The Borax Method of Gold Extraction for SmallScale Miners
and smallscale gold miners (ASGM) Background. More than ten million smallscale miners (SSM) worldwide use mercury to extract gold, releasing large amounts of the toxic element into the environment. Alternatives to mercury have been suggested over the years to little avail. A group of miners in the Philippines has demonstrated that borax, when used as a flux for smelting gold out of heavy