GUYANA, through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), will benefit from a US$3M grant to assist the country in reducing its mercury use in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector.The GEF Council, on Tuesday last, approved a global programmatic approach to address the use of mercury in the sector. The programme, titled “Global Opportunities for Long-term Development of ASGM Sector – GEF GOLD”, aims to reduce the use of mercury in the mining sector in participating countries, including Guyana.

The Guyana project is expected to help artisanal and small-scale gold miners to introduce low and non-mercury technologies and techniques.

With Guyana being one of eight countries selected to participate in the programme, the funds wouldl also help to establish a financial mechanism for capital investments in mercury-free technologies, establish markets for branded mercury-free gold from Guyana, and develop national policies and incentives for mercury-free gold.

The Guyana component of the programme, which has six components and is expected to be executed over a five-year period, is being implemented by Conservation International.

The small and medium scale gold mining (ASGM) sector in Guyana plays an important role in the national as well as local economies. It generates approximately 50% of all of the country’s foreign exchange, and has extensive backward and forward linkages to the retail and services sectors. It is also the main source of employment and revenue-generation for hinterland communities, including indigenous communities; and provides direct employment for more than 20,000 coastland residents.

Unlike ASGM in other countries, Guyana’s miners have been regularized and have operated legally since the inception of the industry in the 1880s. There are approximately 3,081 enterprises producing gold, 70% of which are small miners, with the rest being medium scale miners.

Gold in Guyana is produced primarily by hydraulic dredging and sluices. Mercury is used at the final amalgam stage to extract gold. The toxic health effects of both inorganic and organic mercury are well known, and have spurred the Minamata Convention.

Small and medium-scale gold mining is the main source of direct exposure to mercury, and discharge to the environment through direct usage in the amalgamation process; and forest clearing for gold mining releases mercury stored in soils into the aquatic food chain.
Already, levels higher than World Health Organization (WHO) safe limits have been found in indigenous and hinterland populations, as well as in workers in the industry. The artisanal and small scale miners are least equipped to understand and adopt the policies, technologies, and environmentally-friendly practices that are critical to a responsible gold mining sector. The high startup costs required to employ new technology have also been identified as a barrier.

As such, this project proposes to focus on artisanal and smaller-scale operators, to fill an important gap in current initiatives. This includes support for bottom-up approaches that are grounded by the practical priorities and challenges faced by miners, which would lead to viable business propositions that can access financing for the ASGM sector to eliminate mercury use and adopt mercury-free technologies suitable to Guyana’s context.

Additionally, the project would address the harmful impacts of mercury use caused primarily by ASGM and medium-scale gold mining in Guyana. It is expected to yield reductions in mercury use of about 15 metric tons, and emissions, thus protecting terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity and ecosystems.

Moreover, by addressing the impacts of mining through a sustainable development approach and incentives based on community needs, chances of success are much greater than past efforts, which relied too heavily on “top down” approaches or technological “fixes” that inadequately considered the needs of miners and communities.