IAEA Joins the UNEP Global Partnership to Reduce Mercury Emissions

The IAEA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) joined forces in April to better protect human health and global ecosystems from sustained releases of mercury and its toxic derivative compounds into the environment. The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership was initiated in 2005 with the goal of minimizing, and where feasible, ultimately eliminating the release of mercury and its compounds into the air, water and land. The Global Mercury Partnership focuses on those sectors that use and release mercury or process raw materials that contain mercury, as well as areas engaged in mercury management and science.
read more... https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-joins-the-unep-global-partnership-to-reduce-mercury-emissions-0

Small miners’ love for cheap gold, keeps mercury flowing

The artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector is the force behind trade in mercury even as experts warn of the heavy metal’s risks to not just health but also the environment.
read more... https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/ea/Small-miners-cheap-gold-keeps-mercury-flowing/4552908-5538550-11r0jsjz/index.html

Environmentalists cleared from protest camp in Turkey while mining operations continue

Thousands of environmentalists and rights activists have been camped in the surrounding forest for 276 days in a bid to protect the Kaz mountains in Cannakale, north-western Turkey, and the surrounding area from damage.

Development of the gold mine started last year despite warnings that the local water supply for 180,000 people would be contaminated with cyanide, which is used in the extraction process.

read more... https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/environmentalists-cleared-protest-camp-turkey-while-mining-operations-continue

Zimbabwe: 26 illegal miners arrested

Some of the illegal miners chased from Jumbo Mine went to invade Mazowe Valley in Christon Bank, before they were discovered.

The miners’ activities were also threatening Mbuya Nehanda Shrine, located in the Mazowe Valley, forcing Government to intervene.

The Christon Bank community also raised alarm over the Mazowe River, which was being contaminated by the illegal miners who were using mercury and cyanide in the extraction of gold

read more... https://nehandaradio.com/2020/04/29/26-illegal-miners-arrested/

Venezuela risks stoking pandemic with Amazon mining say activists

"They will devastate the water, soil and air," said politician Maria Gabriela Hernandez, head of the legislature's environment commission. "The mercury they use causes serious harm to human beings, mainly to the miners and communities of the nearby areas."

While the government, when it lifted the mining prohibition, reiterated an existing ban on the use of mercury, activists said that small-scale mining routinely ignores such regulations.

read more... https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/venezuela-risks-stoking-pandemic-amazon-mining-activists-200427135553733.html

New study: Amazon authorities can’t get a grip on mercury trade

Mercury is one of the driving forces of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in the Amazon. For the public eye, the trade of mercury remains in the shadows of the gold trade, known for its excessive profits and the jet-set image of the precious metal. Fewer people know that mercury in itself represents a multi-million dollar business.
read more... https://infoamazonia.org/en/2020/04/new-study-trade-of-mercury-largely-overseen-by-authorities-in-the-amazon#!/story=post-49701

Towards a positive societal footprint for responsible gold mining

The environmental impacts on forests and biodiversity related to the land tenure of extractive activities are mobilizing many of the communities bordering the sites, as was the protest movement that led to the recent suspension of the Alamos Gold mining project at Kirazli in Turkey. Waste treatment techniques have sadly made news headlines with the rupture of the Brumadinho mining dam in 2019, with the dumping of 12 million cubic meters of mud causing the death of at least 259 people. Not to mention the daily environmental and health devastation caused by illegal gold panning using mercury, despite its ban, notably by the European Union.
read more... https://www.ecofinagency.com/public-management/2404-41292-towards-a-positive-societal-footprint-for-responsible-gold-mining

This Earth Day, Covid-19 reminds us that the environment’s health and our own are one

We are working to reduce the environmental and human health impacts from mercury use in artisanal gold mining in Indonesia. Across Southeast Asia, we are strengthening financial institutions’ environmental, social and governance safeguards and supporting agribusinesses and forestry companies to green their value chains and thereby reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
read more... https://medium.com/@pactworld/this-earth-day-covid-19-reminds-us-that-the-environments-health-and-our-own-are-one-1d17ca1c1d6e

Illegal mercury trade on the rise, Unep report finds

According to the report, roughly half of all mercury used in small-scale gold mining is traded illegally, and for many individual countries involved that figure is almost 100%. The countries that use the most mercury for small-scale mining are Indonesia, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. 

Mercury is frequently sold to small-scale mining operators at two to three times higher than market value of bulk mercury, according to World Bank figures. The report estimates that the value of illegally traded mercury is as high as $215 million each year, and it's responsible for $20-30 billion of gold production.

read more... https://chemicalwatch.com/109221/illegal-mercury-trade-on-the-rise-unep-report-finds#overlay-strip

Pay attention to what CTPD is saying

The most common chemical exposures in ASGM are to: mercury used to amalgamate the gold; cyanide used to extract gold, for example from tailings; and other chemicals contained in dust and gases.

People can be exposed to two forms of mercury in an ASGM context: elemental mercury and organic mercury.

read more... https://www.themastonline.com/2020/04/18/pay-attention-to-what-ctpd-is-saying/

On 50th Earth Day, a look at what is causing the Amazon rainforest to fast approach its tipping point

Among the most toxic and long-lasting elements in the world, mercury is then added to the exposed soil. It acts as an amalgam, binding the gold specks together. This mercury is then boiled away, seeping into groundwater, and poisoning people and the natural world alike. “In 2018, it was estimated that 185 tonnes of mercury was released into the Peruvian Amazon,” says duPont. “It can cause neurological and organ damage, a lowered IQ, and in some cases, death,” she adds.
read more... https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/on-50th-earth-day-a-look-at-what-caused-the-amazon-rainforest-to-fast-approach-its-tipping-point-8276581.html

Decades-old mine in Bougainville exacts devastating human toll: Report

More than 30 years later, “The situation is worsening,” as waste continues to seep into the regions’ rivers, said Keren Adams, legal director at the nonprofit Human Rights Law Centre in Australia. Adams and her colleagues documented the mine’s legacy as it continues to disrupt the lives of the 12,000 to 14,000 people who live downstream in a report released April 1. Now, the mine’s longtime operator, the British-Australian company Rio Tinto, must make amends, they argue.
read more... https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/decades-old-mine-in-bougainville-exacts-devastating-human-toll-report/

Brazil's Amazon rainforest has become the Wild West for illegal gold miners

Alessandra Korap Munduruku, a leader from Para state who attended the meeting, says the legalization of mining would "be the death of our people."

Besides bringing "disease and prostitution to our people, drug addiction to our children, and violent conflict to the Munduruku men," she said gold mining activity is also killing fish through mercury poisoning.

read more... https://www.dw.com/en/brazils-amazon-rainforest-has-become-the-wild-west-for-illegal-gold-miners/a-52623368

Government Urged To Craft Legislation That Prohibits Use Of Mercury In Gold Mining

Research findings have revealed that due to lack of employment in the formal sector, the number of small gold miners is on the rise resulting in an increased use of mercury for processing of gold and thereby contaminating rivers and streams where the mercury ends.
read more... https://www.zambianobserver.com/government-urged-to-craft-legislation-that-prohibits-use-of-mercury-in-gold-mining/

Illegal miners may spread covid-19 among Indigenous communities in Venezuela, Brazil – NGOs

The issue with water is particularly worrisome, the NGOs’ document states. The mercury used by illegal miners to pan gold from Amazonian rivers is leaving entire towns without access to clean water in a moment when washing hands is the most important individual action to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
read more... https://www.mining.com/illegal-miners-may-spread-covid-19-among-indigenous-communities-in-venezuela-brazil-ngos/

Was The Removal Of Professor Frimpong-Boateng As Head Of The Inter-Ministerial Committee On Illegal Mining A Huge Error Of Judgement?

In a sense, illegal gold miners actually pose a threat to public health in Ghana, because they poison our soils, streams, rivers and groundwater sources, with heavy metals and toxic chemicals - in addition to being potential morphed-rebel-force-warlords and myrmidon-foot-soldiers.
read more... https://www.modernghana.com/news/995022/was-the-removal-of-professor-frimpong-boateng-as.html

Gold mining threatens indigenous forests in the Brazilian Amazon

Human rights groups like Survival International hold Bolsonaro and his policies responsible for the loss of forest, as well as mercury pollution, societal disruption and the introduction of diseases such as malaria and potentially COVID-19 that result from mining.
read more... https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/gold-mining-threatens-indigenous-forests-in-the-brazilian-amazon/

ARTISANAL GOLD MINING COMMUNITIES ARE ON THE VERGE OF A CRISIS – THE VIEW FROM CHOCO, COLOMBIA

So why are gold prices for ASM producers crashing? As governments around the world take measures to contain or prevent the spread of the Covid-19, critical parts of the supply chain -particularly those involving transport, logistics and finance -have slowed down or seized up entirely.

The worldwide effort to contain Covid-19 must clearly take priority. But it’s the AGC’s belief that by analyzing the Covid-19 induced disruptions on the artisanal gold supply chain, it should be possible to re-start gold flows in ways that fit within the world’s ongoing virus-battling framework.  We begin by looking at the three main sources of supply-chain disruption as they apply to both Colombia and the world.

read more... https://www.artisanalgold.org/2020/04/artisanal-gold-mining-communities-are-on-the-verge-of-a-crisis-the-view-from-choco-colombia/

Brazil indigenous community banishes miners to cut coronavirus risk

As the new coronavirus reaches into Brazil’s indigenous communities for the first time, one village trying to protect itself in the Amazon rainforest has achieved a rare victory: getting illegal gold miners to agree to leave, indefinitely.
read more... https://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-climatechange-deforestation/feature-brazil-indigenous-community-banishes-miners-to-cut-coronavirus-risk-idUSL8N2BR41R

‘Artisinal miners at risk of coronavirus’

“Artisinal mining communities are likely to be among the seriously impacted populations, but paradoxically because the virus is wreaking havoc on all facets of the economy,artisinal mining is likely to continue to be a widespread survival and food security strategy despite the risks.”
read more... https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2020/04/04/artisinal-miners-at-risk-of-coronavirus/

A third of Peru’s La Pampa forest cleared for illegal mining ponds, study finds

Fernández called this a violent transformation on a landscape-wide level, since new wetlands have been created and it is unknown what effects will be caused by these ponds filled with toxic metals like mercury and cyanide. “How will these metals affect the wildlife that is returning?” he said.
read more... https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/a-third-of-perus-la-pampa-forest-cleared-for-illegal-mining-ponds-study-finds/

Catholic leaders urge protection of indigenous during pandemic

Most Amazonian communities depend on water from streams and rivers for drinking and washing, Vega said. In many places those sources are polluted, so people lack safe drinking water and water for hand washing, a critical measure for preventing contagion, he said.
Traditionally, a community struck by disease would have relocated to protect its members. As recently as 30 or 40 years ago, that might have helped community members survive, Vega said, but encroachment by mining, logging and oil operations make it virtually impossible now.
read more... https://catholicphilly.com/2020/04/news/world-news/catholic-leaders-urge-protection-of-indigenous-during-pandemic/

The village still suffering from Peru mercury spill fallout – after 20 years

Disaster struck this community on 2 June 2000, when a canister of mercury overturned on a truck travelling to Lima, Peru’s capital, from the Yanacocha gold mine in Cajamarca, Peru’s poorest region. Yanacocha is Latin America’s largest gold mine.

More than 150kg of mercury – a byproduct of gold extraction – dribbled along the dirt road that passes through Choropampa and two other villages. Residents, including pregnant women and children, scooped up the liquid and took it home.

read more... https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/apr/02/the-village-still-suffering-from-peru-mercury-spill-fallout-after-20-years