Ecuador

It is estimated that between 11,500-20,000 people in Ecuador work in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) either directly or indirectly. Since most artisanal mining processes in the country are unautomated and labor-intensive, the majority of actors in the supply chain are directly employed in mining. ASGM is a vital source of income in mining communities, contributing to regional development and toward mitigating the exodus of workers from rural areas to city centers.  

At the same time, the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector faces significant opportunities for improvement. Miners have limited access to technology, precarious working conditions, lack of technical knowledge, low production performance, and poor legal and institutional formalization. It is also associated with pollution caused by dangerous chemical substances such as mercury. Although the use of mercury in mining is prohibited by law, it continues to be used clandestinely throughout the ASGM sector.

The elimination of mercury use in Ecuador's ASGM sector is high on the political agenda due to its impacts on human health and ecosystems. As the expansion of the extractive sector increases, urgent actions are needed to support formalization, to promote responsible mining approaches, and to increase capacity and financing for ASGM and related sectors.

Key Figures from Ecuador

Ecuador's Approach

With the objective of contributing to Ecuador’s National Development Plan of the Mining Sector and promoting responsible mining under the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the planetGOLD Ecuador project seeks to contribute to the formalization and associative processes of ASGM. The project promotes the creation of financial opportunities for the sector that allow recognition and promotion of good, mercury-free practices, through the implementation of tools and technical knowledge that enable the production of gold in an appropriate manner.

The project also recognizes that the mining system stands out for the feminization of poverty and the undervaluation of female work. In accordance with the gender approach promoted by the United Nations, the project seeks to change these cultural patterns linked to the sector that negatively affect women. The proposal seeks to involve women, especially Jancheras (women working in the dumps outside the mines, selecting the waste mineral) in the training spaces provided by the project. This context invites us to understand mining not only as a work, but as a structure of symbolic, political, economic and cultural relations.

The project in Ecuador aims to reduce the use and releases of mercury from ASGM by 10 tonnes, improve the selling price for responsibly-produced gold, increase access to financing for miners, and benefit more than 26,800 people.

Key Strategies

Promote use of mercury-free technologies	Improve miners' access to formal finance
Increase formalization of the sector	Share knowledge and raise awareness