This document provides an overview of the interventions that have been carried out across the planetGOLD programme as of June 2023 to advance responsible mining and eliminate mercury from the ASGM gold supply chain, through technology transfer, technical support, training, and sharing knowledge on best practices in mercury-free gold processing.
This report documenting planetGOLD’s progress from July 2021 through June 2022 shows how project teams in planetGOLD made key advances toward helping miners go mercury-free, by improving miners’ awareness of the dangers of mercury use, educating and demonstrating to them viable technical alternatives, and progressing in creating an enabling regulatory and financial environment that supports miners to undertake this transition.
Despite producing an estimated 20% of the world’s annual supply of newly mined gold, the ASGM sector has traditionally had challenges connecting with the formal world gold market. While numerous formal buyers - from refiners to jewelers to premium-offering gold buying schemes - are all eager for gold produced by artisanal and small-scale gold miners, meeting rigorous standards for due diligence standards and responsible sourcing poses a challenge. This study examines the role that can be played by supply chain technologies in facilitating conformity with the planetGOLD Criteria by looking at specific types of supply chain solutions, including due diligence, traceability and block-chain solutions, and analyzing their capacity for establishing and strengthening market links between planetGOLD producers and formal gold market buyers.
D. Stapper, K. Dales, P. Velasquez, and S. Keane
English
The gap in applicable guidance for cyanide management in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector requires urgent attention, especially considering cyanide’s accessibility and effectiveness at gold extraction, and in light of the trend in uptake of cyanidation in the small-scale gold mining sector worldwide. The purpose of this document is to address this gap by providing written guidance for ASGM stakeholders on managing the risks of cyanidation where national legal and regulatory frameworks permit its use, in the context of the ASGM sector’s transition from mercury use.
Miners across Uganda use mercury as part of artisanal gold mining, but the country’s policymakers are committed to supporting safer alternatives and moving towards responsible practices in the supply chain. The video was first produced by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) and has been adapted by planetGOLD Uganda.
This video lays out the primary risks associated with Ghana's ASGM operations, describes its importance, and lists efforts taken to offset the consequences of ASGM on workers and their communities.
This report presents information drawn from experiences during more than three years of work, in Colombia, dedicated to the adaptation and function of the copper plates, which were tested both under laboratory conditions and in the field.
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