© Eduardo Martino
February 2013
The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) believes the National Action Plans (Appendix E of the Treaty) offer a great opportunity for formalization of Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM), and commits to implementing the instrument in collaboration with miners, governments, civil society and the mining industry to ensure that the national mercury reduction programs will have the intended positive impact on the hundreds of mining communities that depend on this activity.
ARM stresses that the implementation of Appendix E requires governments to invest in formalization processes through appropriate mechanisms and direct support to the miners that will guarantee their access to training, credit and cleaner technologies. These actions are urgent due to the planned rapid and drastic reduction in the mercury supply. Without leaving alternatives the instrument could criminalize miners forcing them to buy mercury in illegal markets leaving them in the hands of criminal networks that control part of the mercury and gold trade.
“We miners cannot formalize on our own. Now it is important that governments implement the mercury instrument as a policy and take on the responsibility of supporting us in the formalization process,” says Manuel Reinoso, artisanal miner, Vice President of ARM and President of the National Small-scale Mining Society of Peru (SONAMIPE).