UN group: Military clampdown alone won't halt illegal mining
The UN has formed a group on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) with the aim of formalizing the activity, which provides a living for an estimated 100mn people in at least 70 countries.
The head of the group, Susan Keane, spoke with BNamericas about how countries need to work together to control mercury use, gold production and miners, while at the same time helping the sector to implement more environmentally sound practices.
Mercury releases from informal mining are estimated at 1,400t/y, almost all of which is released into the environment, polluting water and causing major health issues.
Keane works for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a US-based advocacy organization that is collaborating with the UN on the venture.
BNamericas: You head a group at the UN on informal and small-scale mining. What does your organization hope to achieve when you're up against environmental problems on this scale?
Keane: The Natural Resources Defense Council is a US-based advocacy organization. One of our highest priorities is to reduce mercury pollution and exposure all over the globe. Mercury pollution is a global problem. Asia, Latin America, Africa, in countries all over the world there are gold miners everywhere. I work in collaboration with the UN environmental program and we work together to try to facilitate more projects and more information exchange in order to help countries deal with the problem. Historically we've focused on a lot of technical assistance like providing information on mercury-free alternatives for gold mining.
Now the Minamata convention [on mercury] has been ratified, we're also helping countries with their national policy development. There's a particular requirement of the convention for countries to create these national action plans, and the core of those plans is a commitment to mercury reduction targets that every country needs to commit to. So our global partnership hopes to encourage countries to make very aggressive and rigorous plans, not just to put on the shelf, but something to do, concrete and feasible plans and really put a dent in this mercury problem.
BNamericas: The Better Gold Initiative says illegal gold mining operations have spread across Latin America from Guyana down through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Which countries have the worst problems arising from illegal mining?
Keane: There's a website called mercurywatch.org where you can see the estimated amount of mercury used per country. There are some countries in Asia like Indonesia which has an extremely high use of mercury in gold mining. In terms of mercury used and the number of miners, it's higher. I've been to Indonesia and ridden my motorcycle across the sand that used to be jungle, and it looks very much like the pictures of Madre de Dios in Peru. So there are a lot of similar things going on around the world.
BNamericas: What can countries do to work together to patrol borders, considering that most informal mining operations are in extremely remote jungle areas?
Keane: It needs to be not just a question of border control, which is a big component, but there also needs to be a big focus on demand reduction. You're not going to really control the trade issues until you reduce demand for mercury by creating alternatives to mercury in mining, and there are many. So it needs to be a combination of both active work with the miners to help them transition away from mercury to mercury-free alternatives and at the same time to tackle the illegal supply problem. There is a legal trade in mercury as well, so it also needs to be well-regulated. There's a lot countries can do to create common databases, customs procedures, training and targeted enforcements that would help curb cross-border migration of mercury.
BNamericas: The surge in gold prices to US$1,900/oz in 2011 is generally cited as one of the main causes of the massive spread of illegal mining operations. Now that prices are running at US$1,100-1,200/oz, is that still attracting miners?
Keane: Of course. Gold mining is an attractive industry for both small and large-scale miners. There are many places where it's considered a good economic opportunity for rural development. It creates wealth in poor communities and a direct transfer of wealth to poor people. So miners shouldn't always be viewed as the devil, they're actually people just trying to make a living. For example, in Suriname, 30-40% of GDP comes from small-scale gold mining, so it contributes quite a lot to the national economy. It's a social good and can create wealth if it's managed properly. So the trick here is to try to find ways to capture that economic opportunity while at the same time mitigating the environmental impacts, making sure mining is done in the most environmentally responsible way. Small-scale miners can be environmentally responsible - they just need information, education, access to the credit that allows them to buy the equipment that allows them to do better management practices. So there needs to be a realistic focus on recognizing the economic importance of the sector.
BNamericas: In Peru, President Ollanta Humala has launched a major drive to stamp out illegal mining operations, but a lot of gold production has simply been shipped out through neighboring Bolivia. What legal mechanisms are needed to effectively control the cross-border trade?
Keane: In Peru, where things have been tamped out in one spot, it just moves upriver and deeper into the jungle. So regional cooperation is important to try to understand the movement of mercury, gold and miners across borders, and in addition to try to figure out adequate legal systems and governance of the sector that would make it a profitable small business that really does capture wealth and make money for miners without causing this terrible damage. Formalization efforts have to be part of the picture as well - it can't just all be about military, interdiction and enforcement. That's never worked in the past. It's not like this is the first time that has been tried - many countries around the world have tried the militaristic approach exclusively and failed.
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