Phytoremediation Agent of Mercury Waste on Indonesian Small-Scale Gold Mine Using Hyacinth

Abstract

Amalgamation is the common method to process and purified gold in a tube in small-scale mine worldwide, especially in Indonesia. The method uses mercury (Hg) to bind gold metals, which pollutes the environment. Therefore, this reviewed paper aims (i) to assess the environmental impact of small-scale gold mine in Indonesia and (ii) to evaluate the used hyacinth to ameliorate the deterioration on surface water quality. Hyacinths potentially reduce Hg levels in gold mining wastewater. Hyacinths are proved to absorb heavy metal in mercurial wastewater of gold mining. The addition of 500 gr/L hyacinth to mercurial wastewater would decrease 79.7% of Hg concentration. The more hyacinths, the more Hg levels will be absorbed.