Borax is a flux this isn't anything new. Borax isn't a replacement for mercury. The recovery medium is the carpets in their sluice.
Being a small scale placer miner for many years I had never heard of using borax for gold extraction. That said: I have been using borax to cure my salmon eggs (roe) for fish bait for 50 plus years. It toughens the skeen (membrane & eggs skin)...and I have never known of any adverse health effects....I have gone through a lot of boxes of borax over the years.
Bejay