News & Voices

In the small coastal town of Guapi, Colombia, Mary Luz Ante Orobio is meeting with a group she calls “the unstoppable women”. They are gathered around a wooden chest filled with loose cash, a ledger and a calculator. Orobio flips through the ledger, eyes poring over tidy notes outlining a series of financial investments. She jots down some numbers before distributing cash among the group.

As Member States and observers gather in Geneva, Switzerland for the 5th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, the planetGOLD programme aims to contribute to the global knowledge base on reducing mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Explore the information document the programme has published detailing lessons learned from technology transfer activities in planetGOLD phase 1 projects.

The planetGOLD programme aims to end the toxic trail of small-scale gold mining. Representatives work with governments, the private sector and mining communities across the world to eliminate mercury from artisanal mining and promote safer work environments.

For 35 years, Abdoul Salam Sawadogo has worked in Burkina Faso's artisanal and small-scale mining sector, beginning with the difficult work of digging underground extraction shafts. He is now second in charge of the management committee at planetGOLD Burkina Faso’s project site and is championing the project's activities to advance more responsible, mercury-free mining practices.

The planetGOLD Burkina Faso project is actively working to improve access to finance for both the men and women at its mine site. For the women, this also means accompanying them on their journey from employees to independent entrepreneurs. In this story meet Zourata Nacanabo, who made the move from artisanal miner to shaft owner and is championing the inclusion of women in the project's activities to improve health and livelihoods.

As part of the planetGOLD Burkina Faso project’s efforts to assist in the formalization of the country's artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector, the team analyzed current legislation, identified key areas for potential policy revision and potential for improved application, and held two workshops to capacitate key stakeholders on how to implement the proposed recommendations.

The planetGOLD Burkina Faso project focuses on assisting artisanal gold miners with obtaining access to formal finance so they have the means to improve their operations. Recently, the project held the first Access to Finance workshop of its kind for the benefit of mining communities marginalized by traditional financial systems such as banks and microfinance institutions.

On recent visits to artisanal mine sites in Burkina Faso, men welcomed the installation of proposed mercury-free treatment unit, but the women miners expressed concerns that the unit would perform all operations of ore processing, eliminating the need for their labour and that if they then lost access to tailings that contain gold this would obliterate their only source of income. Learn how the planetGOLD Burkina Faso project plan to address these concerns and mitigate any adverse gender impacts.

The planetGOLD Burkina Faso project team and their partners recently visited four mining sites located across the country's South Western and Cascades regions with the end goal of selecting the best suited mining site to introduce the pilot mercury free gold processing system.

Artisanal gold prices in Burkina Faso are slowly moving back toward levels seen prior to COVID-19, according to the latest update from staff working on the planetGOLD project in the country. They also report that the prices of consumer products are stable and have returned to the same level as before COVID-19.

Authorities in Burkina Faso have implemented sweeping lockdown and quarantine measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures – along with the many international lockdowns now in place – have slowed or halted artisanal gold exploitation and significantly reduced the price artisanal miners receive for their gold. Read more in this update from Artisanal Gold Council staff, including team members working on the planetGOLD project in Burkina Faso.

L'Organisation des Nations Unies pour le développement industriel (ONUDI) va mettre en oeuvre un projet pour éliminer le mercure et améliorer la chaine d’approvisionnement dans le secteur artisanal d’exploitation minière et à petite échelle de l’or au Burkina Faso.