Last month, government representatives from more than 140 countries, including Zimbabwe, met in Switzerland and agreed to sign a mercury treaty later this year as part of global fight against pollution.
Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-scale for Sustainable Mining Council (ZASMC) president Walter Takavarasha told NewsDay last week that the treaty would affect the operations of more than 500 000 people.
He said small-scale miners were making use of mercury in gold processing as it was a simple and affordable method to extract the precious mineral.
“Now that there is a global commitment to sign a mercury treaty, there should also be new funding commitments from donor agencies and governments to support capacity-building, especially to support artisanal and small-scale gold miners,” Takavarasha said.
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