Risky gold rush: Indonesia tackles illegal mining boom

This photo taken on May 20, 2017 shows an excavator at an illegal gold mine located along the banks of the Tabir river in West Tabir, Indonesia's Sumatra island. -AFP

WEST TABIR, INDONESIA: Hulking excavators claw at riverbanks on Indonesia’s Sumatra island in the hunt for gold, transforming what was once a rural idyll into a scarred, pitted moonscape.

It is one of a huge number of illegal gold mines that have sprung up across the resource-rich archipelago as the price of the precious metal has soared, luring people in rural areas to give up jobs in traditional industries.