This document discusses artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) and mercury pollution. It notes that ASGM provides livelihoods for 10-20 million people but also causes significant environmental degradation and mercury emissions when mercury is used without proper controls. Projects aim to reduce mercury use in ASGM by demonstrating that other extraction methods can yield more gold with less health and environmental impacts. Negotiations are underway for a global treaty to reduce mercury pollution from ASGM and other sources.

1. J A N E D E N N I S O N
M E R C U R Y P R O G R A M O F F I C E R
U . S . D E P A R T M E N T O F S T A T E
J U N E 2 0 1 2
Artisanal & Small Scale Gold Mining:
Best Practices towards Preventing
Environmental Damage

2. Comparison: Gold v. Diamond ASM
Similarities:
 Potential Mechanism for Development of Poor/Rural
communities.
 Environmental degradation of ecologically important
areas, especially the destruction of forests and the silting
of waterways.
 Communities are often transitory.
 Importance of financing, property rights/land tenure
regulations, and organization of miners towards
developing “solutions.”
 Role of training and education for sustainability.

3. Comparison: Gold v. Diamond ASM
Differences:
 Use of mercury as a cheap and available means to
extract gold from ore.
 Relative ease of determining gold product’s value.
 On-going UNEP-led negotiations on a global legally-
binding instrument to reduce the use and release of
mercury to the environment.

4. Mercury Pollution Artisanal and Small scale
Gold Mining
2005 Emissions: Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme/United Nations Environment Programme Chemicals Branch, Technical
Background Report to the Global Atmospheric Mercury Assessment, Requested by UNEP Governing Council decision 24/3, 2008, Table 3.13.
Annual Emissions: Telmer, H. and Veiga, M. 2009 “World Emissions of mercury from artisanal and small scale gold mining and the knowledge
gaps about them.” In: N. Pirrone and R. Mason (ed.) Mercury Fate and Transport in the Global Atmosphere. www.mercurywatch.org
 Up to 1350 ton/yr
emitted into the
environment from
ASGM
 40% to atmosphere
 60% to aquatic
systems

5. Mercury Pollution Artisanal and Small-scale
Gold Mining
 ASGM is a source of livelihood for 10-20 million people in
around 70 countries
Map from www.mercurywatch.org

6. Mercury – a popular tool for artisanal miners
 It’s (relatively) cheap.
 It’s available.
 It’s easy to use.
 Doesn’t require expensive equipment.
 Why not use mercury? (many artisanal miners are
not aware of the harmful health and environmental
degradation effects of mercury)

7. Convincing miners to give up mercury
Lessons learned from ASGM projects such as UNEP’s
Global Mercury Project :
• Artisanal miners are far more motivated to give up
mercury when they are convinced that they can
obtain higher gold yields using other extraction
methods.
• They are often not terribly motivated by concerns for
personal health or the environment.
“More Gold, Less Mercury, Better Health”

8. ASGM
Reduce High Risk
Practices
Photos: GMP pilot project in the Manica district of Mozambique www.globalmercuryproject.org/countries/
mozambique/docs/Moz_Final_Report_Aug_2005.pdf
Pre-concentrating ore significantly
reduces amount of mercury used
Applying mercury to whole ore
uses large amounts of mercury

9. ASGM
Reduce High Risk
Practices
Left Photo: GMP Pilot project in the Manica district of Mozambique www.globalmercuryproject.org/countries/mozambique/
docs/Moz_Final_Report_Aug_2005.pdf
Right Photo: Handelsman & Veiga. Social and Economic Aspects of Reducing Mercury Pollution in Artisanal Gold Mining.
Canadian Institute of Mining Annual Meeting, Vancouver Canada, May 16, 2006.
www.globalmercuryproject.org/documents/non_country%20specific/CIM-econ_asp_of%20reducing_pres_May16-06.pdf
Open-air burning of gold-mercury
amalgam releases mercury directly
into environment and communities
Simple retorts reduce mercury
exposure and allow reuse of
mercury

10. ASGM Partnership
Reduce High Risk
Practices
 Mixing contaminated amalgam tailings with cyanide can
create more mobile forms of mercury
Photo: GMP Manual for Training Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners www.globalmercuryproject.org/documents/
non_country%20specific/training%20manual%20for%20miners%20Marcello%2015.pdf

11. Existing Mercury Reduction/Elimination
Technologies For Processing
 Moving away from mercury whole-ore amalgamation
 Reducing open burning
 Retort use
 Vapour capture (gold shops)
 Reactivation of mercury
 Avoiding combining mercury and cyanide
 Zero mercury processing by direct smelting

12. Global Mercury Instrument
Negotiations

13. UNEP Mercury Treaty An International Solution
 In February 2009, UNEP Governing
Council called for negotiation of a
global legally binding instrument
to reduce mercury pollution
UNEP Governing
Council requests
Global Legally Binding
Instrument on
Mercury
INC 1 INC 2 INC 3 INC 4 INC 5
Conference of
Plenipotentiaries to
Sign Treaty
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

14. UNEP Mercury Treaty
Proposed ASGM
Elements
 Countries with ASGM should reduce and when possible
eliminate the use of mercury in ASGM
 Prevent import of mercury for ASGM and prevent recycled or
recaptured mercury from entering ASGM
 Develop national/ regional action plans with objectives and
reduction targets
 Prohibit specific practices like whole ore amalgamation
The report on the recent negotiations:
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/
Negotiations/INC3/INC3Report/tabid/3488/language/en-
US/Default.aspx

15. U.S. Department of State
Mercury Projects- ASGM sector
 Assisting in the development of practical
environmental, health, and safety regulations in
ASM sector (Nigeria- Zamfara State lead poisoning)
 Capacity building and training of artisanal miners
(Peru, Burkina Faso)
 Assisting with plans for an International Training
Center for Artisanal Miners (Ecuador)
 Baseline mercury inventories- surveys to estimate
the use, source, and trade of mercury.
 Mercury storage (Philippines/Indonesia)

16. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Jane Dennison: DennisonJE@state.gov
or visit:
UNEP Mercury Legally Binding Instrument:
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/Negotiations/
tabid/3320/Default.aspx
UNEP Mercury Partnership:
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/
PrioritiesforAction/ArtisanalandSmallScaleGoldMining/tabid/3526/
Default.aspx
Thank you!