43 - State of mercury use in ASGM globally (part of the synthesis paper on ASGM)

"Development of National Action Plans (NAPs) to reduce and where feasible eliminate use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a requirement under the Minamata Convention on Mercury for each Party that determines that ASGM and processing in its territory is more than insignificant. To date, 43 countries have started NAP projects. Out of which, 16 have finalized and submitted their NAP documents to the Secretariat of Minamata Convention.

The development of a NAP requires a good baseline understanding of the ASGM sector, to ensure formulation of realistic and effective strategies and to measure progress in implementation. To gain this understanding countries first collect data from AGSM sites in the field and through stakeholder consultations and literature review. The collected data includes baseline information on mercury use and practices employed at the mining sites, as well as socio-economic, health and environmental information.

To assess the wealth of information generated in the NAPs, the finalized documents submitted to the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention have been reviewed and quantitative and qualitative data has been extracted. The data has been analyzed to identify key insights, information gaps, and lessons learned in the NAPs. The talk will present a global overview of these latest trends and mercury reduction priorities in the ASGM sector and discuss implications for the effective implementation and monitoring of the NAPs."

Authors: Malgorzata Stylo, Kenneth Davis