Artisanal mining

[4] Artisanal mining can include activities as simple as panning for gold in rivers, to as complex as development of underground workings and small-scale processing plants.

[9] ASM also includes ancillary industries such as shipping and processing ore not directly related to the act of mining that can provide additional jobs.

Due to its hazardous nature to children's safety, health (physical and mental) and moral development, mining is considered one of the "worst forms" of child labour as defined by the ILO.

[5] The Pact's Children out of Mining (Swahili: Watoto Inje ya Mungoti) project in the Democratic Republic of Congo has helped to achieve a more than 90% reduction in child labor at targeted mines, using novel approaches including various community governance committees, awareness-raising and positive parenting skills training, peer exchanges, traditional song and dance, sport, children's interactive forums and traditional signage and radio media strategies.

[28] Artisanal mining operations often cut down trees to clear space for their camps, and it is common for miners to hunt, fish, and collect other forest resources for food and medicine, or as a way to supplement their income.

[29] According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the observed effects on animals exposed to high levels of methylmercury include mortality, reduced fertility, slower growth rates, and abnormal behavior that affects survival.

[22] For example, in Gauteng and Mpumalanga Provinces, South Africa, migrant miners are coerced into giving local gangs, some highly militarized, a cut of their output in exchange for mineshaft access.

This leads to women often being more exposed to more of the chemical hazards in the ASM process, including cyanide-based ore-processing and dust exposure from cleaning of tailings.

Governments, research and training institutions, the private sector, consultants, and civil society should contribute to open databases, integrate ASM into national census and surveys, and provide for improved policy and transparency.

The platform collects, analyzes and shares data using open-source principles, which informs policy-making and interventions, and ultimately improves miners' lives.

[6] Part of the Dodd-Frank Act, passed by the United States Congress in 2010, required companies to disclose if their products used materials sourced from ASM operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the Great Lakes region of central Africa.

[6] The Kimberley Process is a similar international attempt to prevent diamonds mined illegally in conflict zones in participating countries from entering the global market.

[42] Pact is a nonprofit international development organization founded in 1971, working on the ground in nearly 40 countries to improve the lives of those who are challenged by poverty and marginalization.

It is focused on professionalizing the sector so that ASM operations can adopt socially responsible and environmentally sound methods of mining and gold processing.

At field sites, by focusing on methodologies that forego the use of mercury and other toxic chemicals, the ACG helps miners and their communities to work and live in a safer and healthier environment, and responsibly produce gold.

Under those conditions, the sector can play a vital role in relieving poverty, generating inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and creating full and productive employment and decent work.

Furthermore, ARM serves as an intermediary for ASM communities, which gives them the opportunity to respond to international markets demanding ethical metals and jewelry.

CASM is a global networking and coordination facility with a stated mission "to reduce poverty by improving the environmental, social and economic performance of artisanal and small-scale mining in developing countries".

As is noted in the introduction to this document "The fact that much of ASM activity occurs outside regulatory frameworks – whether illegal or not – can also present significant challenges for companies and regulators.

The potential of the sector was discussed in 36 workshops, highlighting ASM's ability to reduce poverty, interlock with agricultural livelihoods, and stimulate jobs, markets and wealth creation in rural communities, as well as national economic growth through taxation and exports of raw and value-added minerals.

But with the voices of artisanal and small-scale miners finally engaged in international policy dialogues, and especially those of women, there is hope that in five years' time, a formalized, government-supported and socially, economically and environmentally productive ASM sector will have started to emerge.

[59] The cobalt ASM economy, driven by the surge in demand for the metal due to increased manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, has resulted in both alleged human rights abuses and environmental health impacts for people living in the region.

Regarding environmental health, a study in the city of Kolwezi indicated above-recommended-level amounts of heavy metals such as cobalt, manganese, and uranium in the surrounding environment, both in the soil and human tissue of residents.

[56] Regarding human rights abuses, the south-eastern DRC has been a site of conflict since the Katanga Insurgency began in 1963, and the mineral wealth of the region provides ample funds for armed actors (both state- and non-state) to finance their operations, particularly enabled by ASM's informal nature.

[24] The government of Ghana has begun processes to completely formalize ASM and fully integrate it with the large-scale mining sector, particularly with the focus of giving strength to the voices of miners.

[6] Nigeria's mineral extraction regime is dominated by hydrocarbons, however, some ASM does occur in the country, mainly gold with some activity in coltan, lead, zinc, and (historically) tin.

[52][6] Peru's government passed legislation in 2002 which aimed to formalize and promote artisanal gold mining activity, seen as a "great source of employment and collateral benefits".

Enforcement is however lax and this mining extraction method remains prevalent in the province of Camarines Norte notably around the towns of Santa Milagrosa and Paracale.

The pulverised ore is concentrated using visual sorting, sieving, gold panning, and by washing on riffle tables made of plastic sheets on heaps of sand.

After the rollout of the Tanzania Mineral Policy of 2009, ASM was legalized and the state began making efforts to issue licenses and formalize the sector.