Mercury is a toxic chemical that can cause irreversible brain damage and contaminate ecosystems. There is no known safe level of mercury exposure in humans, and effects can occur even at very low levels.
Despite the health and environmental risks, mercury has been used in artisanal mining for more than 3,000 years. The minerals extracted from the rocks are mixed with water and a few drops of mercury, which join the gold particles to create amalgams. The mixture is then heated to evaporate the mercury and leave the gold.
This chemical does not break down in the environment. The research show that forest canopies near small-scale gold mining sites can intercept and accumulate large volumes of mercury air pollution.
Around the world, up to 20 million miners from more than 80 countries work in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, including four to five million women and children. These activities, often unregulated and unsafe, are responsible for the 37% of global mercury pollutionthat is, 2000 tons of mercury per year Is calculated that until 100 million people are directly or indirectly exposed to this heavy metal from small-scale gold mining.
Strengthen good governance
Artisanal mining represents the 20% of the world supply of gold and generates about 30,000 million dollars annually. However, artisanal operations are informal and fall outside the scope of the existing national regulatory frameworks. This may be because governments lack access to reliable information about the sector, are unable to provide administrative, technical and financial support, or favor large-scale mining operations.
Many governments are taking steps to enforce more secure standards under the Minamata Convention on Mercurywhose objective is exhaustively regulate the element throughout its entire life cycle, from production to use and disposal. But their application is not always consistent, especially in rural areas and developing countries, leading to unsafe artisanal operations.
“Since our ancestors started mining gold, we have never been legalized or formalized,” says Kephas Ojuka, president of a miners’ association in Kenya. “We want alternatives to mercury so that our lives are not affected again and to formalize our activities so that we can work legally.”
Mercury is often added to gold ores as part of the extraction process.
Program planetGOLD
The program planetGOLDdirected by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), aims to ending the toxic trail of small-scale gold mining. It works with governments, the private sector and mining communities around the world to eliminate mercury from artisanal mining and promote safer working environments. Financed by the Global Environment Facilityoperates within the framework of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
To counteract the toxic trail of gold mining, the program facilitates the exchange of technical solutions and guidance between artisanal gold mines and governments. He also advocates new technological alternatives to reduce and ultimately eliminate reliance on mercury.
“Existing policies and regulations have long, expensive and overly technical requirements and processes,” says the national project manager for planetGOLD Philippines, Abigail Ocate.
The first phase of the program launched projects to improve access to finance in nine countries, including Kenya, the Philippines and Indonesia. This phase reduced the use of mercury in small-scale mining by some 369 tons and provided thousands of miners with greater knowledge about safer mining practices.
“More than 100 million people depend on artisanal gold mining for their livelihood, so it is critical that we work with governments to equip miners with the knowledge and tools to phase out the use of mercury,” added the director of the initiative, Ludovic Bernaudat.
PlanetGOLD it will be extended to another 15 countries and will obtain a co-financing of more than 342 million dollars during its second phase. Its goal is to reduce mercury use by 512 tons, improve more than 1.2 million hectares of land, mitigate some 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, and benefit 370,000 people in the next six years.
In this second phase, planetGOLD will help artisanal mines to formalize their operations”, maintains Bernaudat. “The informal nature of many mining communities makes it difficult to phase out mercury. Therefore, bringing miners into the formal economy can translate into higher incomes and better working conditions, while helping to overcome social and environmental challenges.”
