News
- It is the first time that artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM) takes part in the most important mining convention in Latin America.
- The 35th edition of PERUMIN also includes a summit focused on topics such as diversity and inclusion for the first time.
After three years, PERUMIN, the most important mining summit in Latin America, organized its thirty-fifth edition, placing artisanal and small-scale mining and topics such as diversity and inclusion on their agenda for the first time. The event took place from September 26 to 30 in Arequipa, Peru, bringing together more than 50,000 people including experts, national and international authorities, various scales mining companies, and mining suppliers.
Within the framework of PERUMIN 35 and at the invitation of the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM) of Peru, the planetGOLD Peru project installed a gravimetric plant for processing gold without mercury in the stand of the General Directorate of Mining Formalization (DGFM). Likewise, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shared the results of the study “Women and men of gold” in the first Summit on Diversity and Inclusion.
Formalization and technologies
The Ministry of Energy and Mines, through its General Directorate of Mining Formalization, exhibited for the first time at PERUMIN 35 Mining Convention a stand dedicated to showing the artisanal and small-scale mining formalization progress in Peru. The stand opening was attended by Alessandra Herrera, Minister of Energy and Mines of Peru, during the ceremony, a group of formal small-scale miners from various regions of the country shared their experiences.
Furthermore, the planetGOLD Peru project installed a gravimetric plant for mercury-free gold processing at the MINEM stand, it was a pilot plant model delivered in Puno to 3 small-scale mining companies in August of this year. The project in Peru and EcogreenTech specialists made demonstrations on the operation of the plant to miners and assistants during the week, promoting the use of technologies that do not pollute the environment.
The stand included the participation of formal small-scale miners from the regions of Arequipa, Puno, Madre de Dios, Apurímac, and La Libertad, who shared their testimonies about the formalization process, its challenges, and opportunities. Finally, during the convention, MINEM disseminated the First National Multisectoral Policy for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining; a regulation for which the planetGOLD Peru project provided technical assistance during the design and formulation process, following the CEPLAN[1] national policy guide and considering the inclusion of manual gold selectors, known as pallaqueras, in the design and validation.
Gender gaps
The UNDP, implementing agency of the planetGOLD in Peru, was invited to the first Diversity and Inclusion Summit of PERUMIN 35. The event held on Wednesday, September 28, was organized by Women in Mining Peru (WIM Peru) with the purpose of discussing the situation of women in the mining sector and proposal exchange to overcome the gender gap.
In the dialogue space, the Resident Representative of UNDP Peru, Bettina Woll, made a presentation in the block "Peru: challenges to close gaps", addressing a territorial approach to development and gender inequalities both in large and medium-scale mining, as in artisanal and small-scale mining.
During her speech, she presented the study “Women and men of gold”, carried out together with the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) through the planetGOLD initiative. The document shows the gender gaps in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Peru and proposes some recommendations for the design of an Action Plan with a Gender Approach in ASGM.
According to the study, the pallaqueras are one of the most vulnerable groups in the mining sector, this group of women who work in the manual selection of gold is exposed to harsh and precarious conditions, and they receive up to 40% fewer profits for their gold because they are not fully recognized in current regulations.
Finally, she highlighted the work being done by the UNDP through the planetGOLD Peru project, supporting the First Multisectoral National Policy for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining so that the pallaqueras are included in the formal market and have a more responsible production.
The planetGOLD initiative is funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and led by the United Nations Environment ProgramEnvironment (UNEP). In Peru it is executed by the Ministry of the Environment (Minam) in alliance with the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem), and with the technical assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
[1] The National Center for Strategic Planning (CEPLAN) is a technical organization attached to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Peru. It is the governing body of the Peruvian National Strategic Planning System.
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