Letter from Human Rights Watch to Governments in Countries with Artisanal Gold Mining

One of the compelling reasons for joining this treaty is its recognition of the inherent risk of mercury exposure in artisanal gold mining. Children in particular can be most at risk for mercury poisoning in artisanal mining and small scale gold mining, as they frequently work with mercury themselves or are present during the burning of the mercury-gold amalgam. According to the International Labor Organization, more than one million children work in artisanal mining worldwide, and many more live in artisanal mining communities. Human Rights Watch has documented the use of mercury by child laborers—a worst form of child labor that should be eliminated immediately—in Mali, Nigeria, and Tanzania (see http://www.hrw.org/dangers-of-mercury). Our research also found that the health systems in these countries are not equipped to prevent, test, or treat mercury-related conditions
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/06/19/letter-human-rights-watch-governments-countries-artisanal-gold-mining

Honduras: Cyanide Dreams

But Oneyda Velásquez can't forget. She lives three kilometres from the mine site in the Siria Valley, Honduras. She told The Dominion how both she and her children were tested and found to have heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic in their blood. She said that since the opening of the mine, her family's health has gotten worse and the farming isn't the same either. “[My children] are constantly sick with the cold, headaches, and they have marks on their skin. [Goldcorp subsidiary] Entremares is the mine that's killing us,” saidVelásquez.
http://dominion.mediacoop.ca/story/cyanide-dreams/17716

Peru makes progress against illegal mining

To date, the illegal alluvial mining of gold has destroyed 18,000 hectares of a total of about 77 million hectares of the Peruvian Amazon – 57.6% of the country – largely as a result of the use of mercury, according to Ráez Luna.

The fish in Madre de Dios – the region most affected by illegal gold mining in Peru – have mercury levels above those permitted by the Word Health Organization, according to a study carried out in 2009 by the Carnegie Institution for Science. In some cases, levels have reached 1.12 ppm (parts per million), well above the 0.5 ppm limit.

“Methylmercury has been detected in the waters contaminated by illegal mining,” Ráez Luna said. “This compound is highly toxic and easily enters into living organisms such as plants, animals and human beings. It mainly affects the nervous system, with serious consequences for the mental development of children.”

The damage caused will not immediately result in a hospital visit, Ráez Luna added, but it leads to children’s “having an IQ that is five, 10 or 15 points lower than they would have had in optimum environmental conditions.”

http://infosurhoy.com/cocoon/saii/xhtml/en_GB/features/saii/features/main/2013/06/18/feature-01

China says Ghana's arrest of its miners will not harm relations

Bilateral trade between Ghana and China stood at $5.43 billion dollars in 2012, up 56.5 percent over the previous year, according to Chinese ambassador Gong Jianzhong.

"The illegal activities conducted by some of the Chinese may harm the image of the Chinese in African countries," he said.

Tens of thousands of people in Ghana do illegal small-scale mining, a practice that is called "galamsey". The businesses sift tons of mud in river beds and forests to extract ore that is processed on site and sold to middlemen.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-ghana-china-mining-idUSBRE95H18420130618

China, Ghana work closely to tackle illegal mining

China and Ghana are working closely to properly handle the issue of Chinese nationals engaged in illegal gold mining in the West African country, a senior Chinese official said here on Tuesday.

Gong Jianzhong, the Chinese ambassador to Ghana, told a press conference that the issue of Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining activities in Ghana was a disharmony in the course of development of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Gong said China attached great importance to the issue and had dispatched two working groups in March and June to Ghana to hold discussions and consultations with the Ghanaian side to find ways to settle the concern.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/789913.shtml#.UcGR2efU8VA

UNEP exec lauds miners in Kalinga

The co-coordinator of the United Nations’ Environment Programme’s (UNEP) artisanal and small-scale mining partnership admired the efforts of Kalinga small-scale miners in doing away with mercury use.

Susan Egan Keane, a senior environmental analyst from the New York-based Natural Resources Defence Council, one of the leading environmental groups in the United States, also called the Kalinga small-scale miners pioneers,  as she addressed the participants of the Kalinga Provincial Summit on Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) held in Tabuk City.

“It will be difficult and you will face many challenges because you are pioneers. You lead and pave the way for the better future of your children and your province,” Keane said.
http://baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph/environment.asp?mode=archives/2013/june/6-16-2013/env7.txt

Fresh protests threaten Newmont Conga mine in Peru

Local TV showed images of thousands of farmers and miners marching toward El Perol lake, one of the main water sources they depend to drink and farm, which they believe will be negatively affected by the project.

Newmont has repeatedly said it will only move forward in a socially and environmentally responsible way, as the open-pit project involves moving water from four lakes high in the Andes mountains into reservoirs the company is planning to build.

http://www.mining.com/fresh-protests-threaten-newmont-conga-mine-in-peru-65256/?utm_source=digest-en-au-130618&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest

Tanzania: Amani Nature Reserve recovers from illegal gold mining

Njovu says Sakale village was the most affected out of 18 villages bordering the reserve. “As time went by, the problem intensified- that was five years ago, when the number of miners escalated to over 10,000. 

It started with some few local communities but later other people from different parts of the country stormed the area for mining,” the village leader says. He adds: “Sections of the forest reserve were destroyed and streams were also polluted as some miners used mercury in their mining activities.” 

He credits the Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund (EAMCEF) and ANR for thorough education on the importance of conserving the forest. 

According to him, illegal mining is no longer going on in the area because of a number of interventions including introduction of income generating activities such as beekeeping, fish-farming, charcoal saving stoves, poultry keeping and introduction of forest and environmental management committees in every village. 
http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=56048

Thousands camp in the Peruvian Andes to protect a lake from major gold mining project

“Why would we want a reservoir controlled by the company when we already have lakes that naturally provide us water?” asked Angel Mendoza, a member of a peasant patrol group from the town of Pampa Verde.

The controversy over Conga - which many in the business sector see as essential for the country's bustling economy - has posed a major challenge to President Ollanta Humala during his nearly two years in office.

He has twice shuffled his cabinet in the face of violent protests against the project.

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/06/18/thousands-camp-in-the-peruvian-andes-to-protect-a-lake-from-major-gold-mining-project

Mad rush for Ghana’s gold

That is not all; water bodies, especially rivers, that serve as sources of water for many communities across the country are left polluted. This either increases the cost of water treatment or, in some cases, threatens to shut down water treatment plants in Kyebi, Bunso and Anyinam, all in the Eastern Region, and Odaso in the Ashanti Region.

The use of mercury and cyanide by illegal miners in water bodies compels the Ghana Urban Water Company Limited (GUWCL) to spend a lot of money on chemicals to treat the polluted water for distribution, thereby increasing the cost of production.

The Water Resources Commission (WRC) has marked rivers Pra, Offin, Birim and Ankobra as the most polluted water bodies in Ghana.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=277199

Ghana: GCM says lower gold prices affecting operations

On illegal mining, Mr Owiredu commended the government for the initiative to flush out the operators and pledged the industry’S support to address the challenge and to ensure that the country benefits from responsible exploitation of its natural resources.

In a speech read on his behalf, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said the activities of illegal miners had led to the to the pollution of water bodies.

He said illegal mining is a threat to food security because it affects farmlands.

“Food security will be lost as many more farmlands are being stripped bare without following the steps required to remediate and ecologically resuscitate the land, as pollution due to chemical application, deforestation and vegetation loss are working against the environment,” Alhaji Fuseini said.
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/artikel.php?ID=277071

Dunkwa Small Scale Miners cry foul Over Taskforce extortion, brutalities

He recounted a point in time when some individuals purported to be Task Force officials took huge sums of monies from the Chinese miners at their mining site and subsequently burnt down their mining excavators which cost about two billion cedis.

The activities of armed robbery have also taken centre stage in the area because the Task force is not doing its work well.

“Armed robbers terrorize us almost every day, both at the mining pits and at our homes he fumed”

This according to him makes it difficult for miners to differentiate who the real Task Force is.

In another development, Nana Attah another resident also questioned why government is not giving the Chinese miners license to work and rather pay some tax on their work but rather chasing them out instead.

http://www.spyghana.com/dunkwa-small-scale-miners-cry-foul-over-taskforce-extortion-brutalities/