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A Safer Gold Rush? Curbing Mercury Pollution in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining - PubMed

A Safer Gold Rush? Curbing Mercury Pollution in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining

Lindsey Konkel. Environ Health Perspect. 2019 Nov.

No abstract available

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Map using different colors to indicate the 114 Parties and 41 Signatories to the Minamata Convention, with asterisks indicating the 31 Parties and Signatories that have ASGM-related National Action Plans. The 114 Parties are Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Eswatini, European Union, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vietnam, and Zambia. The 41 Signatories are Albania, Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kenya, South Korea, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. The countries with National Action Plans to address ASGM are Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Lao PDR, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

As of November 2019, 113 countries and the European Union have become parties to the Minamata Convention, meaning they consent to be bound by the obligations of the Convention. An additional 41 countries have signed the Convention, meaning they intend to become Parties eventually. Thirty-one countries are implementing National Action Plans that address ASGM emissions. (Another four countries—Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, and Myanmar—also are addressing ASGM emissions even though they are neither Parties nor Signatories.) Map: © MapChart.net; country listings: UNEP (2019).

Side-by-side photographs showing (left to right) a miner adding a spoonful of elemental mercury to a ball mine; a miner using a blow torch to separate gold particles from a ball of mercury–gold amalgam; and a man’s hands holding three balls of semi-processed amalgam

In the process of whole ore amalgamation, gold-bearing rock is crushed, then combined with elemental mercury, which separates the gold particles from the other minerals present. The resulting balls of mercury–gold amalgam are heated to vaporize the mercury. The vaporization leaves behind a porous lump of semi-pure “sponge gold” that will later be refined into pure gold. Images, left to right: © Kemal Jufri/Panos Pictures; © Kemal Jufri/Panos Pictures; © Artisanal Gold Council.

Photograph of an instructor demonstrating how to use a shaker table

The Minamata Convention encourages countries to consider legalizing or formalizing ASGM. Formalization has many potential benefits, including better oversight of worker and environmental conditions, more job security for miners, and increased likelihood of the industry developing in a sustainable fashion. In this photo, Jason Gaber of Mt. Baker Mining and Metals demonstrates how to use a shaker table for a group of government officials and mining representatives seeking to formalize ASGM in Kenya. Image: © Mt. Baker Mining and Metals.

Photograph of a miner reading a booklet about mercury-free mining

Groups such as the United Nations Environment Programme and the Artisanal Gold Council are teaching miners how to incorporate relatively inexpensive technologies and simple methods into their work so they can continue making a living—perhaps even a better living—even as they reduce mercury exposures. Image: © Artisanal Gold Council.

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