The number of people involved in
ASM in general has risen dramatically during the last years, with Nigeria contributing between 50,000
to 150,000 man power to this sector, and ASM is often referred to as a new
“phenomenon” and alleged “problem”. ASM is however as old as human civilization
and only recently, during the first half of the past century, the technological
divide between large and small scale mining occurred. Global awareness about
the importance and extension of this sector is rising and focusing on social
and environmental responsibility.
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| Artisanal Small Scale Miners at Sunke Zamfara Nigeria |
In Zamfara, ASM is a spontaneous self-organizing social system while industrial mining is planned and
centrally coordinated. Artisanal miners engage in mining to earn a living,
while industrial mining is driven by corporate economic considerations. Miners
focus on industrially not economic small high-grade mineral deposits in ‘open
access’
condition, and employ a ‘common pool resources’ management approach. Truth be
told, ASM is an important source of local income and often drives
local development. Low
technologic levels, at the budget of rural communities, have however had serious consequences on health, safety and environment in Zamfara. A griming
example is the lead poisoning epidemic that caused the death of 400 children in
seven artisanal gold mining communities in Zamfara during the hazy weather of
2010.
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| Conducting a preliminary Baseline Study of ASMs in Zamfara |
In Zamfara, the contamination of
compounds with high lead tailings is quite alarming, and calls for urgent
attention. In countries such as Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, they have succeeded
in stopping the use of mercury, a more potent and deadly heavy metal than lead.
The widespread use of mercury is a matter of global concern, while Zamfara
still struggles with lead extermination, how to encourage Artisanal miners to
stop the use of mercury still remains a big task. Global mercury emissions from
gold ASM are currently estimated in the range of 1000 tons per year, with Nigeria
contributing about 10 to 25 tons. Only half a decade ago, in 2005, estimations
were still in the range of 320 tons or 17 per cent of anthropogenic mercury
emissions. Under current conditions, it is reasonable to expect this trend to continue
in the coming years.
Legal frameworks (or their absence)
and economic interests of power groups force ASM in many countries into the informal sector. Given a certain complexity of the issues related with ASM,
a common approach of the past was to ignore and marginalize artisanal miners.
This made problems and especially resource conflicts, e.g. between communities
and industrial mining only worse. National and even networked efforts remained
isolated. Only recently, the need to engage in formalization
processes in
a multi-stakeholder context of Governments, Industry, Civil Society, ASM,
Consumers, and Development Agencies is slowly becoming a common consensus.
On October 29, 2013, about 60
participants, at a stakeholders meeting organized by Global
Rights [a human rights based non-profit] and Follow The Money [A Connected Development transparency
and accountability non-profit network], sat in the conference room of the Fulbe
Villa in Gusau, Zamfara, in Northern Nigeria to deliberate on how artisanal
miners can leave out of poverty, sustainably without tampering with the natural
ecosystem. One of the salient issues was the process of formalization of ASMs,
and the capacity of the state ministry of health to carry out emergency
response to lead poisoning cases that has become rampant in the communities. In
Nigeria, ASM are recognized immediately they have been issued certificated to
carry out such mining practices, and it is been supported by the National
Minerals and Metal Policy, and the Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act, both
actualized in 2007.
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| Cross section of participants at the Stakeholders meeting in Fulbe Villa, Gusau, Zamfara |
At the meeting, it was affirmed
that the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development [MMSD] has commenced with the
process of formalizing artisanal miner, with about 45 registered ASM
cooperatives. For the past 20 years, “the individual Gold panner is a myth” as
ASMs must be organized into small work groups or larger clusters of workgroups.
With lessons learnt from other part of the world, government can never be in a
position to efficiently enforce compliance of thousands of individual miners.
In Peru, ASM were already formed as clusters of workgroups, while in Mongolia
they formed partnerships. Nevertheless, legalization alone makes environmental
compliance not enforceable, government must introduce locally, workable, and
adaptable technologies, which must be tested locally. In Mongolia, when the use
of mercury was banned in 2008, the government introduced a viable technology
solution for a mercury and cyanide free processing plant.
In the same light, the MMSD has
taken a bold step in the purchase of 3 Egoli machines and 9 wet milling
machines. However, one may ask if that will be enough for the growing
population of ASM in Zamfara. More often than not, the response of governments
is to ignore ASM, but legalization of ASM needs however to be seen as a first
step that is part of a larger strategy for ASM formalization integrating social,
environmental, labour, health and safety, economic, commercial, gender, organizational
and technical dimensions. The implementation of most technical
environmental improvements requires a balanced combination of their
demonstrated feasibility, capacity building in miners as well as in support
organizations and supervision agencies, and realistic enforceable requirements
for which the technology provides a solution. Within a formalization process,
this creates intentional artificial win-win options.
Environmental and health
management of ASM needs to be seen in a wider context of responsible mining. Lead
poisoning and contamination is highly prevalent in Zamfara, while acute mercury
poisoning is very rare, opposite to chronic poisoning which accumulates often
over years. For miners, the toxic effects of mercury are not as obvious as for
scientists. Concerns of workplace safety, the risks of accidents, and the often
lacking health services in mining communities in combination with generally
harsh and unhealthy living conditions in remote places are perceived a much
higher priority. For the umpteenth time, the stakeholders have called on the
state ministry of health to rise up to its responsibilities. “Many times we
have called on the state ministry of health to join in complementing the work
of humanitarian organizations working in treating lead poisoned children, but
no response” said Ahmad Ashim These concerns have to be taken serious, as they
directly affect the quality of life of the miners and their families, and because
without addressing them, projects not only lose credibility in the eyes of the
miners but fail to contribute to responsible ASM and sustainable development.
Responsible ASM cannot be done in
an unorganized way. ASM can only be organized if ASM organizations are in
place. ASM organizations need to be empowered to be able to organize the
extractive activity. ASM is a (self-) employment generating activity in remote
areas, whereby the location is determined by the mineral deposit. Miners and
their families create their communities and livelihoods and aspire development,
still in the same way as miners did 150 years ago by creating the gold rush
settlement of Sacramento and converting it into the Capital of the US State of
California. In the already existing and regulated societies of today, a broader
formalization approach must support and accompany the miners in this process.
An ASM formalization process therefore must not be limited to the pure legal aspects,
but incorporate community development and broad capacity building. This creates
the capacity to comply with social and environmental requirements and makes
requirements enforceable. ASM communities require equal rights and a similar
level of attendance by the public sector as other communities; most “problems
of ASM” are home-made and are created by denying miners these rights, and
marginalizing them.
