Over 20 million people worldwide are directly employed in the informal economy in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), and over 100 million indirectly rely on the income that ASM miners generate. In particular, the conditions in ASM gold mines worldwide are often very poor. On a large scale poisonous mercury is being used, the mines are not safe, and miners work long hours but receive low prices for their gold, while the environment is being needlessly damaged in the process. However, the miners and their families often live in rural areas and have no alternative source of income to build their livelihoods. If ASM is done in a more responsible way, it can be a powerful driver for positive change in many of the 70 countries where small-scale gold mining takes place today.
http://solidaridadnetwork.org/netherlands-highlights-plight-small-scale-miners
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