The fourth and latest round in United Nations-sponsored talks to negotiate a mercury treaty start in Uruguay this week, with participants from some 150 countries being challenged by non-government organisations (NGOs) to tackle the trade in the hazardous material.
Measures being sought include the adoption of strong treaty provisions on supply and trade that will, among other things, prohibit the mining of mercury.
"While mercury exports are banned in the EU and will soon be in the US, traders can still ship this dangerous neurotoxin everywhere else, poisoning people around the globe," Michael Bender of the Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG) said.
"With the price of mercury almost doubling in the past year, a treaty is the only way to end the profiteering in toxic trade," he added.
The free-market price for mercury currently stands around an all-time high of $2,800/3,300 per 76-pound flask.
Prices for much of the early 2000s were relatively stable in the $100-200 region but soared from 2005 due to small-scale artisanal gold producer demand, when bullion values went on a long bull run that is still being sustained. In Asia, Latin America and Africa, there are thousands of small mining sites that collectively use up to 1,000 tonnes per year of mercury.
http://www.minormetals.com/scoop/?id=40027&v=0&lang=en&cid=160186&type=1
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