Title:
Fish contaminated with mercury 'pose worldwide
threat to health'.
Author: Jeremy Laurance
Source: The Independent
Posted: 15 Mar 2007
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News This page contains news items and views on contemporary topics that are related to small-scale mining. To post a news item to this page please email the details to: minerals.forum@unctad.org. Please include the news item title, sender name and email, date, and a short description. Additional information may also be forwarded, preferably in MS Word, Adobe PDF or text formats. Title: Women in mining decry banks `insensitivity`. Mwanza Region, Tanzania. Author: By Nasser Kigwangallah Source: IPP Media Posted: 30 Mar 2007 Title: Colombia: Coal Mine Accidents Underreported to Protect Livelihoods. Author: Helda Martínez Source: Inter Press Service News Agency IPS Posted: 27 Mar 2007
Title:
Fish contaminated with mercury 'pose worldwide
threat to health'.
Author: Jeremy Laurance Source: The Independent Posted: 15 Mar 2007 Title: Burkina Faso: Privatisation threatens small-scale miners Source: Medilinks Posted: 01 Mar 2007 Title: The Mwadui Community Diamond Partnership (MCDP). This Pilot project was initiated in Tanzania in August 2006... Source: De Beers Group Posted: 01 Mar 2007 Title: Pillage and Patronage: Human rights abuses in Zimbabwe's informal gold-mining sector Source: MDC Zimbabwe Website Posted: 01 Mar 2007 Title: Zimbabwe: Desperate miners dig to escape poverty Source: IRIN Humanitarian news and analysis UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Posted: 28 Feb 2007
Title:
Gendered Livelihoods in Small Mines and Quarries in India:
Living on the edge.
(pfd file) Working Paper
Rajiv Gandhi Institute for
Contemporary Studies, New Delhi and Australia South Asia
Research Centre, Canberra. July, 2006
Author: Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt. Title: Sierra Leone: Women prospectors find steady income Source: IRIN Humanitarian news and analysis UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Posted: 10 Jan 2007
Title: Five
die in abandoned mine - India Details 'An abandoned coal mine in Jharkhand caved in Friday killing at least five people. Authorities have launched efforts to find 15 people still believed trapped under the collapsed roof of the Gindhiyani mine in Hazaribagh district. There were about 40 people illegally mining coal when the disaster struck. The villagers claimed they helped 20 people out of the debris and also brought out five bodies. Illegal mining in abandoned mines is rampant in Jharkhand, and at least 500 people have died in the last two years in mine-related accidents.'
Title: Foreign
investors threaten trade of small scale miners Details "A leader of small scale miners in the gold rush area of Diwalwal, Compostela Valley has lambasted the national government for continuing its move to allow entry of foreign companies in the mining sector. Barangay Captain Franco Tito of Diwalwal, Monkayo, Compostela Valley said the national government, instead of inviting foreign investors to mine the country's ore reserves, should better help the small-scale miners. Tito made the statement after being informed that the government lawyers, on behalf of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), have appealed the earlier ruling of the Supreme Court which nullified certain provisions of Republic Act 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. In its appeal before the High Court, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) claimed the government would loss about $10 billion in profit, including 7,445 jobs because of the ruling. On January 27, the High Court tagged as unconstitutional provisions of the law that would allow government to sign agreements with foreign companies for mining purposes. The court also nullified the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the law and the Financial and Technical Agreement between the government and the Western Mining Corp., a company that started the exploration of the copper mining in Tampakan, South Cotabato." More...
Title: The
Brave Turn to Mining to Survive in Zimbabwe Men, women and even children in Zimbabwe are turning to small-scale gold mining, some of it illegal, as a last resort in the face of parched and empty maize fields. In spite of the dangers, illustrated by two serious mine collapses this year, people have continued to arrive at riverbeds and disused mines hoping to extract enough of the precious metal to cover their basic food needs.
Title: "Sand
Miners" Warned to Stop Mpumalanga's sand miners who dig mineral rich soil to sell to pregnant
women craving nutrients have been warned to stop. The Mbombela municipal
Title: Small
Gold Miners Say Life is Worse More than 60 beneficiaries of a R1, 5-million ($500,000 USD) gold mining
project in Mpumalanga claim they have been forced into poverty and exposed
to abuse since running their operation legally. The Louw's Creek residents
were digging gold illegally on abandoned mines before the government intervened
in 1998 and formed the mining company Eyethu.
Title: Tanzania
Mining Town Looted By Youths Mererani, a township that neighbours the Tanzanite mines in northern
Tanzania, was looted by youths from the region, resulting in millions
of shillings worth of damage, officials told IRIN this week. The closure
of at least 60 of the small-scale artisanal mines, pending an investigation
and the implementation of new safety procedures, has left large numbers
of youths unemployed in the region, mining sources said.
Title: Solution
Needed to Manage Gold Panning in Zimbabwe Panning for alluvial gold in north-eastern Zimbabwe has been a way of
life for many people for centuries. It is a simple way of "mining"
gold, and it needs negligible capital to get into the business. Unfortunately,
in recent decades, it has been illegal and the way it is often done can
destroy whole river systems once too many people are involved, as they
are today.
Title: Tanzania
miners tense after riot Riot police have been patrolling the northern Tanzanian town of Mererani,
following Monday's rioting by hundreds of miners angered by the government's
closure of the mines in the area. The mines were closed following the
deaths of 39 miners when a pit collapsed last month. The government has
ordered mines not to be opened before safety precautions have been implemented.
Title: Over
500 Illegal Gold Diggers Arrested in Zimbabwe More than 500 illegal gold diggers have been arrested in Mashonaland
Central over the past week in an operation launched to curb the crime
and save the environment. Swathes of otherwise fertile and arable land
in the province have been reduced to treacherous gullies and unprotected
pits as the diggers burrow for the precious metal.
Title: Australian
Embassy Inaction in Indonesia Shooting The Mineral Policy Institute is today calling for an inquiry into why the Australian Embassy staff in Indonesia took no action after three separate shooting incidents by Indonesian security forces. The shootings left two people dead and five injured at the Mt Muro mine of Australian company, Aurora Gold. The latest edition of Mining Monitor - the Mineral Policy Institute's journal - in fact reveals Australian Embassy lobbying of Indonesian security officials to deal with what Aurora calls 'illegal' miners. According to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, Embassy staff emphasised to the Indonesian government "the damage to investor confidence in Indonesia if the Government was unable to honour contracts of work and resolve the Mt Muro dispute". Mr Downer, confirmed the lobbying started in November 1999. In three separate incidents - in June 2001, August 2001 and January 2002 - the notorious Indonesian Mobile Brigade (Brimob) stands accused by the local community of killing two and injuring five people scavenging in the waste rock dumps at the mine.
Title: China
miners told to pack bags Details
Title: Child
Workers At Risk From Mercury in Tanzania Ten-year old Tanzanian children are involved in mining activities including
washing of rock and collecting and carrying crushed rock that expose them
to serious health risks. There were also subtle and indirect health risks
were the adverse effects may not be immediately noticeable, the report
says, adding that this is especially true in the case of exposure to mercury.
Title: Ex-Combatants
Fight Over Diamonds in Sierra Leone Despite government's and the UN Security Council's ban on the former
Revolutionary United Front rebel movement's involvement in illicit mining,
ex-combatants of the movement are still engaged in mining and smuggling
of
Title: Miners
Bear Brunt of Bolivian Reforms Details Even today, the risks are high and the rewards low for the
thousands of Title: Fresh
Impetus to Be Injected to Mineral Sector Uganda has approached World Bank and Nordic Development Fund to help
Title: Tanzania
suspends gem mining
See related article: Thirty feared dead in Tanzania mine
Title: Cleaner
Mining Under Spotlight in South Africa Mining and related issues will come under the spotlight when the Council for Mineral Technology (Mintek) hosts a two-day event, to run parallel with the earth summit conference, on August 29 and 30. The theme will be green technologies for the formal and informal mining sector.
Title: Small-Scale
Miners Can Contribute to Economy The small-scale mining sector can contribute significantly to the economy
if the right policies that unlock the potential trapped in the sector
are put in place. Commercial mining, whether small or large scale, involves
high initial capital outlay. The uncertainty in the industry calls for
Title: Nigerian
Government Sets to Wipe Out Illegal Mining The Minister of Solid Minerals, Mrs Dupe Adelaja, has said that the federal government is set to eliminate illegal mining as it takes steps to establish a small scale mining project, aimed at organising and co-ordinating activities of small miners.
Title: Small
Miners Enter Fray On Minerals Bill The South African Mining Development Association, which represents smallscale and junior miners, has added its voice to the debate on the second draft of the Minerals and Petroleum Development Bill. The association is working to establish itself as an industry lobby group for smaller mining companies.
Title: Minerals
Corporation Sharpening Small-Scale Miners' Marketing Skills in Zimbabwe The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe Limited (MMCZ), says it is now educating small-scale miners about marketing their products. The announcement comes at a time when some minerals, especially gold, are allegedly being exporting illegally.
Title: Seminars
to Help Zimbabwean Small Scale Miners Boost Productivity The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe is holding seminars to show small scale miners the strategies they can use to improve production. Topics to be covered will include rock identification, uses and occurrences of minerals and pegging of mine claims. The seminars will also concentrate on the value addition and benefication of minerals, marketing and exportation of minerals and micro-financing of mining operations.
Title: Nigerian
Plateau State, Home of Illegal Mining Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Chief (Mrs.) Dupe Adeleja, said that Plateau State has become the home of illegal mining. She therefore called on the state government to co-operate with the ministry in eradicating illegal mining, adding that already the ministry has developed a programme geared towards that.
Title: Maligned
mining sector says digging for new image "Mining companies,
long maligned for sullying the environment and making big profits in poor
countries, have taken strides in becoming people-and nature-friendly but
still have more to do, industry experts and executives say. While drilling, output and the unforgiving bottom line were hot topics at an international gold conference this week in Lima attended by top mining executives and officials from 26 countries, "sustainable development" was another big buzzword." ... "Big companies say they are bending over backward to prove that the days of widespread pollution are in the past, and they assert that small-scale, unregulated mining is now the chief culprit of today's mining-related environmental degradation." See the complete article.
Title: Tanzanian
Attorneys Face Charges of Sedition Two Tanzanian environmental attorneys are facing criminal charges for speaking out against human rights abuses. Tundu Lissu and Rugemeleza Nshala of the Lawyers' Environmental Action Team (LEAT) in Dar es Salaam face charges of sedition for their work to rectify alleged human rights abuses against small scale miners in Bulyanhulu. These charges are expected to be levied on May 31.
Title: Gold
Fever Grips Rural Zimbabwe Midlands It might not be as grandiose as the historical Klondike Gold Rush, but
Title: Why
Artisanal Gold Mining Transformation Vital Mercury as a health hazard to small-scale gold mining is threatening millions of people worldwide, the UN agency for Industrial Development (UNIDO) has said. Technically, mercury can enter the nervous system, causing loss of muscle control, brain damage and death. In pregnant women, mercury causes birth defects. In South Africa, for example, more than 5,000 tons of mercury has been used for gold extraction.
Title: Mining
Fiscal Regime in the Offing in Zimbabwe The Ministry of Mines and Energy will soon announce new measures, designed largely to combat company closures in the mining sector. The Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) has also come up with a scheme that is aimed at helping smallscale miners and has already secured $5 million to kick start the programme. Mr Kitikiti said the new mining framework's major aim was to enhance the mining sector's competitiveness both locally and internationally.
Title: Hungry
Citizens Search for Elusive Gold in Zimbabwe Critical food shortages, caused mainly by government's controversial land reform programme last year and this year's poor rainfall season, have gripped most parts of the country, forcing thousands of villagers to turn to gold panning to avert mass starvation. Zimbabwe's alluvial gold-rich rivers are now home to thousands of distraught villagers lured into the bowels of the earth in search of the precious stone which they exchange for cash to buy food for their starving families back home.
Title: Sand
Dealers Seek Government Protection in Nigeria Sand dealers in Ifo, Ogun State, have called on the government to give them adequate protection in the operation of their business activities. They also want stiffer penalties meted out to illegal miners in Nigeria. Both the state and federal governments are losing billions of naira due to the activities of the illegal miners.
Title: Gold
Panners Wreak Havoc in Zimbabwe More than 3,000 hunger-stricken villagers have descended on a 4km stretch of the alluvial gold-rich Vagondo River, 30km outside Masvingo town where they have wreaked havoc in search of gold. Deep, open holes are now dotted all over the place and scores of felled trees now make a sorry sight as the diggers continued with reckless abandon. See also the articles: http://allafrica.com/stories/200203290149.html and http://allafrica.com/stories/200203270701.html
Title: Sierra
Leone diamond town seeks alternative After Sierra Leone's 10 years of war, and the free-for-all diamond mining that came with it, Koidu town looks as if it has been carpet-bombed. But without investment and humanitarian assistance, the towns' infrastructure will remain in tatters and the young will remain frustrated and unemployed.
Title: Tree
Kills 4 Diamond Miners in South Africa Four miners have been killed after a tree at a mining site in Ngelehun village, Badjia chiefdom, Bo District fell on them while they were at work. Another, Sheku Mansaray, who survived, is receiving medical attention at Ngelehun Health Centre.
Title: Livelihood Decision Making
and Environmental Degradation: Small-Scale Gold Mining in the Suriname
Amazon This study examines why mining booms occur and why some people participate in them while others, living in comparable conditions, do not. The author argues that environmental awareness campaigns and stricter law enforcement are not likely to encourage more sustainable resource use in Suriname, and probably not in other parts of the Amazon rainforest. Rather, more effective conservation policy would be to promote people-centered development in rural regions through improved pubic education and health care, while stabilizing national economies. Society and Natural Resources 15 (4 : 2002): 327-344, Marieke Heemskerk.
Title: 190
Miners Apply for Mining License in Zamfara, Nigeria Gusau Zamfara Ministry of Environment and Solid Minerals Development has received 190 applications from prospective miners for permission to mine minerals in the state. He stated that as part of steps taken by the ministry to check illegal mining activities in the state, the ministry's officials would soon undertake a state-wide tour to sensitise the public on the dangers associated with illegal mining.
Title: World
Bank Apparently Clears Government Of Wrongdoing The World Bank seems to have cleared the Tanzanian government of any involvement in the alleged murder of 50 miners at the Bulyanhulu gold mine in 1996. It was reported last week that the bank had promised to look into allegations police buried the miners alive because they had wanted to evict them to allow a foreign mining company to take up its concession to the site. Tanzania has repeatedly denied such accusations. Read the full article. See also a related earlier article.
Title: Six
die in Jharkand mine collapse in India The authorities in the north Indian state of Jharkhand say at least six people were killed when an abandoned coal mine collapsed yesterday. A police spokesman said they had been mining illegally. Read the full article.
Title: World
Bank to investigate miners' deaths The World Bank has promised to investigate allegations that more than 50 small-scale gold miners were buried alive because police wanted to evict them from land to make way for a foreign company, operating with an investment guarantee from the bank. Read the complete article.
Title: Illegal
Sand Mining Continues to Thrive in Mandinary, Gambia Reports from Mandinary say illegal sand mining has continued to thrive in the village despite government's efforts, especially the National Environment Agency (NEA), to protect our seas from erosion and other coastal damages. Residents argued it would be a futile attempt to stop the trade because it is the only viable source of income for the villagers. Read the complete article. Title: Call
to Bar Foreigners From Exploiting Minerals in Zimbabwe The National Miners Association of Zimbabwe on Tuesday said the Government should enact laws which bar foreigners from exploiting mineral resources at the expense of local people. He said that the Government should provide some funds to the small-scale miners as it did to resettled farmers who were given some inputs under the credit input scheme. Read the complete article. Title: Nigerian
Government Loses N10m (US$87,000) Yearly to Illegal Miners The Federal Government
loses about N10 million (US $87,000) annually to illegal mining and solid
mineral exportation, the Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN) has said.
MAN officials state that illegal miners have taken over the mining industry
and this has brought attendant loss of lives and Read the complete article. Title: Women
Miners Play Major Role in Tanzania National Economy Mining may be a demanding
physical activity that has historically been a To read the full article. Title:
“Galamsey”
Operators Urged to Licence in Ghana The Minister of Mines, Mr. Kwadwo Adjei-Darko has entreated illegal mining operators popularly known as "Galamseys" to stop their illicit activities and register as small scale miners. This, he said, would create an enabling environment for the government to protect and sustain forestry and its environs. The minister assured that any activity that would have a negative impact on the environment would be addressed appropriately. To read the full article. Title: Indonesian
Minister Eyes Illegal Tin, Coal Mining Planet
Ark - 24 December 2001. - Indonesia's mines and energy minister has
asked the government to make tin and coal strategic commodities in an
effort to protect them from being exploited by illegal miners, an official
said last week. Oil and gas are the
only resource commodities currently classified as strategic in Indonesia,
which means the central government is required by law to closely monitor
production and ensure output benefits the state..... ....Djoko Darmono, secretary general of the Mines and Energy Ministry, told reporters "We need legal powers to take tough action against illegal miners, so that only authorised companies can do the mining." The full article is available, as well as a related news item on UN Wire. See also a earlier news item on October 30th, 2001. The International
Crisis Group (ICG) report, "Indonesia:
Natural Resources and Law Enforcement", mentioned in the news
article is available. Title: Hope
Fades for Columbian Miners Rescue
teams in Colombia have recovered the bodies of 28 people killed after
landslides engulfed a gold mine abandoned for safety reasons. Another 32 people have been rescued alive and taken to local hospitals, but there is now little hope for another 40 missing miners. Correspondents
say the victims were poor people who were trying to scrape gold deposits
from the mine near Filadelfia some 300 kilometres (160 miles) northwest
of the capital Bogota, which had been officially closed due to poor safety
conditions. Read the full article. Title: Committee
Set Up to Steer Small Mining Diversification A Steering Committee has been set up to run the Small Scale Mining Diversification Programme to be funded from the Euro 30 million credit facility negotiated with the European Investment Bank (EIB) last year which will run for a period of five years from 2002 to 2007. Title: Village
gold miners in Suriname protest eviction from mines by Police Paramaribo, Suriname, November 16, 2001— Gold miners from a small village in Suriname's sparsely populated interior said they were forced from their mining pits by heavily armed police and soldiers who came to enforce mineral rights held by foreign companies Cambior Inc. and Golden Star Resources Ltd. Title: Intercity
Boss Advocates Solid Minerals Fund in Nigeria Daily Trust, Abuja, November 13, 2001. The Managing Director of Intercity Bank Plc, Alhaji Lamis Shehu Dikko, has called for the establishment of the solid minerals exploration and development fund to stimulate solid minerals prospecting business in Nigeria. The Managing Director observed that for the mining sector to develop and prosper, a deliberate policy of integrating the small miners into the formal sector has to be evolved to facilitate their progression into medium miners. Title: Ghana
- prisoner of the IMF BBC World Service - November 5th, 2001. Tarkwa is at heart of Ghana's gold mining industry. Gold may be the country's biggest export earner, but the people get nothing out of it. Urged on by the international institutions, the government allows mining firms to operate virtually tax-free for up to 10 years. Environmental and other regulations are also kept to a minimum. For related information see also reports prepared for SAPRIN on the "Impact of Mining Sector Investment in Ghana: A Study of the Tarkwa Mining Region" January 20, 2001 (Adobe PDF) and the Final Ghana Country Report, 25 August 2001 (Adobe PDF). Title: World
Tin Producers Target Illegal Mining Planet Ark - October
30th, 2001. The world's top five producers of tin urged miners and
independent smelters yesterday to refuse to buy ore suspected of coming
from illegal mining operations. Citing widespread
and uncontrollable illegal mining in Indonesia and industrial accidents
in China, the five issued a statement to industry players and their respective
governments insisting that illegal activities should be discouraged. The full article is available. Title: MIGA
Statement on Bulyanhulu Mine in Tanzania Washington, DC, September 26, 2001 - The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency said today that the so-called "new" evidence it has received relating to deaths that allegedly took place in 1996 at the Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania during a government operation to fill illegal mining shafts provides no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of either the Tanzanian government or Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada. MIGA, which became involved in the project in 2000, four years after the alleged events, stressed its commitment to ensuring that the projects it supports are environmentally and socially sustainable and do not harm the people they are meant to help. It noted that although it was not and cannot be associated with the alleged events of 1996, it takes any allegations of misconduct seriously. The full media release is available
here. Title: Environmental and Human Rights
NGO's Call for Independent Review of Forced Displacement and Alleged Massacre
at Bulyanhulu, Tanzania Washington, D.C., September 27, 2001 - Friends of the Earth-US (FoE), the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Mineral Policy Center (MPC) and other environmental and human rights groups in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Tanzania, call today for an independent review of accusations that thousands of people were forcefully displaced and allegations that local miners may have been buried alive at the Bulyanhulu gold mine in Tanzania in 1996. The groups also call for the company involved to halt its threats to news outlets that have sought to report on the issue. On July 30 and 31, 1996, thousands of people were forced by Tanzanian police and government officials from their homes without compensation in an effort to make way for the development of the Kahama Mining Corporation's Bulyanhulu goldmine. There are allegations that, in the days that followed, miners that had returned to the area were buried alive during the filling-in of small-scale mining pits. "Given the seriousness of the allegation, we believe that an independent review of the evidence of what happened in July and August 1996 is necessary," said Steve D'Esposito, President of Mineral Policy Center. The full media release is available here. Further information is available from the Council of Canadians website. Title: Small Scale Gemstone Miners
Cry for Help Synergy Africa - Lusaka. Gemstone Mining in Zambia is estimated to bring in a yearly revenue figure of US$200 million. But Namakau Kaingu, Chairperson of the SADC Women in Mining Trust, says it could easily be 10 times that figure, if only the government was interested. "Gemstone mining is very difficult right now. Mining for industrial minerals is even worse. We as 'Women in Mining' are not asking for special treatment. I speak on behalf of all small scale miners when I say that lack of adequate equipment in the mining sector in Zambia makes it very difficult for any miner to realize a profit from one's efforts." The women stone crushers in Zambia are to benefit from a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study meant to provide them with equipment for their work. The full article can be viewed on the AllAfrica.com website. Title: GEF/UNIDO
Programme - Abatement Of Mercury Pollution Arising From Artisanal Gold
Mining The Global Environment Facility (GEF) allocated US$350,000 to UNIDO for formulating a global action plan for countries affecting international waters with mercury from artisanal mining. The purpose of the project is to develop alternatives to mercury amalgamation as an artisanal gold mining method in developing countries with cleaner, locally produced technology. At the same time, productivity and income of the miners is improved through more efficient recovery methods. Governments are advised on the regulation of small-scale mining and the establishment of institutional structures to assist sustainable artisanal gold. Six countries from three continents will participate: Brazil (Amazon River), Lao People's Democratic Republic (Mekong River), Indonesia (marine environment, especially Java Sea), Sudan (Nile River), Tanzania (Lake Victoria) and Zimbabwe (Zambezi River). Further information on the initiation
of the Brazilian
component as of September 30 2001. Contact: Christian Beinhoff, Tel: +43
1 26026/3738, E-mail: cbeinhoff@unido.org for more information. Title: Small-scale mining project in
Madagascar Intermediate Technology Consultants (ITC), in collaboration with Projekt-Consult of Germany, have been awarded a contract to deliver technical assistance to small-scale miners in Madagascar. The project is funded by the World Bank and work will commence in March 2000. |
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