Maputo, 26 Sep (AIM) – The Mozambican government has started gathering international experience to transform informal, small-scale artisanal mining (ASM) into a formal and sustainable activity that is free from the use of mercury in gold processing.
According to Sónia Muando, National Director of Environment and Climate Change at the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries, speaking during the opening of a preparatory seminar for the PlanetGold project, the reform will enable Mozambique to join the global PlanetGold project, which aims to eliminate mercury use in gold mining.
Mozambique has over 100,000 artisanal miners, concentrated in the central provinces of Manica, Tete, and Zambézia, and the northern provinces of Nampula, Niassa, and Cabo Delgado, who are responsible for 100 percent of the country’ s artisanal gold production.
Although the use of mercury has been prohibited by law since 2006, under Article 225 of the Technical Safety and Health Regulations for Geological-Mining Activities, the substance continues to be widely used.
According to Muando, the government is committed to changing this situation over the next five years through the implementation of legislative reforms in the mining and environment/climate change sectors.
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) identify mercury as one of the ten chemicals of greatest concern for public health, as it causes, among other conditions, lifelong disability and kidney failure, and affects speech, vision, and memory, while also causing insomnia, hand tremors, muscle weakness, and atrophy.
Mozambique is a signatory to the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Between 2016 and 2020, it served as a pilot country for a GEF/UNIDO project to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) aimed at eliminating mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). The project was coordinated by the then-Ministry for the Coordination of Environmental Action (MICOA) and implemented by Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME).
MIREME, through the National Mining Institute (INAMI), will be responsible for the formalization pillar, which includes transforming informal miners into licensed cooperatives and associations, granting small-scale mining titles, and establishing official gold-buying centers that pay market prices.
For its part, MAAP will lead the environmental and health pillar, focusing on the introduction of clean technologies, monitoring soil and river contamination, and rehabilitating degraded areas.
According to Edward Ndirangu, a project consultant, experience gained in countries already participating in PlanetGOLD, such as Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania in Africa, and Mongolia in Asia, points out to replacing mercury with gravimetric technologies (concentration tables, sluices with matting, and centrifugal concentrators) and the borax method. The latter is capable of recovering up to 95 percent of gold without toxic chemicals and yields better results than the amalgamation process.
Participation in PlanetGOLD, an initiative operating in 23 countries that has prevented the emission of 1,200 tons of mercury, will allow Mozambique to access financing, technical assistance, and formal international markets for traceable, mercury-free gold, according to Ndirangu.
For the time being, the government has set a target under its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) to reduce mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) by 50 percent by 2030 and to formalize at least 60 percent of currently active artisanal miners.
Mz/Am/
