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Basic Project INFO

FOCAL AREA:
International Waters
PROJECT TITLE: Global Mercury Project
PROJECT NUMBER:
COUNTRY:
PROJECT STATUS:

PROJECT DOWNLOAD (WORD)

Global Mercury Project
Removal of Barriers to the Introduction of Cleaner Artisanal Gold Mining and Extraction Technologies.

Facts and figures

An estimated 1,000 tonnes of mercury are released annually into the environment from informal or small scale gold mining, accounting for between 30-40% of man made mercury pollution. (Mercury is naturally released into the environment from the weathering of rocks).

Due to inefficient processing techniques as much as 2g of mercury can be released into the environment for every gram of gold recovered. This is of grave ecological significance as most artisanal mining takes place within river basins which cross international boundaries. It is estimated that the Amazon basin receives 40 tons of mercury a year in this way while mining in Indonesia adds 150 tons to the Java Sea.

Mercury contamination is persistent, rapidly absorbed by aquatic organisms and is biomagnified as it passes up the food chain - miners and their families are advised not to eat local fish, particularly carnivorous fish.

As well as mercury contamination, artisanal mining's ecological impacts include diversion of rivers, water siltation, landscape degradation, deforestation and habitat destruction.

The current number of people working in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, according to recent UNIDO estimates, is between 10 and 15 million in more than 55 countries, usually in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The number of women and children directly employed in artisanal gold mining may be as much as 4.5 million and 300,000 respectively, although many more are affected by mercury contamination of their local environment. Altogether between 80 and 100 million people worldwide may be dependent on artisanal mining for their livelihood.

Unfortunately, miners are seldom aware of or, driven by poverty, are forced to ignore the health risks of mercury which they ingest through their work, and through polluted water and food in their environment.

Project description

The Global Mercury Project aims to raise awareness of health, economic and environmental risks among miners and their communities, promote the use of cleaner extraction technologies, make health assessments and provide health solutions for victims of mercury poisoning, especially children who are particularly vulnerable to neurological damage.

The new safer technologies being demonstrated by the project are more efficient, and cheap to introduce. GMP recognizes that poverty is the root cause of the miners' unsafe practices and a long-term solution must be a social and economic one.

GMP also works to develop regulatory mechanisms and government capacities, conducts health and environmental assessments and builds monitoring capacities in local laboratories. Recognising that miners do not often control their own operations the project also seeks to engage the 'middle men' who buy the miners' gold, own processing equipment and supply mercury to the miners.

Poor health and sanitation facilities, lack of schools and other facilities in remote mining camps is another problem and the GMP programme tackles other health and social issues - such as HIV /AIDS and malaria - in its multi-faceted approach.

SELECTED PROJECT ACTIVITIES/RESULTS

Awareness of mercury dangers has reached at least 10,000 people in all project countries. The project has used mobile demonstration units (TDUs) to demonstrate methods to improve gold recovery and reduce mercury use, has investigated mercury poisoning and worked on other health problems related to artisanal mining communities such as malaria, sanitation, HIV/AIDS and TB.
The EU has legislated to ban mercury trade from Europe from 2011.
Better and simple techniques introduced by GMP can easily double gold recovery and increase income. Fair Trade initiatives, which eliminate middlemen, encourage better practices and secures premium for miners and communities, have also been supported by the GMP.
By creating more income for miners and making their communities more stable and less migratory GMP has helped reduce child labor and allow better primary education. In the mining village of Crepurizão, Brazil which more than 700 children are being educated by local teachers in a school funded by miners. A primary school for boys and girls in Gugub, Sudan, another GMP project site, is also funded largely by the profits from gold mining.
New legislation on mercury has been proposed for incorporation into the Mining Codes of the six GMP project countries. Countries like Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Indonesia and Laos are introducing GMP’s suggestion of banning whole ore amalgamation processes.
GMP’s approach has been replicated in countries such as Mozambique, Venezuela, Guinea, Ecuador, Cambodia and Senegal, which neighbour GMP countries. These projects have implemented either by the GMP team, or by other institutions using materials and approaches developed by GMP.
GMP’s awareness campaign has a strong focus on promoting prevention procedures to HIV/AIDS and tropical diseases such as malaria. GMP uses nurses to communicate the problems related to immune systems and mercury exposure to risk groups, especially women. GMP is also promoting the use of simple sand filters to produce clean drinking water. It has also installed water filters in mining communities and taught miners how to build water wells and ventilated latrines.
The project conducted extensive field research into different methods of gold extraction technologies and socio-economic studies of mining communities.
Health and environment surveys of mining sites showed widespread symptoms of mercury poisoning – at one site in Brazil almost 50% of miners showed the intentional tremor, a typical signs of mercury damage to the central nervous system. Symptoms of mercury intoxication were shown by 70% of miners and 69% of child miners at a site in Zimbabwe. High concentrations of mercury are found in the breast milk of mothers from mining communities.
The results of surveys are given to communities at training sessions, when health and environmental advice is provided, alongside the demonstration of extraction technologies.

Community

GMP also promotes income-generating activities to communities. The activities are designed to provide a more sustainable livelihood than mining and include: making tropical seed jewelry, aquaculture and reforestation work.

Training

About 200 trainers have been trained in the GMP countries. They will train other trainers and disseminate the concepts of cleaner technologies and mercury pollution awareness throughout the mining communities.
Assessments of previous initiatives to introduce new technologies and practices to miners have shown that the biggest barrier is educational. Since gold mining communities are migratory and scattered over large, often remote, areas GMP has pioneered the use of mobile training facilities (transportable demonstration units or TDUs) which are now used by all the project’s participating countries.
The units, housed in a tent, school or other building at a mine site or nearby population centre, demonstrate a variety technical options to the miners who can then select the most appropriate choice for their needs.
Miners’ training can be extended to geological exploration, ore reserve estimation, mining and concentration techniques, water reclamation, book-keeping and other skills. Economic and social welfare can be improved with advice on obtaining legal mineral titles and financial support, planning mining operations, starting alternative economic activities, community and family advice.
The training modules – outlined in a series of international workshops in 2005 to prepare for the TDU activities consist of: i) how to produce more gold; ii) how mercury makes us sick; iii) how to use and re-use mercury safely; iv) how to make more money; v) how to protect water supplies and improve sanitation; vi) how to prevent malaria HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
TDU activities are advanced in all countries. In Zimbabwe TDU visits have been planned for 15 separate communities; in Brazil the arrival of the TDUs has been promoted by brochures, posters, T-shirts and CD distribution; training in TDU management is taking place in Indonesia and in Laos; and special educational materials in Arabic have been distributed in Sudan.
At the same time areas and communities have been receiving the results of their health assessments and nurses and public health workers are being trained in mercury poisoning assessment and rehabilitation.

Results from regional centres

Sudan

Training of trainers, including geologists, media professions and a nurse.
TV documentary by Blue Nile TV.
Educational materials translated into Arabic.
Results of 2004 health and environment studies communicated to participants.

Zimbabwe

Three-day stakeholder meeting on TDU implementation.
TDUs plan activities in 15 different villages.
Theatre director (also producer of TV drama about artisanal gold workers) proposes community theatre as educational vehicle.
Developing national mercury awareness campaign with Zimbabwe ministry of health.

Laos

GMP activities begin in the eight villages on the Nam Ou and Mekong rivers where health and environment assessment have already taken place.
Vientane workshop - targeting government ministries and departments.
Luang Prabang workshop - targeting local officials, village heads, women's and youth groups.
Subcontractor appointed to carry out TDU and awareness campaign.

Indonesia

GMP partners local NGOs to implement TDU and awareness campaign.
Training and capacity building for campaign facilitators - including NGOs, provincial and district health, environment and mining officers.

Brazil

Health survey results returned to mining communities in Sao Chico and Creporinho (700 people) along with treatment recommendations and medicines.
Restoration of local laboratory and training of five technical staff in an innovative, semi quantitative method for mercury analysis in fish.
More than 1000 educational posters and brochures distributed. Local poet records mercury awareness messages as local 'cordel' rhymes for CD distribution.
Improved facilities in schools in Sao Chico and Creporinho which were used as field laboratories by project workers.

Zimbabwe

Draft mercury management regulations drawn up after a series of stakeholder meetings with national and local government officials from Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Health as well as mining associations and local organisations.

Legal

GMP's policy group is working with country governments to develop policies and legislation that address the hazards of mercury in mining. In 2005 it helped Zimbabwe draft new regulations. In a landmark decision the European Union (2005) has called for global phase-out of mercury trading by 2011 although the phase-out of mercury trading in Europe and North America (with China the biggest exporters) has made developing countries the primary destination for mercury trading.

Women and children

Although only men are generally involved in ore extraction, women often help in processing operations. Since most young children accompany their mothers while working they are exposed to (if not also involved in) panning and processing activities. They are also exposed to mercury though contaminated water and food (especially fish) because of mercury's persistence in the food chain. The damaging effects of mercury poisoning are particularly severe in children.

Women working in mining were trageted at the Tanzania Women Miners Association Conference (2004).

Conferences

7 th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (2004)
13 th International Conference on Heavy metals in the Environment (2005)
Global Mercury Project Task Force, Brazil (2005)
Steering Committee meetings for the 8th Int. Conf. of Mercury as a Global Pollutant, Wisconsin, USA.
Participation in GEF International Waters Conference

Publications

New document: Protocols for Environmental and Health Assessment of Mercury Released by Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners (2004)
Removal of Barriers to the Introduction of Cleaner Artisanal Gold Mining and Extraction Technologies (2002)
Blue Nile State TV produced a 45 min documentary about training in Sudan.
A short downloadable video has been produced for the GMP website.

Dedicated website: http://www.unites.uqam.ca/gmf/intranet/gmp/front_page.htm (old site) and http://www.unido.org/doc/44254 (hosted by UNIDO)

Newsletter: GMP News

Last updated: 18 December 2006

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