In the shadow of El Llagal, a tailings dam that holds waste from one of the world’s largest goldmines in the Dominican Republic, sits the home of Casilda Lima. The roof is corrugated iron and the walls are wood, painted pink and yellow. A sign reads “God bless this home”.
Outside,the 114-metre-tall grey wall of the dam looms large. Behind it lies a lake of waste from the mining process, where machinery and chemicals, along with a huge volume of water, are used to grind up rock to extract gold and silver. Many substances found in tailings are lethal, others are radioactive.
