Bringing fair trade to artisanal gold mining

Lima, which will host the COP20 climate change conference in November 2015, has given informal miners until April to concord with environmental, social and fiscal measures or face sanctions.

Peru estimates that there were 100,000 illegal miners before the process was started two years ago. Widespread deforestation, mercury pollution, alleged people trafficking and forced labour practices are amongst the issues generated by illegal mining that the formalisation process wants to curb.

In the southeastern jungle region of Madre de Dios, the government is expected to come down particularly hard on illegal miners due to wide-ranging environmental damage that was brought to the public’s attention by the Carnegie Institute in October.
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