Resources

This educational course was developed to support the training of public health and health-care professionals, medical and other allied students and professionals, and decision-makers in the health and environmental sectors. It compiles information on human exposure to different types of mercury and their health effects, the use of mercury in the health sector, and the policy and technical documents guiding preventive actions at a national level.

This joint guidance has been developed to support gender mainstreaming in the development of artisanal and small-scale gold mining National Action Plans (NAPs) in line with Annex C of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, as well as for the development of National Implementation Plans (NIPs) for the management of persistent organic pollutants in line with the Stockholm Convention. The document  provides guidance on incorporating gender dimensions throughout the process and into strategic content of both NAPs and NIPs. The Annexes present detailed considerations and tools relevant for both and specific to NAPs and NIPs

As artisanal gold mining in Burkina Faso has increased in recent years, so have violent attacks by non-state armed groups. The assumption that there is a natural causal link between the two is, however, too simplistic. The escalating violence should rather be seen as a result of long-term trends, such as state disengagement, a growing dependence on gold and the gradual privatisation of security. This paper recommends that policy makers avoid a repressive approach to artisanal mining and rethink the governance of the sector, in consultation with miners and rural communities.

Since 2018, The Impact Facility has been looking for practical ways to manage, mitigate an eliminate mercury use in the ASGM space. This report presents work carried out in mercury use sensitisation, with more than a dozen artisanal mining groups in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, reflecting on successes, challenges and failures experienced along the way

This report aims to map issues related to responsible business conduct in the production and trade of gold in Venezuela, in order to support companies implementing the recommendations of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas to exercise their due diligence. 

With the Government of Kenya’s latest investments in its small-scale domestic gold sector, including its own refining capabilities, the time is right to tackle the drivers of illicit trade. 

This document was created to guide the training of health practitioners on certain health risks that are common in the sector. While there are many health risks in the ASGM sector, this guide is limited to risks specifically related to ASGM, particularly those that are rarely covered by general university professional trainings.

This guide describes the principals of reducing and eliminating mercury use in ASGM in an accessible manner. Featuring many photographs of ASGM equipment and techniques, the document explains the importance of milling and concentration, as well as other covering other topics such as retorts and tailings. 

The face of ASGM and conditions in Indonesia can change for the better and healthier by switching miners to using mercury-free technologies and enabling them to sell their gold to the formal market. This video from the planetGOLD project in Indonesia explains why it's critical to Make Mercury History in artisanal and small-scale gold mining to ensure healthy food chains and to protect human health today and for future generations. Closed captions in English are available.

The research analyzes the barriers and limitations of this sector in the regions with the highest incidence or presence of small-scale mining in order to propose financial products and services ad hoc to the reality of ASM that allows them to be included in the formal financial system.