. “We are trying to hold polluters accountable for the adverse impacts of their oil and hazardous substance releases. This requires an understanding of chemistry, contaminant fate and transport, exposure of natural resources, and the adverse effects of the exposure. The information is used to calculate the compensation (damages) that polluters pay to the public so these resources can be restored.”
For more than three decades, BRI has supported Trustees in NRDA efforts, contributing to injury assessments, damage valuation, restoration planning, and litigation strategy. The NRDA Consulting Group is well-versed in federal programs like the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability act (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), as well as state and Tribal environmental statutes.
Jamie reflects on the unique nature of this work, “It is gratifying work because we work for the government agencies and attorneys who are pursuing these cases, and the results of our work funds habitat and resource restoration projects. Very few private sector consultants get to work directly for the government against the polluters. I am very thankful that we are part of that exclusive club!”
Together, AERE and the NRDA Consulting Group underscore BRI’s commitment to advancing science-based solutions that support both renewable energy growth and natural resource conservation and restoration. Through these groups, BRI is well-positioned to support responsible development of renewable energy while addressing the critical need to protect and restore the environment.
Photo Credits: Header photo © BRI
