An international competition to innovate clean artisanal gold mining techniques came to the epicenter of illegal gold mining in Peru’s Amazon.

Scores of competitors from Canada, the U.S., as well as Ecuador, and Peru met in the Amazon city of Puerto Maldonado to try out engineering innovations that can mine gold without using mercury, a toxic contaminant that wreaks havoc on fragile ecosystems and human health.

CGTN’s Dan Collyns reports.