There are now some 20 million of these artisanal and small-scale miners worldwide and they are responsible for about a tenth of all gold production. But they also do great environmental damage, not least because they account for the biggest single global use of mercury, the toxic metal whose production and use governments have pledged to phase down under the Minamata Convention. Their use of it to process gold accounts for a full third of its use worldwide, and frequently poisons land and drinking water supplies. Yet, since the miners are widely dispersed – and often operating illegally - in especially remote places, it is hard to control.
Yet using mercury is also very wasteful - achieving only about 20-30 per cent efficiency in processing, as opposed to the 60-90 per cent of alternative methods – so miners have a big financial incentive to switch, besides protecting their health. However they often do not know about the alternatives or, if they do, are unable to invest in them since it is hard for them to borrow money from conventional sources.
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