Gold miners on motorcycle during a dust storm. Frequently, the mercury-contaminated mud is lying around openly. Over time, the wind spreads the mercury along with the dust across large areas.

In addition to the rope running along a windlass, the gold-digger is fastened to a security rope because the windlass has no breaking mechanism, and without additional protection he could fall as far as 25 metres if a colleague accidentally let go of the windlass.

The Ninjas dig into the heavy soil with simple means, here in a dried-up riverbed of a desert river which has not had water in years.

Approximately one hundred people work in these illegal gold mines near the Chinese border in the Gobi Desert.

These small drywashers only allow small amounts of stone to be separated from the gold. However, there also are Ninjas who run bigger gold mills.

Gold-digger underground

These two Ninjas were surprised when I climbed down to join them. They agreed that I could take some pictures. Just before I had been threatened with a knife.

Where there is no water, the Ninjas often use drywashers for washing the gold.

Ninja Miners Mongolia

25m deep entrance shaft into a mine. During the making of my documentary »Price of Gold«, I was lowered head first, hanging from my feet into this narrow tunnel in order to show the depth of the shaft via camera movement. For technical reasons we could not lower the camera down on its own.

The mercury extracts the gold from the rock and forms amalgam. This is heated on a hearth inside the yurt in order to vapourize the mercury and get solid gold. The mercury vapours are highly toxic and the Ninjas breathe them in.

The Ninjas use a pneumatic hammer and dynamite to tunnel up to 70 metres into the solid rock.

Ninjas preparing a controlled explosion, with fuses and detonators. As they only have limited expertise, the risk is immense. In 2007 I stayed with a group of Ninjas who detonated the dynamite with a fuse, risking their lives everytime. In 2010 some gold-diggers were telling me that at the time a man named Bolto had lost his arm in an explosion.

Here a number of tunnels have collapsed. Often Ninjas are buried alive in the tunnels.

Controlled explosion, illegal goldmine, the Gobi Desert

In order to extract gold, stones from the shafts are crushed to fine dust. Sieves are used to sort the coarse stones.

At times you come across small pieces of gold, but if you want to achieve a solid yield you will get more gold using highly toxic mercury, which separates the gold from the stone.

A day’s yield of gold

Nomadic boy with puppy in front of yurt. His brother works as Ninja.

Nomadic boy working in the mines.

While one person digs underground, the others heave the stones up in buckets and break them up.

Ninja Miners Mongolia

Group of Ninjas washing gold at the end of the day.

Ninja Miners Mongolia

The mercury extracts the gold from the rock and forms amalgam. This is heated on a hearth inside the yurt in order to vapourize the mercury and get solid gold. The mercury vapours are highly toxic and the Ninjas breathe them in.