© ARM
September 5 2013
About a month ago, Yves Bertrán, our Project Coordinator in West Africa, attended the ICMGP 2013 (International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant) held in Edinburgh on July 28th to August 2nd. Yves participated in two special technical sessions on artisanal mining entitled: ”Fixing the world’s biggest mercury problem: artisanal and small scale gold mining”.
During the sessions, a majority of presentations introduced results of monitoring studies on pollution generated by artisanal activity, or on technical methods to reduce mercury emissions. Only a few presentations were addressing the link between the use of mercury and the informal, unstable and marginalized aspect of artisanal mining activity.
In his presentation, Yves managed to introduce results of an experiment on the appropriation by miners and the local making of a tool allowing mercury emission reduction when burning the amalgams. This pilot work has been implemented with Projekt-Consult during the years 2008-2009, and it is today continued within the framework of our project on the creation of a FAIRMINED gold supply chain in West Africa. The results of the experience show that the appropriation process of a technical tool like the retort needs to be integrated in a more global program on formalization with long term support.
Accompanying Yves, Bismarck Onyando Ndisio, an artisanal miner from Kenya, also participated in these sessions usually only attended by scientists, experts and decision makers. As a person very concerned by the use of mercury, Bismarck has realized up to what point the issue of mercury is important to the rest of the world, and to what extent the future Minamata treaty could affect his own ability to mine gold as he practices it today, with the use of mercury. The objective of intervention of Yves and Bismarck was to show that mercury emission reduction programs should be designed with the participation of miners and include support programs that allow miners to continue gold mining in a responsible and non-polluting manner.