Archive | Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems

NEWS RELEASE: Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A review of key numbers and issues (International Institute for Environmental and Development – January 22, 2018)

http://www.iisd.org/

For the entire report: https://www.iisd.org/sites/default/files/publications/igf-asm-global-trends.pdf

Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A review of key numbers and issues was prepared by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) for the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (IGF).

ASM has experienced explosive growth in recent years due to the rising value of mineral prices and the increasing difficulty of earning a living from agriculture and other rural activities. An estimated 40.5 million people were directly engaged in ASM in 2017, up from 30 million in 2014, 13 million in 1999 and 6 million in 1993. That compares with only 7 million people working in industrial mining in 2014.

ASM is generally pursued as a route out of poverty or as an activity to complement insufficient income, especially in communities where alternative employment is hard to come by. ASM is also a very diverse sector. Its main challenges vary from region to region—and often from site to site. Continue Reading →

Making Indonesian Rivers Great Again – by Muhammad Beni Saputra (The Diplomat – October 31, 2017)

November 1, 2017 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution and Abandoned Mines

https://thediplomat.com/

Indonesia’s rivers are heavily polluted, but they can still be saved.

I once lingered at Pont d’Iena Bridge staring at the River Seine, which flows beautifully at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in the city of Paris. The clean surface of the iconic river, as seen from the bridge, had successfully entranced me and my memory flew southeast to my peaceful village near the Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park in Jambi, Indonesia. I remembered my childhood friend, the Batanghari River.

Sadly, the Batanghari is no longer as clean and clear as it was 18 years ago when I was a child. Yes, the longest river in Sumatra is now muddy, dirty, and polluted, joining hundreds of other rivers throughout Indonesia that have long contained harmful chemicals.

Research by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry showed that 75 percent of rivers in the country are seriously polluted, 52 of which are categorized as heavily polluted, and 118 watersheds out of 450 are critically polluted. Continue Reading →

Study: Female gold diggers at risk of passing mercury to unborn babies – by Lucas Ngasike Standard Media – September 25, 2017)

September 25, 2017 in Africa Mining, Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/

Women in gold mining sites in Migori County are exposed to high levels of mercury that could harm them and their unborn babies.

A global study found nearly half of Kenyan women involved in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) had mercury levels that exceeded 1 ppm, which approximately corresponds to the US Environmental Protection Agency reference dose.

Mercury levels above 1ppm can be linked to brain damage, IQ loss, and kidney and heart damage. But foetal neurological damage can begin at mercury levels greater than 0.58ppm for which an even higher percentage (71 per cent) of Kenyan women involved in the study were found to be exposed to. Continue Reading →

In Ghana, clashes over small-scale mining have become a litmus test for China – by Andrew Green (Devex.com – August 8, 2017)

August 9, 2017 in Africa Mining, Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Asia Mining, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.devex.com/

ACCRA, Ghana — Gloria Hiadzi, the executive secretary of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association, was present at one of the regular, informal gathering of Ghanaian media bigwigs in April, when the discussion turned to galamsey — the local term for small-scale miners who dig for gold and other minerals. The editors and publishers began to share stories of the devastation they had seen in their trips around Ghana caused by the mining.

Stories of the environmental impact of the mining regularly appear in the media, Hiadzi said, but the publishers recognized that their coverage usually faded pretty quickly.“In trying to find a way to get a solution, to get government involved, to get their eyes open, to whip up the enthusiasm of locals and everything, we felt it would be best to make it a national issue,” she said. “To launch a proper campaign.”

That campaign quickly leapt from radio spots and print stories to the streets of Accra, Ghana’s capital, where there are now regular anti-galamsey demonstrations and marches. A byproduct of the effort, though, has been heightened anti-Chinese sentiment. Continue Reading →

A Canadian company wants to help artisanal miners produce “clean gold” – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – August 8, 2017)

August 9, 2017 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Latin America Mining

http://www.mining.com/

SEF Canada, a Vancouver-based firm that specializes in corporate social responsibility, recently launched a project called “Clean Gold Community Solutions” and it is taking its first steps in Ecuador.

“This is our newest economic development strategy built around artisanal mining communities,” said Suzette McFaul, SEF’s Managing Director. “Acknowledging that artisanal miners are entrepreneurs, we have a solution to assist them to become sustainable businesses. This includes business knowledge, access to funding and technology to process gold.”

Following a series of meetings with local leaders to understand their needs and how they see the future of their community, McFaul and her team are about to sign an agreement to help them update an existing gold processing plant in northern Ecuador to make it safer and more profitable. Continue Reading →

Mercury-Free Gold: How You Can Protect The Future By Buying This Ethical And Sustainable Jewellery – by Susan Devaney (Huffington Post U.K. – July 13, 2017)

July 13, 2017 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/

Gold mining’s association with poor health and environmental damage has been unearthed over the years – but it’s still something many of us know little about.

“People have heard about ‘blood diamonds’, but not many realise that their gold could be responsible for one of the world’s top toxic threats – mercury,” says Richard Fuller, the President of Pure Earth – a New York-based charity that helps to clean up pollution in the poorest communities in developing countries that are affected by toxins.

Mercury poisoning can cause many unpleasant symptoms including brain malfunction, slurred speech, memory loss and loss of balance. Artisanal small-scale gold mining is the largest source of human-caused mercury pollution in the world (even more than the burning of fossil fuels), according to the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Continue Reading →

Why it doesn’t make sense that all informal mining is deemed illegal – by Kgothatso Nhlengetwa (The Conversation – April 12, 2016)

July 7, 2017 in Africa Mining, Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, International Media Resource Articles

https://theconversation.com/

Throughout Africa artisanal and small-scale mining, whether legal or illegal, has been associated with social problems such as conflict, environmental damage, health risks and child labour. Although there are no exact numbers of how many people participate in such mining activities, it is evident that it is widespread.

Despite its negative aspects, the contribution of small-scale mining to the resource sector and social development cannot be disputed. About 15% to 20% of the world’s non-fuel mineral production comes from this sub-sector. An example of this can be seen in Ghana, where small-scale mining has contributed US$460 million since 1989 and is estimated to employ 300,000 to 500,000 individuals.

In South Africa, illegal mining as it currently stands covers all aspects of unpermitted mining. But this definition does not allow for differentiation between invasive illegal mining and informal community miners. Invasive mining occurs when miners illegally enter the old mine workings of decommissioned mines. Informal mining is community based mining that typically follows customary law. Continue Reading →

Amazon’s billion dollar gold rush leaves trail of toxins – by Chris Arsenault and Karla Mendes (Reuters U.S. – June 29, 2017)

June 29, 2017 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining

https://www.reuters.com/

PORTO VELHO, Brazil/GUAYARAMERÍN, Bolivia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Holding a plastic bottle of toxic mercury with his bare hands on an illegal gold mining barge in the Amazon basin, the 22-year-old miner says he is well aware of the dangers of the job.

In shorts and sandals, he lights a blow torch, training a blue flame on a piece of ore which his barge dredged up from the bottom of the Madeira River in Brazil’s northwestern Rondonia state, on the border with Bolivia.

Hundreds of similar barges – fashioned from plywood and metal and powered by roaring diesel motors – troll the rivers of the world’s largest rainforest leaving trails of destruction in their wake, according to government officials. Continue Reading →

Risky gold rush: Indonesia tackles illegal mining boom – by Kiki Siregar (Agence France Presse/Daily Star – June 22, 2017)

June 22, 2017 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Asia Mining, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.dailystar.com.lb/

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.

Now authorities in Sumatra’s Jambi province, which has one of the biggest concentrations of illegal mining sites in Indonesia, have started a determined fightback, combining a crackdown with efforts at regulation.

Declines in the price of rubber, which provided a livelihood for many in the area who had worked on plantations tapping the commodity, has driven many locals to more lucrative – and dangerous – gold mining. Iwan, a 43-year-old who works at an illegal site by the Tabir River, left his job on a rubber plantation to become a gold miner two years ago but said life was still difficult. Continue Reading →

Brazil prosecutors demand crackdown on illegal gold mining in Amazon’s “El Dorado” – by Chris Arsenault (Reuters U.S. – May 8, 2017)

May 9, 2017 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution and Abandoned Mines

http://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Officials in Brazil’s largest state are facing mounting pressure to crackdown on illegal gold mining in the Amazon rainforest where thousands of workers are destroying ecologically sensitive land, according to the Amazonas state prosecutor’s office.

Since 2007, thousands of miners have descended upon Apui in northwestern Brazil in the so-called “New El Dorado” hoping to strike rich but in the process destroying 14,000 hectares of jungle by cutting down trees and poisoning rivers with mercury.

In a drive to close these illegal mines, prosecutors are now suing Brazil’s environment enforcement agency, the Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), and other government departments which they say have failed to stop ecological crimes in illicit mines. Continue Reading →

Showdown in Indonesia Brings World’s Biggest Gold Mine to Standstill – by Krithika Varagur (Voice Of America – February 27, 2017)

March 1, 2017 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, United States Mining

http://www.voanews.com/

JAKARTA — The American mining company Freeport-McMoRan has brought the world’s biggest gold mine, in the Indonesian province of West Papua, to a standstill. The corporation is butting heads with the Indonesian government over protectionist mining regulations.

And now that Freeport has started to dismiss tens of thousands of workers, the local economy is poised to take a huge hit. In Mimika Regency, the West Papua province containing the Grasberg gold mine, 91 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is attributed to Freeport.

Freeport Indonesia abruptly stopped production on February 10 and laid off 10 percent of its foreign workers. It employs 32,000 people in Indonesia, about 12,000 of whom are full-time employees. The freeze was a reaction to a shakeup in Freeport’s 30-year contract with the Indonesian government, signed in 1991. Continue Reading →

Colombia’s ‘Blood Gold’ Turns Up in Everything From Smartphones to Cars – by Andrew Willis (Bloomberg News – Novmeber 16, 2016)

November 17, 2016 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Deep in the jungles of Colombia, thousands of small, illegal mining operations, many under the control of Marxist guerrillas or drug traffickers, are working long hours to pull gold out of the ground. Miners are digging in out-of-the-way places such as Timbiquí and Río Quito. From there, the gold is hauled by boat, truck or small airplanes to smelters in Cali and Medellin.

Enter the international gold refiners, armed with certificates of good business practices, who buy the gold and in turn, sell to U.S. corporations large and small. Underscoring just how fraught global supply chains can be, the gold finds its way into products ranging from smartphones to cars and gold coins made by the U.S. Mint.

Corporations, buying in good faith, as well as companies that use gold for jewelry, rely on organizations whose task is assuring the legality of the gold. Many, including Apple Inc. and General Motors Co., also do independent audits of their supply chains, including gold and other metals. Despite those efforts, experts say, illegal gold slips through the system. Continue Reading →

Gold mining invades new areas of Peruvian Amazon – by Benji Jones (Mongabay.com – November 11, 2016) Environmental Headlines

November 14, 2016 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution and Abandoned Mines

Illegal gold mining in Peru – once restricted to the southern states – is now spreading across new territory in the northern and central Peruvian Amazon. In a report released earlier this month, Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) revealed three new “frontiers” of gold mining in the departments of Amazonas and Huánuco – regions that boast exceptional biological and cultural diversity.

Across the frontiers, MAAP detected 32 hectares of mining deforestation – an area equivalent to about 42 soccer fields. These mining scars are fresh, and relatively small, indicating that a larger-scale deforestation event can still be prevented.

“Deforestation in these cases is still in its early stages, so there is still time to avoid larger-scale damage, as in the case of [the southern region of] Madre de Dios,” the report states. Continue Reading →

Peru proposes state-owned bank buys gold from artisanal miners – by Mitra Taj (Reuters U.S. – September 8, 2016)

September 8, 2016 in Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles, Latin America Mining

http://www.reuters.com/

The government of Peru wants a state-owned bank to buy gold from artisanal miners in order to replace a lucrative but shady informal market, Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne said on Wednesday.

Thorne said the miners would receive a better price for their gold and would not have to pay the value added tax rate, giving them incentives to register with the government and comply with environment and labor laws.

President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former investment banker who took office on July 28, had previously proposed establishing a “mining bank” to buy the gold. Kuczynski said the bank could be controlled in part by private shareholders. Continue Reading →

Surge in gold prices brings no change in fortune for Madagascar’s miners – by Nadene Ghouri (The Guardian – July 25, 2016)

July 27, 2016 in Africa Mining, Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining/Mercury Problems, Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.theguardian.com/

Lack of investment and regulation means life is hard for the men, women and children panning for tiny fragments of gold along Madagascar’s river beds

Miandrivazo – A drumming sound reverberates across the bridge and over the valley: the gold panners are hard at work.

Dotted along the edges of a river bed are hundreds of people, rhythmically banging wooden poles into the red earth. They are gold miners “sampling” the dry soil for the precious metal. Crouched alongside them are other workers, carefully panning piles of earth through homemade metal sieves.

Maria, 45, holds out a plastic dish of earth. “See? Here it is.” She points to some tiny fragments of what looks like glitter. “Now we know there is gold in this spot, so now my husband will continue to dig deeper to see if we can find more. Maybe we will or maybe we won’t. With this work there is no guarantee.” Continue Reading →

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