Ninjas

From Mongol Studies Online Reference

“Ninjas”, or “artisan miners”, are persons or small organizations illegally tapping contracted mines in Mongolia. In 2006, there were approximately 30000 such ninjas (1.13% of the total population ^[1], a number made possible mainly because mines in Mongolia are scantily staffed and rural enough to be far from adequate law enforcement. ^[2]. In 2007, the number was reportedly 100,000, a group eight times as large as the sum of all mining companies' labor forces. ^[3]

Ninjas most often tap target mines in small scale in secret, but on occasion they have been reported to attack mines in raids. For example, in late June 2006, as many as 2000 ninjas stormed a Russian-owned mine in Altan Dornod. Hurling rocks, they attempted to gain access to the processing fields, only stopping when portions of the land caved in, killing two raiders ^[4]. The Ninja problem reached its peak after the turn of the millennium, when harsh winters had left many nomadic families unemployed and without livestock. Mongolian ninjas most often sell their spoils to local traders, who in term resell to markets in China ^[5]. “The real environmental concern is the sharp boom in the number of informal gold miners, who frequently illegally use mercury, which may lead to an epidemic of mercury poisoning” ^[6].

^[7].

Police response to the ninja problem has drawn attention from human rights organizations, as punitive and preventative methods are often corporal. In mid 2007, a Mongols who wandered too close to mines in the Zaamar hills (estimated to contain over 100 tons of gold) were often seized and beat by police, especially if they carried the large trademark ninja green bowl used for sifting. The name “ninja” itself was supposedly coined based on the observation that the illegal miners, when wearing the green bowls on their backs, resembled the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ^[8].

[edit] References

1. ↑ "The current Mongolian's population and demographics datas of Mongolia". e-Mongol.com. Accessed July 2008.
2. ↑ [http://mongolia.neweurasia.net/?p=275 "Ninja Miners Attack Mine in Mongolia, 2 Die" Luke. New Eurasia. Country Weblog Mongolia. June 21 2006. Accessed July 2008.
3. ↑ "Mongolia's gold rush: blessing or curse?". Osnos, Evan. Chicago Tribune. Sunday, May 13, 2007.
4. ↑ [http://mongolia.neweurasia.net/?p=275 "Ninja Miners Attack Mine in Mongolia, 2 Die" Luke. New Eurasia. Country Weblog Mongolia. June 21 2006. Accessed July 2008.
5. ↑ "Mongolia's 'ninja' miners skirt safety, laws to make living". Asian Economic Articles. BNet Business Network. April 18 2005. Accessed July 2008.
6. ↑ Background Note: Mongolia. Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. US Department of State. February 2008. Accessed July 2008.
7. ↑ "Prospectors and 'ninja' miners flood to east's El Dorado". Watts, Jonathan. The Guardian. October 10 2007. Accessed July 2008.
8. ↑ "Prospectors and 'ninja' miners flood to east's El Dorado". Watts, Jonathan. The Guardian. October 10 2007. Accessed July 2008.