12th February 2015 Victoria & Alfred Hotel Waterfront Cape Town Developing Guidance for Governments on Managing ASM – Scoping Workshop

1. Overview
of
the
Concept
Note
Resource
Consulting
Services
Ltd.
12th February 2015
Victoria & Alfred Hotel Waterfront Cape Town
Developing Guidance for Governments on
Managing ASM – Scoping Workshop
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2. Introduction
The Concept Note is an important point in the
development of the Guidance
It is supposed to:
1. Offer a conception of what the Guidance could
be, and
2. Identify what materials should be worked on with
ASM stakeholders before the Guidance is written
It provides a point that the workshop can start from
and move beyond
It compares governments’ needs to existing ASM
publications and spots gaps the Guidance could fill
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3. Assessment
The Concept Note concludes that there are many recurring obstacles
that impede ASM management
These are challenges ‘on the ground’, but they can be addressed when
management strategy is decided ‘in the ministry’
Governments could use advice and materials that help them to
overcome those impediments
To do that, the Guidance should focus on strategy, and advise
governments on the timing and nature of their interventions
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4. Strategic
Questions
and
the
Workshop
The Concept Note identifies five strategic questions that governments
inevitably confront when they manage ASM
These questions will not be the only subjects in the Guidance, but they
are the elements that require the earliest input
These questions are unresolved. In this workshop, we wish to tap into
your experience and insights
These topics are controversial. We wish to asks for your opinions about
what advices the Guidance should offer
By working on these questions during this workshop, we hope to add to
the stock of public knowledge about ASM management
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5. Strategic
Question
1:
Strategy
Differentiation
ASM: an umbrella category
Strategy differentiation is about treating different sorts of ASM
operations differently
Strategic Question:
How can ASM be most usefully subcategorized and how can ASM
strategies be effectively differentiated between these subcategories?
ASM could be subcategorized:
This is an strategic exercise, not an academic one
• By scale of operation
• By mineral
• By accessibility to state officials
• By proximity to organized crime
• By links to minority communities
• Etc…
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6. Strategic
Question
2:
The
Role
of
Legalization
An ASM operation is legalized once it becomes
a legal entity with permits or licenses
A licensing system is normally conceived as the
central tool in ASM management.
However, sometimes it is infeasible or ineffective
Strategic Question:
Under what conditions should the Guidance
advise governments to adopt legalization as a
corner-stone of ASM management, and under
what conditions should it not?
What second-best strategies should be
employed instead?
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7. Strategic
Question
3:
Land-­‐use
Planning
and
Finite
Deposits
ASM operations often take place on deposits under land that has been
licensed to others or dedicated to other purposes
This includes protected areas, agriculture, other mining companies, but
also urban planning and other land-use purposes
Strategic Question:
When there is informal ASM but no workable deposits available that can
be licensed:
1. When should governments resettle ASM operations;
2. When should they manage and mitigate the ill-effects of ASM outside
the legal framework of licenses; and alternatively
3. When should they free up deposits for ASM to work legally?
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8. Strategic
Question
4:
ASM
Actors
Incentives
to
Comply
with
Regulators
ASM challenges are often about compliance. Non-compliance is about
incentives or the lack thereof
Strategic Question:
How can governments incentivize ASM operators best to comply with
regulations and take up better practices?
Which carrots and sticks work best when, and in which combinations?
How can governments make sure that they are offering sufficient incentives to
ASM operators? How can the Guidance encourage them to check?
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9. Strategic
Question
5:
Points
of
Leverage
in
Monitoring
and
Enforcement
Strategic Question:
Under which conditions do input markets, processing,
domestic trading and international trading become
effective points of leverage from which governments can
monitor and enforce ASM laws and regulations, and
under which conditions should governments use or not
use them?
This question concerns the effectiveness of enforcement
and monitoring
It might also concern levels of state capacity and the
evasiveness of the mineral trade at different pointsExport
Trading
Processing
Mining
Input markets
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10. Conclusion
We know that these are not the only strategic questions that
governments must answer as they decide how to manage ASM
The Guidance will not only address strategic questions
We need expert opinions on what works and what advice we should give
To address these controversial questions, we need to openly exchange
views and share ideas
We hope that the Guidance will expand the stock of publicly available
knowledge about ASM issues
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11. Resource
Consulting
Services
Ltd.
www.rcsglobal.com
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