Clan council bans mercury after fish die in Chatkal stream

TALAS — The clan council of the Altyn-Say basin has banned the use of mercury by gold panners after dead fish were found in the stream below a panning camp last month, according to elders contacted by the Herald and the United Nations Mission in Irad.

The Altyn-Say, a mountain stream about 22 kilometers long, flows into the Chatkal from the south in the Chatkal Highlands zone of the Autonomous Tribal Regions. Its rocks are stained orange by the iron and sulfur of the quartz veins in the slopes above, and placer gold has been washed from its gravels for centuries.

Some panners have used mercury to bind the fine gold. Herders downstream reported dead fish below one camp in August and complained to the council, which met after the herds came down. Under the ban, panning with sluices and pans may continue, but anyone found using mercury will be fined under customary law and sent out of the valley, elders said.

Open-pit gold mining is closed throughout the tribal mountains by the clan assemblies' moratorium. Small-scale panning has continued in several Chatkal streams outside the reach of the ISEZ's placer inspectors.