Khaidarkan mercury 16 | 17
Workers at the rotary kilns in Khaidarkan often do not wear has been treated with chemicals but not heated) are high
any respiratory protection. This is of concern to worker enough to pose a risk to local people and the environment.
health because the kilns are not well-sealed and so may
emit high levels of mercury vapour to the atmosphere. The In its working life the Khaidarkan mine is estimated to have
poor seals can also allow hazardous liquids to leak onto the produced more than 36,000* tonnes of mercury. Mercury pro-
floor of the smelter building. The exhaust gases from the duction was understandably modest in 1941, at under 100
condenser are vented through a chimney, and it is important tonnes, and peaked in the late 1980s at almost 800 tonnes.
to ensure their temperature does not exceed 30°C to pre- In 2008, Kyrgyzstan produced less than 300 tonnes.
vent mercury escaping. It was estimated that over the last
few years the kombinat emitted about 3.5 tonnes of mer-
*Apart from Khaidarkan, historically there were two other mercury mining
cury annually. The mercury levels and other contaminants in
sites in the region, Chonkoy and Chauvay, which produced 9,000 tonnes
slag, sludge (waste from the kilns) and tailings (waste which of mercury before closing in the early 1990s.
CO
2
and SO
2
Mercury gas Mercury gas
Dust
CO
2
and SO
2
ORE
ENRICH-
MENT
Shaft water
CONDENSATOR
CO
Hg
2
and SO
2
Hg
Ca(OH)
2
+water
ROT
AR
Hg
Y
KILN
Sewage
FLUORITE Tailings
CONCENTRATE
PURIFICATION
Mercury gas
FILTER
Slag
Sludge
BOTTLED MERCURY
Hg
Mercury spillage Mercury emissions
from usage
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