5000 Traditional Gold Miners in Tanah Laut

Pelaihari, South Kalimantan (AntarnewsKalsel) - Approximately 5,000 residents of Tanah Laut now work as traditional gold miners.

"The activities of traditional gold miners in Tanah Laut bustling since 2000 and currently amounts to 5,000 people," said Rahmat, an owner of drum instrument for sorting gold grain in Pelaihari, Tuesday (28/2).

According to him, traditional gold miners in Tanah Laut generally use private land and are not in the protected forest area or forest production.

"The miners usually buy land mixed with stone from the land owner for Rp20 thousand per sack, then it taken to the next processing of drum machines," he said.

The process in drum machine takes about seven hours. Here miners charged Rp10 thousand for one sack.

"Sometimes there are gold, sometimes none. However, miners do not despair and keep trying," he told.

Nani, one of the miners, claimed he works as traditional gold miners since he was a bachelor until now he has two children.

"In one day may be got nothing. If successful, I earned between Rp50 thousand to Rp100 thousand," he said.

"From this work I am able to survive with family. If later there is regulation prohibiting these activities, where do we go to find work," he said.

He hoped that the local government offered solution to traditional gold miners in Tanah Laut, so they would not lose job.