News & Voices

Here is the story of importing mercury-free processing system (MFPS) equipment from South America to Central Asia. It outlines the challenges of overseeing international logistics management at the best of times, compounded by the intersecting challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a local strike in Colombia, and a complex international incident involving Russia, Ukraine, NATO, and ensuing sanctions.

Alongside the Precious Metal Traders National Association and Misheel Expo LLC, the planetGOLD Mongolia project co-organized the Precious Metals and Jewellery Forum and Expo in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from April 12-16, 2023.

The planetGOLD Mongolia project launched a pilot of Artisanal Miners Gender Committee and held a workshop on September 15th, 2022, in Mandal Soum, Selenge Province. The committee will serve as platform for conducting open dialogues on issues and challenges related gender equality and human rights among female and male artisanal miners in the project target area.

After nearly three years of waiting, new artisanal and small-scale mining regulations have been approved by the Government of Mongolia. In September 2019 the Government had suspended key clauses of the ASM regulations until they was revised, leading to a freeze on issuing new ASM land permits and discontinuation of existing mining contracts. The planetGOLD Mongolia project was included in a taskforce led by the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry for revising and developing the new ASM regulations.

The planetGOLD Mongolia project advocated for a responsible artisanal gold supply chain and investment opportunities during the country’s first-ever Precious Metals and Jewellery Forum and Expo in April 2022.

In 2020, the planetGOLD Mongolia project conducted a contextual study to assess the standards and practices of ASGM in Bayangol soum, Mandal soum, and Tunkhel village of Selenge province, as well as Altai soum of Khovd province, and Yusunbulag soum of Gobi-Altai province.

Mongolia, a vast country characterized by rugged landscapes, a nomadic culture, and an active artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector has not been untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a robust testing system and restrictions in place, Mongolia has been able to curb extensive spread of the virus, which has plateaued at roughly 1,000 cases per day, but that has not left the ASGM sector untouched from economic impacts.

In support of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, our partner the Artisanal Gold Council as the executing agency of the planetGOLD projects in Mongolia and the Philippines highlights initiatives in these countries and three other related country projects in the Asia-Pacific region actively addressing occupational health and safety hazards in the ASGM sector.

The planetGOLD Mongolia project published the article ‘ARTISANAL GOLD: Opportunities For Responsible Investment’ in the March 2021 issue of the Mongolian Mining Journal in English and in the ‘Daily News’ newspaper in Mongolian on March 30th. It touched on some of the key points summarized below. To read the full article in English and Mongolian, please access them via the resource library or directly through the Mongolian Mining Journal’s website.

As the planetGOLD Mongolia project works towards formalizing the sector, and reducing the clandestine use of toxic chemicals in ASGM, focus has been placed on strengthening local government’s comprehension of the implications and benefits of the Minamata Convention and thus incentivizing its implementation using the NAP as a guide. To begin this, two training sessions on the ‘Minamata Convention on Mercury and ASGM’ were organized in two provinces.

The planetGOLD Mongolia project organized a training session titled “Minamata Convention on Mercury and ASGM” in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in Jargalant city, Khovd province, which coincided with the “Silent Threat of Mercury, Minamata Convention” photo exhibition co-organized by the planetGOLD Mongolia project and the Fresh Water Resource and Nature Conservancy Center.

After many of Mongolia's state-owned timber factories closed in the 1990s, people in the village of Tunkhel looking for new employment moved into informal artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Following a lengthy formalization process, the leader of the local mining organization now hopes that a high-recovery mercury-free processing facility, which the planetGOLD Mongolia project is poised to pilot, will offer opportunities to all local ASGM communities and discourage clandestine use of mercury.