tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/gold-mining-14965/articlesGold mining – The Conversation2023-06-18T11:19:56Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2061362023-06-18T11:19:56Z2023-06-18T11:19:56ZGold fraud: the Goldenberg scam that cost Kenya billions of dollars in the 1990s – and no one was jailed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528027/original/file-20230524-15-ipamm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/16/kenya.jeevanvasagar">Goldenberg scandal</a> in the early 1990s is Kenya’s largest documented gold fraud. The scheme involved Goldenberg International Limited, which pretended to export gold and diamonds, and in exchange received substantial subsidies from the government for “earning” foreign exchange. Kenyan businessman Kamlesh Pattni – who was at the centre of the scandal and was charged with fraud but <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/court-formally-terminates-goldenberg-case-2031264">eventually acquitted</a> – was recently <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/23/gold-smuggler-pattni-kenya-zimbabwe">named</a> in a new investigation into gold fraud. This time his operation is allegedly being run through Zimbabwe from his base in Dubai. Economists Roman Grynberg and Fwasa Singogo, who have <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/304991797.pdf">researched</a> the Goldenberg case, and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fwasa-Singogo-2">the gold mining industry and its role in illicit financial flows in Africa</a>, unpack the issue.</em></p>
<h2>What was the Goldenberg scandal?</h2>
<p>The scandal centred on two companies: Goldenberg International and Exchange Bank Limited. Both were owned and directed by businessman <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=32">Kamlesh Pattni</a> and his partner James Kanyotu, the director of intelligence in the Kenyan police force. The two were licensed by the government to export gold and diamonds from Kenya. But they did not. They just collected an inflated subsidy.</p>
<p>The Goldenberg scandal occurred at a time of <a href="https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/1995/133/article-A001-en.xml">severe economic austerity</a> in Kenya in the early 1990s. The country’s economy was characterised by long periods of macroeconomic instability and dwindling foreign reserves. </p>
<p>Economic policy was inward-looking. It leaned towards the protection of local industries and the retention of foreign exchange. This period also coincided with the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kenya-African-National-Union">one-party state that began in 1982</a> and was marked by political oppression. </p>
<p>As a result, donors gradually reduced support and investment evaporated. Foreign debt payments became irregular and the government increasingly fell back on local borrowing. </p>
<p>The Kenyan government turned to international financial institutions for cheaper loans. These were provided, but were conditional on <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/304991797.pdf#page=2">economic reforms</a>, such as measures intended to stimulate trade. </p>
<p>Coincidentally, or otherwise, Goldenberg International applied to the Kenyan government in <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=33">July 1990</a> for certain privileges that spoke directly to the economic needs of the country. The company received a monopoly on exports of gold and diamonds from Kenya. </p>
<p>It was also given a subsidy of 35% of the value of these exports – 15% more than the official rate at the time. </p>
<p>Goldenberg managed to defraud the Kenyan state of between <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/304991797.pdf#page=1">US$600 million and US$1.5 billion</a> in <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/anrep_e/wtr06-2b_e.pdf#page=1">subsidies</a>. Subsidies can be direct (such as cash payments) or indirect (such as tax breaks). Goldenberg’s subsidy was in monetary form, on condition that the company proved foreign exchange gains through exporting non-traditional commodities. </p>
<p>The fraud was that Kenya had <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=44">insignificant amounts of known gold deposits and absolutely no diamonds</a>. Government officials authorised payments for fictitious exports.</p>
<p>Goldenberg’s main transactions were recorded between <a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper117.pdf#page=1">1991 and 1993</a>. The <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=312">2003 Judicial Commission of Inquiry</a> into the scandal estimated that Goldenberg pilfered a <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=379">total of KSh158.3 billion</a> (US$2.3 billion at the time). However, the exact amount remains in the area of speculation. </p>
<h2>What institutional gaps enabled the fraud?</h2>
<p>The architects of the Goldenberg scandal abused a number of <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=32">trade policies</a>. These included the <a href="http://kenyalaw.org:8181/exist/kenyalex/actview.xql?actid=CAP.%20482">Export Compensation Act</a>, <a href="http://supplychainfinanceforum.org/techniques/pre-shipment-finance/">Pre-shipment Finance</a> and the Retention Scheme.</p>
<p>There’s inherently nothing wrong with these measures, which are intended to stimulate trade. But they were implemented in the context of a corrupt political system and became <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=364">instruments of fraud</a>.</p>
<p>Another significant aspect of the fraud was Kenya’s exchange rate system. The difference between official and parallel exchange rates, and the depreciating Kenyan shilling, allowed Goldenberg to earn illegal returns on foreign exchange. </p>
<p><a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf#page=135">Cheque kiting</a> is another tool that was used. It’s a form of cheque fraud that utilises the time it takes for a cheque to clear to use non-existent money in an account. </p>
<p>Officials at the highest levels of government were heavily involved in authorising payments to Goldenberg. </p>
<p>Under the rules to obtain subsidies, Goldenberg had to get signatories from the customs department that exports had occurred; from the Central Bank of Kenya that revenue had arrived; from the ministry of minerals that production had occurred; and from the ministry of finance for final authorisation. </p>
<p>As was alleged in a recent <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/14/six-secrets-uncovered-by-al-jazeeras-gold-mafia-investigation">Al-Jazeera exposé on gold fraud in Zimbabwe</a>, where Pattni’s name has featured, corrupt and well-paid senior government officials in Kenya played a part in the plunder of the nation during the Goldenberg years. </p>
<p>An audit ordered by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank into cheque kiting and forex fraud <a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper117.pdf#page=9">in April 1993</a> sparked the unravelling of the Goldenberg scandal.</p>
<p>No one ever went to jail for this grand fraud despite <a href="http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/CommissionReports/Report-of-the-Judicial-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-the-Goldenberg-Affair.pdf">years of inquiry</a> and the <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/court-formally-terminates-goldenberg-case-2031264">prosecution of some of the parties involved</a>. </p>
<h2>What was the cost to Kenya?</h2>
<p>The government of Kenya received no benefit as there were no official export earnings from the sale of gold and diamonds. </p>
<p>There are no reliable estimates as to the scandal’s effect on Kenyans to date, largely because the payments made and money siphoned <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000065911/goldenberg-scandal-still-a-mystery-decades-later">couldn’t be easily accounted for</a>.</p>
<h2>What are the lessons learned?</h2>
<p>The judges in the judicial review of the Goldenberg scandal blamed the International Monetary Fund and World Bank for setting the <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/esaf/exr/">context</a> that enabled the abuse of subsidies.</p>
<p>In a world where more people and nations are subject to sanctions if they trade in US dollars, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/14/six-secrets-uncovered-by-al-jazeeras-gold-mafia-investigation">gold</a> has become a way to evade economic restrictions. It isn’t easily detected in developed country jurisdictions. For instance, since 2019, trade in gold in <a href="https://ahvalnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/ahvalnews.com/node/36566?amp">Venezuela</a> and <a href="https://financialtribune.com/articles/domestic-economy/98593/77-rise-in-irans-non-oil-trade-with-turkey">Iran</a> has increased drastically with Turkey despite US sanctions. </p>
<p>The use of physical gold traded through a country like the United Arab Emirates – Pattni now operates out of Dubai – evades the financial sanctions imposed on nations like Zimbabwe. </p>
<p>Regulatory frameworks governing trade in gold are weaker than the ones governing the entry of US dollars into the global banking system. To address this, the international community must put pressure on <a href="https://taxjustice.net/faq/what-is-a-secrecy-jurisdiction/">secrecy jurisdictions</a> to align their gold trade and anti-money laundering regulatory frameworks with global best practices. </p>
<p>Both Kenya and Zimbabwe have had long reputations of being politically risky, mired in corruption and having unsound policies. Political connections are also important in doing business. </p>
<p>Deliberate and continuous efforts to curb corruption, have stable and sound policies, and establish solid independent institutions are needed for these countries to have some semblance of accountability. If not curbed, the systemic greed of the political elite and those politically connected will continue to lead countries into ruin and citizens to destitution. Competing limited resources will continue to end up in the pockets of a select few and not cater to the public good so often championed in policy pronouncements.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a world where economic sanctions make trade in US dollars almost impossible, gold has offered a way to evade these restrictions.Roman Grynberg, Adjunct Professor, Griffith UniversityFwasa K Singogo, Research Associate, Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2028462023-04-02T20:03:16Z2023-04-02T20:03:16ZVictoria’s gold rush ended in the 19th century. So why are people still finding so much gold?<p>An amateur gold prospector in Victoria, Australia, recently <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-28/victorian-gold-prospector-s-240k-payday-2-point-6-kg-nugget/102153876">discovered a gold nugget</a> big enough to hold in two hands, worth around A$240,000. It was a lucky find, but he had chosen the right place to look.</p>
<p>Central Victoria was home to one of the world’s great gold rushes in the 19th century, which was focused mainly on the “golden triangle” northwest of Melbourne. </p>
<p>While that gold rush saw the extraction of thousands of tonnes of gold from Victorian soil, there is still plenty left. What some have called a “<a href="https://earthresources.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/community-to-the-fore-in-victorias-second-gold-rush">second gold rush</a>” is now under way, as large mining companies and amateur fossickers use modern technology.</p>
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<h2>A rush and a boom</h2>
<p>A road trip through Central Victoria’s Goldfields region takes you to 19th-century boom towns like Bendigo, Ballarat and Castlemaine. They are handsome towns, with elegant municipal buildings and graceful churches, the products of decades of wealth built on gold.</p>
<p>Rambling farther through Victoria, here and there you will find the ghost towns, such as Steiglitz, or the optimistically named Eldorado. These were less fortunate – their gold soon ran out.</p>
<p>Victoria’s first gold rush took place during the 1850s and 1860s. Miners and prospectors poured into Victoria from across the world, colonising the lands of the traditional owners.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518621/original/file-20230330-20-4rvjg7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An 1862 engraving shows an encampment on the Victorian goldfields.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE439797&mode=browse">Samuel Calvert / State Library of Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of these early gold hunters shovelled for small nuggets of gold sitting on the ground, or panned for flakes of gold floating in waterholes and creeks.</p>
<p>Others sought the underground source of the gold. They knew subterranean gold does not occur at random, but would be found in certain rocks. </p>
<p>When they found gold-bearing rocks breaking the surface, they dug for more. Then, they crushed the rock to get the gold out. It was skilled, difficult work that took a brutal physical toll.</p>
<h2>How to hunt gold</h2>
<p>In Victoria, <a href="https://earthresources.vic.gov.au/geology-exploration/geological-survey-victoria/150-years/gold-fever">most underground gold</a> is found in “quartz reefs”: bands of hard white quartz. Formed some 400 million years ago, these gold-bearing reefs may be kilometres long, but are typically less than a metre wide, and slant steeply into the ground. </p>
<p>The places where these reefs break the surface were hard to find. But if the gold hunters were lucky and discovered a new reef, they could follow it a long way, along the surface and underground. The deeper the miners dug, the greater the risks of mine collapse, flooding, or other disasters.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gold-rushes-helped-make-the-modern-world-91746">How gold rushes helped make the modern world</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Victoria’s remarkable gold rush history is the subject of a <a href="https://goldfieldsworldheritage.com.au/">World Heritage bid</a>. You can learn about the gold rush at <a href="https://sovereignhill.com.au/">Sovereign Hill in Ballarat</a>, the <a href="https://www.eurekacentreballarat.com.au/">Eureka Centre in Melbourne</a>, and the <a href="https://www.goldendragonmuseum.org/">Golden Dragon Museum in Bendigo</a>, among other places. These places tell moving stories of the gold rush era: of colonial theft, of cruelty and exploitation, of skill, courage and hope.</p>
<p>Across the Victorian goldfields the gold rush had died down by the late 19th century. Even so, the most prosperous gold mines, such as the <a href="https://www.central-deborah.com/">Central Deborah mine in Bendigo</a>, continued to produce gold well into the 20th century. </p>
<p>But after the gold rush was over, the gold was still there underground. It was just harder to find, or harder to get at.</p>
<h2>The second gold rush</h2>
<p>Victoria’s second gold rush is less eye-catching and more high-tech than the first. </p>
<p>Mining companies from across the world are coming to Victoria, believing with modern methods they can find and dig up more of Victoria’s unusually pure gold.</p>
<p>Modern mines work with a current understanding of how rocks form, and of how the outer part of Earth deforms during the movement of tectonic plates. They use these ideas to predict the three-dimensional shape of the gold-bearing quartz reefs as they slant into the ground, making it easier to locate them deep underground. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518626/original/file-20230330-14-z8no2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518626/original/file-20230330-14-z8no2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518626/original/file-20230330-14-z8no2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518626/original/file-20230330-14-z8no2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518626/original/file-20230330-14-z8no2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518626/original/file-20230330-14-z8no2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518626/original/file-20230330-14-z8no2b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Modern gold mining is a much more high-tech operation than the gold rush of the 19th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fosterville Gold Mine / Agnico Eagle</span></span>
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<p>Modern drilling methods make it easy to sample rocks, using machines like giant apple corers. And today’s techniques can extract more of the gold from the quartz that hosts it. </p>
<p>Today, Victoria’s gold mines produce <a href="https://earthresources.vic.gov.au/geology-exploration/minerals/metals/gold">around 650,000 ounces of gold each year</a>, or about 20 tonnes. For comparison, at the height of the first gold rush, some <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22777553">3 million ounces</a> or around 90 tonnes were produced in 1856. </p>
<p>Many working mines hold open days for interested visitors, such as the <a href="https://fgmcommunity.com.au/community-events">Fosterville gold mine</a> near Bendigo.</p>
<h2>What to know if you’re hunting gold</h2>
<p>Amateur gold hunting also flourishes on the Victorian goldfields today. “Fossicking”, or recreational prospecting, is a popular way to enjoy walks in the bush, with the possibility of taking home some gold or other treasure. </p>
<p>Dedicated fossickers may well invest in a metal detector, at a cost of several thousand dollars. For a more traditional approach, gold pans and sieves provide hours of fun for the patient, and are considerably cheaper than a metal detector.</p>
<p>Would-be fossickers should check their local regulations to find out if they need a licence. Once you have a licence, you must comply with its terms, which may put limits on fossicking activities, such as where you can look, what you can keep, and whether or not you can sell any finds. </p>
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<img alt="A photograph of a tiny gold nugget resting in the palm of a hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518628/original/file-20230330-30-x12nma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518628/original/file-20230330-30-x12nma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518628/original/file-20230330-30-x12nma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518628/original/file-20230330-30-x12nma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518628/original/file-20230330-30-x12nma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518628/original/file-20230330-30-x12nma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518628/original/file-20230330-30-x12nma.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fossicking may not make your fortune, but it can still be a fun hobby.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>You are still responsible for getting permission from the relevant landowners. As with any outdoor activity, you should be aware of the risks around you, including those posed by the weather. </p>
<p>In popular fossicking areas, you may be able to get advice on all of these things, as well as pointers towards finding gold, by joining a fossicking club.</p>
<p>If you aren’t lucky enough to live on a goldfield, don’t despair. You may still enjoy amateur prospecting or treasure hunting, looking for other precious metals or minerals, or even for <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/denmark-gold-jewelry-find-scli-intl/index.html">hoards of gold coins</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/discovering-a-viking-hoard-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-metal-detectorist-32972">Discovering a Viking hoard: a day in the life of a metal detectorist</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202846/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I am exploring a research collaboration agreement with Kirkland Lake Gold Australia Pty Ltd.</span></em></p>A ‘second gold rush’ has seen amateur and professional miners return to Victoria with modern technology.Eleanor Green, Senior Lecturer In Computational Petrology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1974472023-02-14T06:15:06Z2023-02-14T06:15:06ZGold mining is one of the world’s most destructive and unnecessary industries – here’s how to end it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509425/original/file-20230210-26-satqns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C0%2C5590%2C3715&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Two trucks transport gold ore from Barrick Cowal Gold Mine in New South Wales, Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-trucks-transport-gold-ore-open-253657471">Jason Benz Bennee/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 16th-century <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/world/behind-golds-glitter-torn-lands-and-pointed-questions.html">King Ferdinand of Spain</a> sent his subjects abroad with the command: “Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all hazards, get gold.” His statement rings true today. Gold remains one of the world’s most expensive substances, but mining it is one of the most environmentally and socially destructive processes on the planet.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/gold-demand-by-country">Around 7%</a> of the gold purchased globally each year is used for industry, technology or medicine. The rest winds up in bank vaults and jewellery shops. </p>
<p>Beautiful objects and stable investments are worthwhile things to create and own, and often have significant cultural value. But neither can justify gold mining’s staggering human and ecological toll. In a <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9f26">recent study</a>, my colleagues and I showed how it might be possible to end mining and instead rely entirely on recycled gold.</p>
<p>Despite improvements in gold mining practices over the past century and <a href="https://www.mercuryconvention.org/en/resources/minamata-convention-mercury-text-and-annexes">new regulations</a> designed to limit mining’s impacts, this industry continues to wreak havoc upon landscapes across every continent except Antarctica.</p>
<p>In a given year, gold mines <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652622004899">emit more greenhouse gases</a> than all passenger flights between European nations combined. <a href="https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/chem.201704840">Gold mining</a> also accounts for 38% of annual global mercury emissions, which cause millions of small-scale miners to suffer from chronic mercury poisoning, which can cause <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2016.12.005">debilitating illness</a>, especially in children. </p>
<p>Our research involved modelling hypothetical scenarios in which gold consumption could decline to more sustainable levels. Using current recycling rates, we examined a fully circular gold economy in which the world’s entire supply of gold came from recycled sources. </p>
<p>Even today, nearly one-quarter of annual gold demand is supplied through recycling, making it one of the world’s most recycled materials. The recycling process uses no mercury and has <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11367-020-01809-6">less than 1%</a> of the water and carbon footprint of mined gold.</p>
<p>We found that a global decline in gold mining would not necessarily derail any of gold’s three central functions in jewellery, technology or as an investment.</p>
<h2>Towards circularity</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A figure showing the three hypothetical scenarios of future gold flows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508372/original/file-20230206-25-ggplx7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508372/original/file-20230206-25-ggplx7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508372/original/file-20230206-25-ggplx7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508372/original/file-20230206-25-ggplx7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508372/original/file-20230206-25-ggplx7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508372/original/file-20230206-25-ggplx7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508372/original/file-20230206-25-ggplx7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Gold stocks and three scenarios of gold flows.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac9f26">Lezak et al. (2022)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Our model showed that the gold used for industrial purposes (mainly in dentistry and smartphones) could be supplied for centuries even if all gold mining stopped tomorrow. </p>
<p>We also found that jewellery could still be produced with recycled gold in a fully circular gold industry. There would just be about 55% less to go around, which would still leave more than enough for essential uses. </p>
<p>In order to make this future a reality, investors would have to limit their trading to existing reserves, without adding newly mined gold to their coffers.</p>
<p>A world with a shrinking supply of gold would likely mean that consumers would pay more for the same 24-karat pure gold ring. But more likely, jewellery purchases would shift to cheaper (and more durable) alloys of gold that are already popular. And in the future, demand for gold may decline as consumers become more concerned with making sustainable choices. </p>
<p>The role that invested gold plays in the global economy would likely continue to function regardless of extraction. Like Renaissance art, gold is valuable precisely because it is scarce. Ending gold mining would not put an end to the buying and selling of gold for bank vaults. Instead, it would make existing stocks of gold more valuable.</p>
<p>Irrespective of whether the world needs gold, our research suggests that the world does not need gold mining.</p>
<p>Private investors and central banks may balk at this idea. The US government, for example, is the world’s single largest owner of gold, holding <a href="https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/reports-statements/gold-report/21-02.html">US$11 (9.1) billion in reserves</a>. But transitions to sustainability are always hard-won and the gold industry is no exception.</p>
<h2>Inspired by other transitions</h2>
<p>Like gold, the extraction of fossil fuels is also environmentally damaging. But unlike gold, fossil fuels provide warmth and electricity to homes and businesses, power to vehicles and fertiliser to farms. Transitioning away from this resource required decades of research and investment into clean energy technologies.</p>
<p>By contrast, finding substitutes for gold does not require any research. Jewellery can be made more sustainable by blending gold with other metals. Investors can rely on existing gold stocks and diversify to other stable assets. And technology can continue to use recycled gold when appropriate.</p>
<p>Closing gold mines is the first step. But many regions have grown dependent on gold mining, and artisanal mining alone supports as many as <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aogh.2016.12.005">19 million </a> miners and their families worldwide, mostly in developing economies.</p>
<p>These miners deserve a just transition that ensures they do not become collateral damage in the shift to sustainability. Governments must provide a robust safety net for former gold miners and their families. That includes offering low-cost training and reskilling to ensure that miners can find employment in more sustainable industries.</p>
<h2>Steps toward sustainability</h2>
<p>Responsibly drawing down gold extraction will take time. But several measures are available to begin the transition today.</p>
<p>On the demand side of the industry, major jewellery brands, including <a href="https://pandoragroup.com/sustainability/circular-innovation/towards-recycled-silver-and-gold">Pandora</a>, have already committed to using only recycled gold by 2025. Global technology firm <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/can-apple-close-loop-tech-giant-targets-100-recycled-material">Apple</a> has also recently set a goal to use exclusively recycled materials by 2030.</p>
<p>On the supply side, mining companies should begin retiring mines that extract only gold. Many copper mines produce gold as a byproduct, which will likely continue into the future. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, institutional investors should stop investing in new gold mines. That includes groups like the <a href="https://finances.worldbank.org/Projects/IFC-Investment-Services-Projects/efin-cagm/data">World Bank</a>, which has invested US$800 (£660) million in gold mines in Africa, Asia, South America and the Pacific Islands since 2010.</p>
<p>Justice-minded fund managers, such as those overseeing endowments, should add gold mining firms alongside coal producers to their divestment lists. And central banks should redirect their future investments toward other stable stores of value, or at least source exclusively recycled gold.</p>
<p>The world is filled with difficult sustainability trade-offs. Gold mining is not one of them. Drawing down this industry stands out as a relatively easy way to reduce humanity’s footprint on a fragile planet.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Lezak is a Gates Scholar at the University of Cambridge Department of Geography and a researcher at the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.</span></em></p>A gradual drawdown of gold mining is a critical step towards sustainability.Stephen Lezak, Research Manager at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1771582022-02-23T14:21:16Z2022-02-23T14:21:16ZSmall-scale gold miners in DRC challenge the view that they can’t cut it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446465/original/file-20220215-21-1l6j4wo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bisimwa Hardy, 22, emerges from a shaft at Luhihi in South Kivu with a bag full of stones destined to the crusher to separate the stone from the gold.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Guerchom Ndebo/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Artisanal and small-scale mining in Africa has grown significantly in recent decades. Between 1999 and 2019, the estimated number of African miners engaged in this sector increased <a href="https://www.planetgold.org/sites/default/files/2019-12/Delve-2019-State-of-the-Artisanal-and-Small-Scale-Mining-Sector.pdf">from two million to 10 million</a>. Typically, it is much more labour intensive than large-scale mining, and the work more physically demanding. </p>
<p>Globally, between one-quarter and one-fifth of gold, diamond, tantulum, and tin <a href="https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/igf-asm-global-trends.pdf">is produced by this form of mining</a>.</p>
<p>In Africa, artisanal and small-scale mining is widely perceived as a low productivity and subsistence activity. It is the <a href="https://repub.eur.nl/pub/119790">common view</a> of <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/21402/9781464802928.pdf?sequence=3">international financial institutions</a>, <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/35771/">international</a> and <a href="https://am.afdb.org/en/past-annual-meetings/2013-annual-meetings/programme/african-economic-outlook-report-2013-structural">African</a> development agencies, and <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/30995-doc-africa_mining_vision_english_1.pdf">African governments</a> that it should therefore make way for the superior expertise and efficiency of experienced multinational mining corporations. These corporations, it’s assumed, are much better equipped than African miners to drive economic growth and development. </p>
<p>From this perspective, <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201711040012.html">the forced displacement of African miners</a> to make way for industrial projects led by foreign mining corporates – as has taken place <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11077-009-9091-5">across the continent</a> over the last few decades – is relatively unproblematic.</p>
<p>Yet this form of mining should not be so easily dismissed. I have investigated artisanal and small-scale gold mining in South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). My <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joac.12474">research findings</a> demonstrate that, contrary to popular perception, it is a mechanising form of production making significant contributions to development. </p>
<p>This aligns with the earlier work of the late Tanzanian academic and novelist Seithy Loth Chachage. In the 1990s <a href="http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:277259/FULLTEXT01.pdf">he argued that</a> small scale operations in Tanzania were innovating and stimulating local growth.</p>
<p>Over the last few decades, national and regional African mining policy has tended <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/978020362747-7/mineralizing-africa-artisanal-mining-democratizing-influence-deborah-fahy-bryceson-jesper-bosse-j%C3%B8nsson">to constrain rather than encourage</a> artisanal and small-scale mining. Instead, priority has been given to large-scale industrial mining. These findings challenge the wisdom of this approach.</p>
<h2>Shift to mechanisation</h2>
<p>The research was undertaken over an 18-month period during extended stays in two gold mining regions of South Kivu: Luhwindja and Kamituga. Gold mining in both areas dates back to the early twentieth century. Today, there are approximately 15,000 to 20,000 miners working informally across both sites. Since 2010, they have faced <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-large-miners-and-states-stifle-local-capital-and-innovation-in-dr-congo-157529">displacement and suppression</a> to make way for industrial mining projects.</p>
<p>The miners are led by a dynamic managerial class composed of shaft managers and traders. They mobilise and organise workers in a wide array of different labour tasks. While the labour can be arduous, worker wages are significantly higher than locally available alternatives, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220388.2020.1725484">comparable to those earned in industrial mining</a>.</p>
<p>The managerial class accrues sizeable profits, which its reinvests in land, property, livestock, and commerce. In addition, a significant share of profits is reinvested in production. This reinvestment stimulates productivity through a locally led process of mechanisation. </p>
<p>In the late 2000s, artisanal and small scale gold miners in Kamituga noticed a decrease in the quality of the extracted ore. In response, in November 2011, a Congolese trader brought three ball mills to Kamituga to break down large rocks. He had imported the mills from Tanzania at a cost of around US$7,000 each.</p>
<p>Shortly afterwards, a Congolese entrepreneur set up a ball mill repair workshop in Kamituga. Soon, the mills began to be manufactured locally. By the end of 2012 there were around 70 locally owned ball mills active across Kamituga. </p>
<p>Around the same time, shaft managers in the area were also attempting to respond to decreasing production by connecting sites to the local electricity grid. The aim was to enable production at deeper levels underground. In many cases, explosives were used alongside water and oxygen circulation machines, to blast through the hard rock encountered at these deeper levels.</p>
<p>Through the increased use of machinery, explosives, and ball mills, a mechanised and locally led form of production was beginning to emerge organically in the area. As a result, sites that had previously been exhausted by more purely artisanal techniques once again became productive.</p>
<h2>Challenging the myths</h2>
<p>The findings challenge one of the <a href="https://ipisresearch.be/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/20130314_GKamundala_SKivu.pdf">recurring arguments</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S030142070900052X">policy recommendations</a> from the African mining literature. Namely, that artisanal and small scale miners and industrial mining corporations are not in competition for the same deposits. The thinking is that small scale miners target easily accessible surface deposits while corporations target deeper veins that lie further underground. The conclusion is that <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/12458">governments should work to generate the conditions for their peaceful coexistence</a>. </p>
<p>Yet one could also think of artisanal and small scale mining not as a low productivity, subsistence activity, but as a dynamic and mechanising form of production. This suggests these two distinct groups are in fact in more direct competition than academics and policy makers have allowed.</p>
<p>What a mining corporation exploits industrially today is nothing but the riches that, over a longer time frame, a mechanising artisanal and small scale mining sector could exploit tomorrow. This invites a reconsideration of the merits and consequences of the ‘coexistence’ argument. </p>
<p>Arguing that artisanal and industrial miners should coexist assumes that artisanal miners should stay artisanal. In this scenario, industrial miners would access the most prized and valuable deposits. Artisanal and small scale miners would be allocated whatever remains. This would both thwart their aspirations and limit the positive contribution the artisanal and small scale sector makes to development. It is time for a rethink.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Radley received funding from the Leverhulme Trust under grant number SAS-2016-047/7.</span></em></p>As a dynamic and mechanising form of production, artisanal mining is in more direct competition with large corporations than is commonly perceived.Ben Radley, Lecturer in International Development, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1692852021-10-21T13:38:35Z2021-10-21T13:38:35ZHow Zambian trade unions’ good intentions hurt workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427192/original/file-20211019-14-18s5aqb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zambia's mining industry is highly unionised but the unions are too weak to protect workers' interests.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Zambia’s mining industry, wages and working conditions have consistently declined for <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2017.1345731">30 years</a>. This is primarily because of <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=_143DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA39&dq=lee+precarity+in+Zambia&ots=oVU47F822L&sig=tfyaoC5jNAUAW0hL-yNtllvNXNA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=lee%20precarity%20in%20Zambia&f=false">changes to labour laws</a>. Strikes have been banned, the subcontracting of workers has become easier, and wages are negotiated at each workplace, rather than for the industry as a whole. </p>
<p>Though the industry, which mines mainly copper and accounts for <a href="https://eiti.org/zambia#:%7E:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20EITI%20reporting%20(2019)%2C%20the%20extractive,total%20employed%20persons%20in%20Zambia.">9.95% of GDP</a>, is heavily unionised, unions have been unable to protect workers. Zambian miners are <a href="http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/coward-union-leaders-let-downs/">disillusioned</a> with their unions. Their disappointment is made worse by the tendency of unions to portray themselves as strong. The mismatch of image and reality leads workers to see union leaders as corrupt or cowardly, rather than as disempowered by national laws and international capital. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9655.13420">research</a> suggests instead that Zambian unions are close to management because they are trying to help workers. However, through their attempts to assist miners with their daily needs, unions enabled lower wages and worse working conditions.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>I <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2021.1908827">studied</a> Zambian mining unions between 2016 and 2019, to understand why they could not protect workers’ wages and what they did instead. </p>
<p>I examined the organisational practices of three of the country’s largest unions - the Mineworkers Union of Zambia, the United Mineworkers Union of Zambia and the National Union of Mine and Allied Workers. In more than 120 interviews, I also explored the daily lives of union members employed on mines, volunteer unionists and leaders. </p>
<p>The 12 months of participant observation culminated in two research reports. The first was published in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2021.1908827">April 2021</a>, the second in <a href="https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9655.13420">June 2021</a>.</p>
<p>Other studies often examine union tactics and workers’ daily lives without connecting the two. I see the daily lives of workplace-based volunteer union leaders (called branch executives) and the tactics of senior union leaders as entwined. </p>
<p>Based on both pieces of research, I argue that, by taking on moral responsibility for workers’ lives, unions subsidised an unjust employment system. This argument has two parts. <a href="https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9655.13420">Branch executives justified the low wages that miners received</a>. And, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2021.1908827">through framing themselves as entrepreneurs, selling goods and services on credit</a>, unions made it possible for their members to live on lower incomes. This subsidised employers, by enabling them to pay less than a living wage. </p>
<p>Unions made it possible for workers to survive even though actual wages were not enough to live on. This meant wage exploitation and poor working conditions could continue.</p>
<h2>Justifying low wages</h2>
<p>Zambia’s mining unions claimed to be powerful and militant. They motivated workers through chants like “The People United Will Never Be Defeated”. Union leaders argued that they negotiated the highest salaries by understanding economic data and by threatening strikes. But instead they worked closely with employers. </p>
<p>They also opened stores that sold food on credit and offered loans to miners. Union branch executives came to understand themselves as savvy technocrats. They invested heavily in learning the economic data and industry trends that they believed would shape wages.</p>
<p>Union leaders and members saw their union as a financially influential entrepreneurial entity, because of the businesses it ran. They understood these debt-centric businesses as a sign of unions’ strength, rather than workers’ poverty. </p>
<p>Miners and unionists came to see their wages and working conditions as determined by a just “free market”, instead of by a legal system that favoured employers and foreign investors. Seeing things this way also encouraged unions to provide goods and services that subsidised wages below the cost of living.</p>
<p>Union branch executives were typically popular miners who held leadership positions in their church and community. They assisted their coworkers daily, by resolving disputes with management and providing material support to struggling peers. They were also nominally in charge of negotiating wages.</p>
<p>Despite the union leaders’ popularity, miners often accused them of receiving bribes to accept low wages in salary negotiations, and to discourage strikes. </p>
<p>In contrast, I <a href="https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9655.13420">found</a> that the mentally and emotionally demanding process of negotiating wages forced union branch executives to draw strength from depicting themselves as technocrats. For example, when negotiating wages, they compiled shopping lists showing increased living costs. </p>
<p>This encouraged the union branch executives to believe that negotiations had been fair and had produced the highest wages the market allowed. This, even when legal structures made negotiations unlikely to result in higher wages. </p>
<p>Because union branch executives also offered their increasingly poor coworkers gifts and loans, miners were able to live off ever-decreasing salaries. They were thus more likely to listen to the branch executives when they discouraged strikes that had on occasion raised wages.</p>
<h2>Union entrepreneurship</h2>
<p>To fund the material support offered by union branch executives to miners, Zambian mining union head offices operate small businesses. These target members as customers and charge above-market prices. Despite this, they are popular because they offer long (albeit expensive) lines of credit. </p>
<p>Both in Zambia and elsewhere this is seen as a cynical form of business unionism. It entails unions profiting from workers rather than assisting them in their conflicts with management. I <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2021.1908827">found</a> that Zambian mining unions increasingly conceptualised themselves as entrepreneurs. The profits from the small businesses they operated paid for the costs of unionising workers, whose salaries were decreasing. </p>
<p>These unions-as-businesses also helped small businesses run by other miners and unemployed Zambians. Rather than seeing this as caused by the unions’ inability to obtain wages that covered living costs, the union leaders and local semi-employed miners conceptualised themselves as powerful entrepreneurs, within a “fair” free market. </p>
<p>Unions and workers assisted their unemployed and casually employed peers by offering them loans or buying their overpriced goods and services. </p>
<h2>Ways forward for Zambian unions</h2>
<p>My work calls for understanding Zambian unions’ closeness to management as caused by unionists’ attempts to improve the lives of workers, rather than by corruption or cowardice. This closeness occurs in the context of a global capitalism that they have either been taught to perceive as just or to accept as inevitable. </p>
<p>A core challenge going forward for the unions is maintaining membership numbers without promising victories that are unlikely to occur. Unions may need to continue using entrepreneurship and wage negotiating skills to assist members. But, they must also highlight that union businesses and negotiations occur within an unjust national and international labour system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article was written as part of the WORKinMINING project (<a href="https://www.workinmining.ulg.ac.be">https://www.workinmining.ulg.ac.be</a>). The project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 646802). The ideas developed in this article reflect only the author’s view. The ERC is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. </span></em></p>Through their attempts to assist miners with their daily needs, Zambian unions enable lower wages and worse working conditions.Thomas McNamara, Lecturer, La Trobe University, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1618192021-06-27T19:48:55Z2021-06-27T19:48:55ZNot so foolish after all: ‘fool’s gold’ contains a newly discovered type of real gold<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408340/original/file-20210625-13-h5xcss.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5982%2C4491&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Uoaei1/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The mineral pyrite was historically nicknamed <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/pyrite">fool’s gold</a> because of its deceptive resemblance to the precious metal. The term was often used during the California gold rush in the 1840s because inexperienced prospectors would claim discoveries of gold, but in reality it would be pyrite, composed of worthless iron disulfide (FeS₂). </p>
<p>Ironically, pyrite crystals can contain small amounts of real gold, although it is notoriously hard to extract. Gold hiding within pyrite is sometimes referred to as “invisible gold”, because it is not observable with standard microscopes, but instead requires sophisticated scientific instruments. </p>
<p>It wasn’t until the 1980s when <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Louis-Cabri/publication/258209241_The_nature_of_invisible_gold_in_arsenopyrite/links/02e7e5273cded2849f000000/The-nature-of-invisible-gold-in-arsenopyrite.pdf">researchers discovered</a> that gold in pyrite can come in different forms – either as particles of gold, or as an alloy, in which the pyrite and gold are finely mixed.</p>
<p>In our new research, <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G49028.1/604581/A-new-kind-of-invisible-gold-in-pyrite-hosted-in">published in Geology</a>, my colleagues and I discovered a third, previously unrecognised way that gold can lurk inside pyrite. When the pyrite crystal is forming under extreme temperature or pressure, it can develop tiny imperfections in its crystal structure that can be “decorated” with gold atoms.</p>
<h2>What are these ‘crystal defects’?</h2>
<p>The atoms within a crystal are arranged in a characteristic pattern called an atomic lattice. But when a mineral crystal such as pyrite is growing inside a rock, this lattice pattern can develop imperfections. Like many minerals, pyrite is tough and hard at Earth’s surface, but can become more twisty and stretchy when forming deep in the Earth, which is also where gold deposits form. </p>
<p>When crystals stretch or twist, the bonds between neighbouring atoms are broken and remade, forming billions of tiny imperfections called “dislocations”, each roughly 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, or 100 times smaller than a virus particle.</p>
<p>The chemistry of these atomic-scale imperfections is notoriously difficult to study because they are so small, so any impurities are present in absolutely minuscule quantities. Detecting them requires a specialised instrument called an <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=CXiDO4vjfVg">atom probe</a>.</p>
<p>An atom probe can analyse materials at extremely high resolution, but its main advantage over other methods is that it allows us to build a 3D map showing the precise locations of impurities within a crystal — something that was never possible before.</p>
<p>Our research reveals that dislocations within pyrite crystals can be “decorated” with gold atoms. This is particularly common where the crystals have been twisted during their history; here, gold can be present at concentrations several times higher than in the rest of the crystal.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Impurities in pyrite crystal" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=961&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=961&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404402/original/file-20210604-15-ferqh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=961&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gold (Au) atoms hiding within a pyrite crystal, alongside other imperfections including nickel, copper and bismuth. Scale bar indicates 20 nanometres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A potential goldmine</h2>
<p>Why should anyone care about something so tiny? Well, it gives interesting insights into how mineral deposits form, and is also a potential boon for the gold mining industry.</p>
<p>Previously, it was suspected that gold in anomalously rich pyrite crystals was in fact made of gold particles formed during a multi-step process, suggesting the pyrite and gold crystallised at different times and then became clumped together. But our discovery that gold can decorate these crystal imperfections suggests that even pyrite crystals with relatively high gold content can form in a single process.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eureka-x-ray-vision-can-find-hidden-gold-17432">Eureka! X-ray vision can find hidden gold</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our discovery may also help gold miners more efficiently extract gold from pyrite, potentially reducing greenhouse emissions. To extract the gold, the mineral is usually oxidised in large reactors, which uses considerable amounts of energy.</p>
<p>Dislocation sites within crystals could potentially offer an enhanced partial leaching or a target for bacteria to attack and break down the crystal, releasing the gold in a process known as “bio-leaching”, thus potentially reducing energy consumption necessary for extraction. This idea is still untested, but definitely merits investigation.</p>
<p>If it helps pave the way for more sustainable gold-mining methods, then perhaps fool’s gold isn’t so foolish after all.</p>
<p>Perhaps pyrite still lives up to its historic reputation of “fool’s gold” until better, more environmentally sustainable ore processing techniques are developed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gold-rushes-helped-make-the-modern-world-91746">How gold rushes helped make the modern world</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161819/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Fougerouse is affiliated with the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences and The Institute for Geoscience Research at Curtin University. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Fool’s gold, or pyrite, is made of worthless iron disulfide, but can contain tiny amounts of the real thing. Using an ‘atom probe’, research has uncovered a new way gold atoms can hide in pyrite crystals.Denis Fougerouse, Research Fellow, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1594162021-05-06T20:33:44Z2021-05-06T20:33:44ZPictures from outer space reveal the extent of illegal gold mining in Peru<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398733/original/file-20210504-13-fc6ckt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C0%2C3012%2C2006&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this photograph of numerous gold prospecting pits in eastern Peru.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147891/gold-rush-in-the-peruvian-amazon">(NASA/SS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the Madre de Dios region of Peru, a human-made wasteland brushes up against the border of the Amazonian rainforest. Over the past decade, small-scale illegal gold miners have transformed the landscape from tree-covered marshlands to a desert pockmarked with polluted ponds, leaking mercury into the local food web. </p>
<p>Multiple government crackdowns have tried to stamp out these artisanal gold mining activities to protect the national forests, but illegal operations are often able to shift location without attracting attention, creating a moving — and hard to find — target. However, artificial intelligence offers new hope.</p>
<p>NASA is backing the use of machine learning-enhanced satellite technology to capture the subtle movements of illegal gold mining in climate-sensitive areas of the world. While still in early stages, this novel innovation aims to help preserve the Amazon and the health of local communities in Peru, Latin America’s largest gold producer.</p>
<h2>Environmental destruction</h2>
<p>Miners in the Madre de Dios region use the same basic tools as miners did in the 1850s gold rushes in North America: a high pressure hose to blast off layers of rock and a handmade sluice lined with towels to collect the runoff. Heavy metals get caught in the towel fibres, and mercury is used to collect the gold.</p>
<p>“You can basically learn how to be a miner in a half an hour,” says Luis Fernandez, executive director of <a href="https://cees.wfu.edu/cincia/">Wake Forest University’s Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation</a> who has studied gold mining in the Madre de Dios region for decades. A novice miner could <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00119-z">uncover 10-15 grams of gold a day</a>, worth a few hundred dollars on the global market.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="broken camp materials on the shores of a polluted river" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398736/original/file-20210504-21-kz66td.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A destroyed illegal mining camp in Peru’s Tambopata province.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this type of gold mining is environmentally disastrous, choking rivers and deforesting the land. The mercury used in gold mining can also poison local water systems, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/C4EM00567H">contaminating the wildlife and people downstream</a>. Mercury is a neurotoxin that poisons the nervous system. Gold miners have some of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-011-0615-x">highest documented mercury exposures ever recorded</a>.</p>
<p>Much of the mercury used in gold mining also ends up in the atmosphere and eventually contaminates global seafood stocks. Tuna in oceans around the world accumulate <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010105">mercury that came from gold mining operations</a>, such as those in Madre de Dios.</p>
<h2>Government attempts</h2>
<p>The Peruvian government has tried to prevent illegal gold mining in Madre de Dios for over a decade through military interventions. The most recent and largest effort in 2019, called Operation Mercurio, aimed to remove La Pampas, the largest illegal mining town in the region. The Peruvian military bombed illegal mining equipment, patrolled protected zones and arrested illegal gold miners. </p>
<p>But many of these efforts have proved ineffective in the face of rising gold prices. “They call it the balloon effect,” says Fernandez. “You squeeze a balloon in one part, and it pops out the other.” </p>
<p>Illegal miners simply migrate to other sites to avoid the government’s presence. With no way to track them, the government has had little hope of addressing the problem — until now.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yEecStCFfo8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In 2019, Peru established Operation Mercurio to address illegal mining.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Surveillance from space</h2>
<p>While past satellite images couldn’t capture subtle signs of mining, environmental scientist David Lutz, from Dartmouth University, is integrating NASA’s database with commercial images from the past five years to improve their resolution. Then his team uses new computer vision algorithms to identify mining activity.</p>
<p>“This methodology allows us to add human-use objects into the equation, offering a level of detail that was previously invisible to us,” says Lutz. Researchers can now pick up small shifts in the colour and reflectance of mining ponds, location of mining equipment and size of rock piles to reveal illegal mining activity.</p>
<p>Under pandemic conditions, Fernandez expects illegal gold mining is on the rise. “The combination of really high [gold] prices, increasing poverty and reduced governance to me equals more illegal gold mining.” This resurgence demonstrates the major critique of the government crackdowns: they don’t last.</p>
<p>Madre de Dios is one of the poorest regions in Peru. Illegal gold mining provides a temporary income for day labourers, but ultimately, “it’s a poverty trap for people at the low end of the enterprise,” says Fernandez. As a career, there is no skill development, no long-term benefits and horrible health consequences. Military interventions do nothing to change these dynamics unless they are paired with alternative livelihood options.</p>
<p>While the analysis is still in progress, Lutz hopes these machine learning-enhanced images will help clarify whether past interventions were useful and help direct future policy that will truly protect both the Amazon and local communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159416/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>NASA satellite images reveal the extent of gold-mining in Peru. This information can be used to shut down illegal mining and prevent environmental destruction and contamination.Robin Blades, Global Journalism Fellow, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of TorontoPaleah Moher, Dalla Lana School Fellowship in Global Journalism, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1512022021-02-09T02:28:04Z2021-02-09T02:28:04ZAustralia’s gold industry stamped out mercury pollution — now it’s coal’s turn<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382923/original/file-20210208-21-m28nq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C3960%2C1796&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mercury is a nasty toxin that harms <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mercury-and-health">humans</a> and <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/mercurys_silent_toll_on_the_worlds_wildlife">ecosystems</a>.
Most human exposure comes from eating <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-does-mercury-get-into/">contaminated</a> fish and other seafood. But how does mercury enter the Australian environment in the first place?</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2020.070">Our recent research</a> dug into official data and past research to answer this question. </p>
<p>In some rare good news for the environment, it turns out one Australian industry – gold production – has brought mercury emissions down to almost zero. But more can be done about mercury emitted from coal-fired power stations.</p>
<p>Australia is one of the few developed countries yet to ratify the United Nations’ <a href="http://www.mercuryconvention.org/">Minamata Convention on Mercury</a>, which aims to reduce mercury in the environment. But once we deal with emissions from coal burning, we’ll be closer than ever to addressing the problem.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Salmon chained to a plate" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382925/original/file-20210208-13-1g2l98n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382925/original/file-20210208-13-1g2l98n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382925/original/file-20210208-13-1g2l98n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382925/original/file-20210208-13-1g2l98n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382925/original/file-20210208-13-1g2l98n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382925/original/file-20210208-13-1g2l98n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382925/original/file-20210208-13-1g2l98n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Humans are exposed to mercury via seafood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where does mercury pollution come from?</h2>
<p>Mercury is a heavy metal that cycles between the atmosphere, ocean and land. It occurs naturally but can be toxic to humans and wildlife.</p>
<p>Most human-caused mercury emissions come from the burning of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/03/coal-fired-power-stations-caused-surge-in-airborne-mercury-pollution-study-finds">fossil fuels</a> and the mining and production of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1001074217302449?via%3Dihub">gold</a> and other metals. </p>
<p>What’s more, items such as light bulbs and thermometers dumped in landfill can <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es501337j">release mercury</a> 30-50 years later.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-overfishing-are-boosting-toxic-mercury-levels-in-fish-122748">Climate change and overfishing are boosting toxic mercury levels in fish</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Once in the air, mercury can float around for months, crossing oceans and continents to end up back on the ground, far from where it was emitted. </p>
<p>It’s eventually <a href="https://theconversation.com/plants-safely-store-toxic-mercury-bushfires-and-climate-change-bring-it-back-into-our-environment-129788">taken up</a> by soils, water and plants, then slowly released back to the atmosphere. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Coal plant emitting steam" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382928/original/file-20210208-21-1ucdkjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/382928/original/file-20210208-21-1ucdkjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382928/original/file-20210208-21-1ucdkjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382928/original/file-20210208-21-1ucdkjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382928/original/file-20210208-21-1ucdkjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382928/original/file-20210208-21-1ucdkjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/382928/original/file-20210208-21-1ucdkjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coal plants are a major source of mercury emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Smith/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A success story</h2>
<p>Estimates vary on the exact amount of mercury that Australian activities release to the air. Studies we reviewed put the figure at anywhere between 8 and 30 tonnes each year.</p>
<p>Our analysis shows the figure is likely at the low end of that range – largely due to a single success story.</p>
<p>In 2006, a gold production facility in Kalgoorlie was thought to cause half of Australia’s industrial mercury emissions. The massive operation includes the Fimiston Open Pit, or “Super Pit”, <a href="https://www.metso.com/showroom/mining/kcgms-emissions-reduction-project-is-a-major-win-for-both-the-environment-and-community/">purportedly</a> so large it can be seen from space.</p>
<p>Gold ore naturally contains mercury. To extract the gold, the ore is typically roasted at temperatures of up to 600°C. During this process, the mercury escapes into the atmosphere. Most mercury pollution from Australia’s gold industry came from a single roaster at the Kalgoorlie site.</p>
<p>But over one decade, mercury emissions from the operation dropped from more than 8 tonnes to just 250 kilograms. This was largely due to a technology upgrade in 2015, when the roaster was <a href="https://www.metso.com/showroom/mining/kcgms-emissions-reduction-project-is-a-major-win-for-both-the-environment-and-community/">replaced</a> by a grinding process.</p>
<p>This success means coal-fired power plants are now Australia’s largest controllable source of mercury emissions. They emit between two and four tonnes of mercury every year (<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-coal-fired-power-stations-need-to-shut-on-health-grounds-68809">along with other air pollutants</a>).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing steady decrease in mercury emissions from 2004 to 2017." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378157/original/file-20210111-19-135mmsu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mercury emissions from two related gold processing facilities in Kalgoorlie, based on data reported to Australia’s National Pollutant Inventory (http://www.npi.gov.au/).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fisher and Nelson, 2020</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Other sources of mercury emissions</h2>
<p>Other natural and human activities release mercury into the air. They include:</p>
<p><strong>Bushfires:</strong> Mercury is usually released to the environment <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/gbc.20040">over decades</a>. But the process can be much more rapid if the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mercury-pollution-from-decades-past-may-have-been-re-released-by-tasmanias-bushfires-114603">vegetation burns in a bushfire</a>. </p>
<p>Our research found most estimates of bushfire emissions fall between 4 and 40 tonnes each year. But this work relied on measurements from overseas. <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016JD025925">New</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1352231018308720">measurements</a> from Australian ecosystems suggests past estimates are probably too high – possibly due to lower mercury concentrations in some Australian vegetation.</p>
<p><strong>Soils and unburnt vegtation:</strong> Only <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1352231012007534">one study</a> has calculated the mercury released from Australian soils and unburnt vegetation, which it put at a whopping 74 to 222 tonnes per year.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plants-safely-store-toxic-mercury-bushfires-and-climate-change-bring-it-back-into-our-environment-129788">Plants safely store toxic mercury. Bushfires and climate change bring it back into our environment</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>When that research was published in 2012, there were no Australian data to test the model behind these numbers. We still don’t have many measurements, but most <a href="https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/18/129/2018/">data</a> <a href="https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/5325/2013/">we do have</a> show Australian soils and vegetation take up about as much mercury as they release. </p>
<p>The one exception is “enriched” soils, which contain more mercury than other soils. This is because they are located over natural mineral belts and at former mining sites. At one location in northern New South Wales, enriched soils emitted <a href="https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/13/5325/2013/">more than 100 times</a> as much mercury as nearby unenriched soils.</p>
<p><strong>Mercury from elsewhere:</strong> Mercury released by other countries can <a href="https://theconversation.com/mercury-from-the-northern-hemisphere-is-ending-up-in-australia-83710">travel to Australia</a> in the air. The levels are tough to quantify, but we are currently using models to produce an estimate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Figure showing the best estimates for Australian mercury sources" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/378159/original/file-20210111-13-14hsuf2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian atmospheric mercury sources and sinks, in tonnes per year. Current best estimates are shown in black; range from the literature shown in grey. Question marks indicate insufficient data exist to make an informed best estimate. Images courtesy of Tracey Saxby, Kim Kraeer, Lucy Van Essen-Fishman, Diane Kleine via University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fisher and Nelson, 2020</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It’s time to act</h2>
<p>Even with our new, lower estimates, Australia’s per capita mercury emissions remain <a href="https://www.amap.no/documents/doc/Technical-Background-Report-for-the-Global-Mercury-Assessment-2013/848">higher than the global average</a>, likely due to our reliance on coal burning. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-04-01/coal-fired-power-emissions-mercury/10958128">Technology can lower these emissions</a>.</p>
<p>Some mercury emitted by power plants isn’t in the air for long before it <a href="https://news.umich.edu/fingerprinting-method-tracks-mercury-emissions-from-coal-fired-power-plant/">falls to Earth</a>. This can harm <a href="https://www.mercury-australia.com.au/mercury-in-lake-macquarie-it-is-all-up-in-the-air/">nearby</a> <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5422849/">people and ecosystems</a>.</p>
<p>The federal government recently <a href="https://theconversation.com/ban-on-toxic-mercury-looms-in-sugar-cane-farming-but-australia-still-has-a-way-to-go-140596">banned mercury-containing pesticides</a> used in sugar cane farming. With gold production also taken care of, reducing mercury emissions from power plants is the logical next step.</p>
<p>It’s also time for Australia to formally commit to the Minamata Convention. Once we ratify the deal, we’ll be bound to control <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/chemicals-management/mercury">mercury emissions</a> under international law – and that’s good for humans and wildlife everywhere.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ban-on-toxic-mercury-looms-in-sugar-cane-farming-but-australia-still-has-a-way-to-go-140596">Ban on toxic mercury looms in sugar cane farming, but Australia still has a way to go</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Fisher has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, and the L'Oréal-UNESCO foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Nelson currently receives funding from UN Environment to investigate aspects of environmental mercury management. He has previously received competitive funding from the Australian Research Council and the CRC program, and from power and resource companies.</span></em></p>Mercury is a nasty toxin that harms humans and ecosystems. The gold and sugar-cane industries have tackled the problem, and it’s time for coal to follow suit.Jenny Fisher, Associate Professor in Atmospheric Chemistry, University of WollongongPeter Nelson, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1416392020-06-30T14:33:44Z2020-06-30T14:33:44ZGold mining leaves deforested Amazon land barren for years, find scientists<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344672/original/file-20200629-155330-13c0gzb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An abandoned gold mine in the Guyana rainforest. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">kakteen / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Travel through the rainforest in Guyana, in northern South America, and you’ll often hear the indigenous adage: “a forest has no end and no beginning” to explain their natural cycle of disturbance and recovery. For the people who live in these forests, their experiences are based on decades of slash and burn cultivation, from which forests are generally able to recover well. But does the adage hold true for forests abandoned after more intense land uses?</p>
<p>Gold mining has rapidly increased across the wider Amazon region in recent years, especially along the Guiana Shield, where it is responsible for as much as <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6082">90% of total deforestation</a>. The Shield encompasses Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela and small parts of Colombia and northern Brazil, and its forests hold roughly 20 billion tonnes of above-ground carbon. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344671/original/file-20200629-155345-120utom.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Guiana Shield in northern South America is largely covered in rainforest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_the_Guiana_shield.png">Tom Hollowell, NMNH Informatics / wiki</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Much of the forest loss within the region is caused by artisanal and small-scale miners who respond quickly to increases in international gold prices. Often, they leave in their wake extensive soil erosion and rivers and streams contaminated with mercury. In the mines, mercury is used to separate the gold that is mixed in soil and sediments, forming a fusion called an amalgam. The mercury is then burned over an open flame to retrieve the gold.</p>
<p>Scientists have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10021-016-0029-4">previously looked at how forests regrow</a> after being cut down and converted into fields and pasture, and then abandoned. They found these recovering, “secondary forests” were able to maintain biodiversity and accumulate carbon, among a range of other “ecosystem services”. Yet none of these studies had compared forest recovery after farming with what happens after gold mining. So we set out to find out more.</p>
<h2>Investigating regrowth in abandoned mines</h2>
<p>In 2016 we travelled to two gold mining areas deep in the rainforests of central Guyana – Mahdia and Puruni – and established tree measurement plots in abandoned sites. We covered the three different zones typically found on each site: the mining pit itself; the “overburden”, or pile where topsoil had been deposited; and the tailing pond, which contained deposits of material left over after the gold had been separated from the ore.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344784/original/file-20200630-103661-ptns1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344784/original/file-20200630-103661-ptns1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344784/original/file-20200630-103661-ptns1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344784/original/file-20200630-103661-ptns1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344784/original/file-20200630-103661-ptns1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344784/original/file-20200630-103661-ptns1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344784/original/file-20200630-103661-ptns1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Measuring plants in abandoned mining plots in Guyana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Kalamandeen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also established control plots in old growth forests to compare our results from abandoned sites, as well as took soil samples from abandoned sites, control plots and active mining sites for comparison. 18 months later, we went back and remeasured all these plots. </p>
<h2>Among the lowest recovery rates ever recorded</h2>
<p>Our research, now published in the <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.13669">Journal of Applied Ecology</a> found that gold mining significantly limits the regrowth of Amazonian forests, and greatly reduces their ability to accumulate carbon. Recovery rates on abandoned mining pits and tailing ponds were among the lowest ever recorded for tropical forests, compared to recovery from agriculture and pasture. At some sites, there was no woody tree regeneration even three to four years after mining stopped, leaving either bare earth or grasses. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344809/original/file-20200630-103668-8jx9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After 3-4 years abandoned farms had regrown about 14% of the biomass of an undisturbed forest, while abandoned mining pits and tailings ponds still had almost no vegetation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Kalamandeen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study estimates that across the Amazon, gold mining causes about 2 million tons of forest carbon to be lost each year. The lack of regrowth we observed shows that this lost carbon may not be recoverable, within what would be considered normal regeneration time frames, simply by leaving these abandoned mines to nature.</p>
<p>We found that the recovery process is primarily dependent on the availability of nitrogen, a critical component that trees need in order to grow, and less on the level of mercury contamination. Nitrogen is found in the topsoil which is stripped away during the mining process, and was significantly lacking in mining pits and tailing ponds, making it difficult for forests to re-establish themselves. On the overburden, however, where there was more nitrogen left in the soil, recovery rates were similar to abandoned pasture or agriculture. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/344790/original/file-20200630-103677-zrcteo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A typical mining site. Even five years after the mine has closed, there is still barely any vegetation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Kalamandeen</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also observed that active mining sites had on average 250 times more mercury concentrations than abandoned sites, indicating that once a mine is closed down most of the mercury leaches into neighbouring forests and rivers. Mercury pollution is especially harmful to fish, which are an integral part of local and indigenous communities’ diet in this part of the world. </p>
<p>The slower recovery due to mining is particularly concerning given mining is an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00557-w">increasingly important driver of Amazon deforestation</a>, with more than <a href="https://www3.socioambiental.org/geo/RAISGMapaOnline/">1 million square kilometres</a> that could potentially be set aside for mining of gold and other minerals.</p>
<p>We could be facing a race against the clock. The COVID-19 pandemic is driving an economic crisis, and such crises tend to significantly increase the demand for gold, given its perceived role as an economic stabiliser. With gold currently priced at more than <a href="https://goldprice.org">US$1,700 per ounce</a>, an increase of 25% so far this year, many small-scale miners are keen to get involved. As environmental laws in Brazil and Venezuela are weakened, this could lead to further deforestation in the Amazon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141639/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mining strips nitrogen from the soil and means the forest struggles to grow back even after mines are abandoned. Michelle Kalamandeen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Remote Sensing, University of CambridgeDavid Galbraith, Associate Professor in Earth System Dynamics, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1389972020-05-21T14:32:35Z2020-05-21T14:32:35ZMeet the struggling gold miners who are missing out on boom in the precious metal<p>In Mukungwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of young men and women live in makeshift huts. They have no access to sanitation or health facilities. They work as manual drillers, carriers or timber specialists in narrow underground tunnels, which <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1034034/retrieve">exposes them to</a> everything from toxic metals to cave-ins and even suffocation. </p>
<p>They work in teams under different agreements with a local paymaster, sometimes sharing what they find, sometimes receiving a wage or payments in kind. Outside the pits, others work as rock crushers, water carriers, washers or cooks. Small buyers lurk around with hand-held scales, using old coins and toothpicks to weigh the gold. For miners lucky enough to extract a little precious metal, there are dollars to be made from the dust. </p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Gold has enthralled humanity since ancient times. Still it glitters from central bank vaults to jewellery bazaars the world over. The Conversation brings you <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/gold-series-87168">five essential briefings by academic experts</a> on the world’s favourite precious metal. For more articles written by experts, join the hundreds of thousands who <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">subscribe to our newsletter</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>In the Philippines, men, women and children work underground. They pan for gold in rivers and creeks, or use hydraulic hoses to extract gold-bearing sediments. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2017/apr/06/diving-for-gold-in-the-philippines-in-pictures">Young men</a> even dive for gold in narrow pitch-dark shafts at the bottom of rivers and the ocean. </p>
<p>This is artisanal or small-scale gold mining (ASGM), which supports tens of millions worldwide. ASGM is a broad catch-all term for practices with two things in common: very labour-intensive work and only partial government regulation at best. This guarantees cheap and flexible workers, which drives down the cost of production. </p>
<p>Yet there’s nothing marginal about this mining. The likes of the <em>garimpeiro</em> in <a href="https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/brazilians-toil-for-gold-in-illegal-amazon-mines">Brazil</a> or <a href="https://www.pureearth.org/project/gold-mining-mercury-emissions-manica-mozambique/">Mozambique</a>, <em>galamsey</em> in <a href="https://www.theigc.org/project/the-footprints-of-galamsey-in-ghana/">Ghana</a> and ninja miners in <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2014/04/the-ninja-miners-of-mongolia/">Mongolia</a> are often the backbone of local economies. They target small, diffuse deposits that are unprofitable for multinationals, or difficult to reach because of physical or political conditions. As we argue in our <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030384852">recent book</a>, they supply at least one-fifth of all newly mined gold. </p>
<h2>Gold mining and coronavirus</h2>
<p>This mining is connected to global gold markets <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030384852">through multi-layered trading-networks</a>. From the small buyer hanging around the mines, to the master trader moving gold across the border, to the sourcing agent sent by the Swiss refinery, supply chains are long and complex. Yet there is typically little difference between the global spot price of gold and the going rate outside the mine. </p>
<p>In theory, this puts sellers in a strong position now that gold prices are at <a href="https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/gold-prices">eight-year highs</a>. It could be a golden opportunity for those who finance these operations, which can be anyone from veteran miners to paramilitaries, but mine workers are not necessarily benefiting. </p>
<p>They are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus, since there is no social distancing in crowded mining tunnels. Many already have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/19/ive-already-got-infected-lungs-for-sick-coal-miners-covid-19-is-a-death-sentence">badly damaged lungs</a>, and little access to doctors – let alone publicly funded healthcare. </p>
<p>Mining communities often depend on imported goods. Our contacts tell us that in mining areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, basic food prices have risen fivefold.</p>
<p>Then there is lockdown disruption. In some areas of <a href="https://www.artisanalgold.org/2020/04/philippines-protecting-the-artisanal-mining-sector-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/">the Philippines</a>, for example, frantic government efforts to combat the virus are preventing miners and buyers from reaching mines. Exporters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-mining-artisanal/subsistence-miners-lose-out-as-coronavirus-crushes-local-gold-prices-idUSL8N2BN670">are stockpiling gold</a> at international airports, waiting for commercial flights to resume and for Middle Eastern and Indian gold bazaars to reopen. </p>
<p>Thanks to this combination of soaring gold prices, supply chain restrictions and cash shortages, <a href="https://www.artisanalgold.org/2020/04/gold-database-extract-artisanal-gold-prices-pre-and-post-covid-19/">the difference</a> between local and global gold prices <a href="https://delvedatabase.org/about/news-and-events/impacts-of-covid-19-on-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining-insights-from-the-ground">has widened</a>. In Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Peru, it is as much as 40%. Our contacts say that in parts of the Philippines, it exceeds 60%. </p>
<p>For gold traders with cash reserves and the skills and contacts to circumvent pandemic restrictions, this is a lifetime opportunity. In the African Great Lakes region, the NGO Impact <a href="https://impacttransform.org/en/covid19-illicit-traders-artisanal-miners/">reports on</a> rich dealers using <a href="https://impacttransform.org/en/covid19-illicit-traders-artisanal-miners/">private jets</a> to buy cheap gold. </p>
<p>Such buyers are often backed by high-level politicians and military and non-state armed groups. Mine workers often have little choice but to accept highly unequal terms of trade. These times expose the inequalities in the market, and the vulnerabilities of those doing the dirty work. </p>
<h2>What should be done?</h2>
<p>On the health front, governments must <a href="https://www.artisanalgold.org/2020/04/health-responses-covid19-in-artisanal-gold-mining/">raise COVID-19 awareness</a> and prevent it spreading in these communities. They should continue working with donors to encourage mining practices that limit people’s dust intake and exposure to toxic metals. Together, they need to develop public healthcare systems that extend to these informal workers. </p>
<p>Governments also need to restore miners’ access to the global market, perhaps buying ASGM gold even on a tax-free, no-questions-asked basis. Admittedly, state gold-buying programmes are tricky, as demonstrated <a href="https://business.inquirer.net/93838/smugglers-now-control-95-of-philippine-gold-trade">in the Philippines</a>, where all production is supposed to be bought and refined by the central bank, but traders have long smuggled gold to Hong Kong.</p>
<p>Governments could also build on responsible sourcing initiatives by the likes of the <a href="https://www.responsiblejewellery.com/">Responsible Jewellery Council</a> and <a href="http://www.lbma.org.uk/responsible-sourcing">London Bullion Market Association</a>. These only allow sourcing from “legitimate ASGM” that is tax-registered and formally regulated, or at least undertakes “good faith efforts” to operate legally. </p>
<p>Yet with complex supply chains and proving the origin of the gold difficult, these initiatives may push refineries to ignore small-scale mining altogether. These initiatives also detract from what arguably matters most: the unhealthy and exploitative conditions in most ASGM.</p>
<p>Instead, governments could push a more pragmatic solution, such as the Alliance for Responsible Mining’s <a href="https://www.responsiblemines.org/en/2018/08/craft-code-released-a-tool-to-facilitate-the-implementation-of-due-diligence-in-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining/">CRAFT code</a>, which doesn’t require miners to be part of a formal organisation, while also emphasising safety. </p>
<p>Responsible sourcing initiatives should prioritise working with governments and local organisations to improve public infrastructure and services in these mines. They should facilitate miners’ access to safe mining technologies and the financial services so that they can invest in them. Small-scale mining sustains millions of people: with so much else for governments to worry about, keeping these communities thriving should be the main priority. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong>If you liked this article, find more expertise in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-gold-series-five-essential-briefings-on-the-worlds-favourite-precious-metal-139085">our gold series</a>:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-gold-prices-go-up-and-down-five-charts-138918">Why gold prices go up and down – five charts</a></strong>
<br>Since the demise of the gold standard in the early 1970s, the precious metal has gone through four distinct phases.</p></li>
<li><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/countries-went-on-a-gold-buying-spree-before-coronavirus-took-hold-heres-why-138173">Countries went on a gold-buying spree before coronavirus took hold – here’s why</a></strong>
<br>Long before COVID-19, countries have been buying new reserves and bringing it home from overseas storage to an extent never seen in modern times.</p></li>
<li><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/im-a-bit-of-a-modern-day-alchemist-recovering-gold-from-old-mobile-phones-137959">I’m a bit of a modern-day alchemist, recovering gold from old mobile phones</a></strong>
<br>There’s 33 times more gold in the average handset than in the equivalent amount of ore. Yet the vast majority is never recovered.</p></li>
<li><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-us-government-seized-all-citizens-gold-in-1930s-138467">How the US government seized all citizens’ gold in 1930s</a></strong>
<br>It seized all gold bullion and coins, forcing citizens to sell at well below market rates. Then, immediately after the “confiscation”, it set a new official rate for gold that was much higher.</p></li>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sara Geenen receives funding from Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Boris Verbrugge receives funding from Research Foundation Flanders. </span></em></p>You would think that anyone in the gold industry would be getting rich right now, but informal miners in many countries are missing out.Sara Geenen, Assistant professor in Globalisation, International Development and Poverty, University of AntwerpBoris Verbrugge, Post-doctoral Researcher in Development Studies, University of AntwerpLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1379592020-05-21T14:32:29Z2020-05-21T14:32:29ZI’m a bit of a modern-day alchemist, recovering gold from old mobile phones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336819/original/file-20200521-102637-91p291.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1880%2C1373&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sandra Wilson in the Love Chemistry Laboratory, Edinburgh, working with gold chloride.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Cheskin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the kitchen drawer, most of us have a few old mobile phones and tablets. But few probably realise just how much precious metal they contain. Did you know, for example, that it only takes around 41 mobile phones to recover 1g of gold? The price of gold is currently around US$1,700 (£1,365) per ounce, which is roughly US$60 per gram. That means there’s about US$1.50 of gold in every junked device. </p>
<p>Or to put it another way, the average wedding ring is around 1g to 2g of gold. For anyone getting married, this means you wouldn’t need to recover too many old devices to avoid having to look through the jeweller’s catalogue. </p>
<p>Smartphones <a href="http://www.austmine.com.au/News/category/articles-editorials/the-top-10-metals-and-minerals-powering-your-mobile-phone">contain about</a> 60 different elements – including not only gold but copper and silver too. All three are good conductors of electricity, and circuits usually receive a thin covering of gold because it doesn’t corrode and so ensures a durable connection. </p>
<p>I’ve been putting this into practice at the <a href="https://jasonlovegroup.wordpress.com/author/jasonblove/">Love Chemistry Laboratory</a> in Edinburgh, where I have been artist in residence since 2017. As a jeweller I have always been interested in science and what happens at the boundaries of our disciplines, and working at the lab is my chance to be part of this. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336004/original/file-20200519-152302-fp0zpu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><em>Gold has enthralled humanity since ancient times. Still it glitters from central bank vaults to jewellery bazaars the world over. The Conversation brings you <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/gold-series-87168">five essential briefings by academic experts</a> on the world’s favourite precious metal. For more articles written by experts, join the hundreds of thousands who <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">subscribe to our newsletter</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>I started on eBay buying some computer circuit board fingers, which are the gold-plated strips that run along the edges of the boards. The lab chemists guided me through an extraction process called hydrometallurgy, which uses acids to extract the gold and other metals into a liquid solution. By adding different chemicals, you can then extract solid metals.</p>
<p>This process turns you into a bit of an alchemist. One of my first solutions was a mixture of hydrochloric acid and various metals extracted from the circuit fingers, including gold, copper, cobalt and iron. It was a green sludge not unlike the “purest green” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkZFuKHXa7w">discovered by the hapless Percy</a> in the Blackadder TV series. But from such gloop, you can create lovely things: my work includes silver vessels with a variety of surface treatments and effects.</p>
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<h2>Rarer and rarer</h2>
<p>People have been mining gold for around 6,000 years. The World Gold Council <a href="https://www.gold.org/about-gold/gold-supply/gold-mining/how-much-gold">estimates that</a> around 190,000 metric tons have been unearthed, around two-thirds of it since 1950. Around 54,000 tons of viable gold remains underground, and we are currently mining around 2,500 to 3,000 tons a year, so clearly the supply is limited. </p>
<p>Gold <a href="https://theconversation.com/periodic-table-new-version-warns-of-elements-that-are-endangered-110377">is now included</a> on an endangered list, as are silver and copper. Unless we address the need to recycle and recover these metals, they could end up completely depleted. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-chuck-that-old-mobile-phone-theres-gold-in-there-52074">Don't chuck that old mobile phone, there's gold in there</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>There’s an incredible difference in yield between mining metals from ore and recovering them from old devices – urban mining, if you will. With gold, 1 ton of ore <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.7b04909">will average</a> about 6g of metal. From electronic waste, the same weight will generate more like 350g. Yet only around a fifth of global electronic waste <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Climate-Change/Documents/GEM%202017/GEM%202017-E.pdf">is recycled</a>, while in countries like India, it is <a href="https://www.assocham.org/newsdetail.php?id=6486">more like 1.5%</a>. </p>
<p>Metal recovery should also have received a big boost from the now-postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic games, where medals have been made entirely from metal recovered from electronic waste. This builds on Rio 2016, where 30% of the silver and bronze in the medals was recycled. </p>
<p>Japan sourced the metal through a campaign to encourage companies and individuals to donate discarded devices. There <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/47168035">were enough donations</a> to create <a href="https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/medals/project/">5,000 medals</a> from nearly 80,000 tons of electronic waste and about 6.2 million mobile phones. Presumably the medals will still showcase metal recovery at some point in future. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333422/original/file-20200507-49558-1ip5ce3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Outstanding achievements.</span>
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<p>Japan’s metals <a href="https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/medals-project/">were recovered</a> via a smelter – known as pyrometallurgy in the trade. This is the most common way of recovering precious metals from electronic waste. It <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.7b04909/suppl_file/es7b04909_si_001.pdf">costs only around</a> £185 per ton of waste, but the emissions from incineration and transportation are considerable. </p>
<p>Hydrometallurgy – the process we use at the Love Laboratory – is kinder to the environment, but costs around £396 per ton. There are numerous videos online about how to do it at home, but people need to be careful. It uses toxic chemicals and you definitely need basic chemistry knowledge. It is far safer to get help from a laboratory – or donate your e-waste <a href="https://therestartproject.org/unwanted/">to a charity</a> or sell it to a recycler. </p>
<p>Another promising method of recovery is biometallurgy, which extracts metals using bacteria and fungus. It uses very little energy, and like hydrometallurgy there’s no need to transport materials anywhere. It is also more cost-effective than smelting, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317003417_Bioleaching_of_Gold_An_alternative_green_mining_technology_for_21st_century">costing up to 50% less</a>, even if the process can take longer. Many laboratories around the world are developing this technique, so it could ramp up recovery rates in future. </p>
<h2>Road to recovery</h2>
<p>One more way to boost recovery of precious metals is to take advantage of people’s growing desire to know where their materials come from. I am keen to develop a “chain of custody” mark for recovered gold with <a href="http://www.theiaao.com/hallmarking/">assay offices</a>, whose job it is to hallmark precious metals and stones. For jewellers interested in a more ethical approach to sourcing, such a mark should help promote and develop their business. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334732/original/file-20200513-156629-1syj0yy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bowl from Love Laboratory made from silver and gold.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sandra Wilson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Electronics manufacturers currently give little thought to what happens to their products at the end of their lives. The industry needs to move to a circular economy model where metal components can be more easily removed, extracted, replaced and recovered. </p>
<p>Meantime, don’t forget the gold mine in your kitchen drawer. With the value of gold in these uncertain times increasing, it might even go up in value if you hold on to it. Who knows, maybe at some point you could even exchange a couple of old handsets for a nice piece of jewellery.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>If you liked this article, find more expertise in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-gold-series-five-essential-briefings-on-the-worlds-favourite-precious-metal-139085">our gold series</a>:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-gold-prices-go-up-and-down-five-charts-138918">Why gold prices go up and down – five charts</a></strong>
<br>Since the demise of the gold standard in the early 1970s, the precious metal has gone through four distinct phases.</p></li>
<li><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/countries-went-on-a-gold-buying-spree-before-coronavirus-took-hold-heres-why-138173">Countries went on a gold-buying spree before coronavirus took hold – here’s why</a></strong>
<br>Long before COVID-19, countries have been buying new reserves and bringing it home from overseas storage to an extent never seen in modern times.</p></li>
<li><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-struggling-gold-miners-who-are-missing-out-on-the-boom-in-precious-metals-138997">Meet the struggling gold miners who are missing out on the boom in precious metals</a></strong>
<br>You would think that anyone in the gold industry would be getting rich right now, but informal miners in many countries are missing out.</p></li>
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<br>It seized all gold bullion and coins, forcing citizens to sell at well below market rates. Then, immediately after the “confiscation”, it set a new official rate for gold that was much higher.</p></li>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Wilson receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Council (EPSRC)</span></em></p>There’s 33 times more gold in the average handset than in the equivalent amount of ore. Yet the vast majority is never recovered.Sandra Wilson, Professor of Ecological Metal Design, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1360902020-04-21T16:17:50Z2020-04-21T16:17:50ZCovid-19, isolated indigenous peoples and the history of the Amazon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329381/original/file-20200421-82707-1d7qybw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C1995%2C1360&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Antonio, from the Yanomami village of Watoriki, photographed in November 1992. After contact with Brazilian society in the 1970s, more than half the Yanomami population died from infectious diseases.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">William Milliken</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The current situation of a global pandemic invites reconsideration of similar situations that happened in the past, such as the great plague in Europe in the 14th century, or the successive and devastating influenza and measles epidemics (amongst others) which decimated indigenous populations in the post-Columbian era in Latin America, and especially in the Amazon. There, in indigenous villages, people got sick and quickly died, and subsistence activities were disrupted because crippled people were too weak to gather food or tend their agricultural plots. This story unfortunately played out until a few decades ago.</p>
<p>Among many indigenous groups, the Parakanã experienced it when opening the Transamazonian highway (see John Hemming’s book <em>Die If You Must: The Brazilian Indians in the 20th Century</em>). After contact with Brazilian society in the 1970s, more than half the population of the <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674724686">Yanomami</a>, and the <a href="https://books.openedition.org/irdeditions/24755">Matis</a> (Vale do Javari) died from epidemics. Most of them witnessed lethality rates equal or superior to 30% – an incredible toll on any society (Covid-19 lethality is <a href="https://smw.ch/article/doi/smw.2020.20203">approximately 2%, and perhaps lower</a>). Despite recent, better-organised contacts, hepatitis B and D epidemics continue to afflict recently contacted populations such as the Korubo in the Javari valley, adding the toll of malaria and influenza. </p>
<h2>With each contact, an epidemic</h2>
<p>Given the disruption of economic and social activities in our lives today, it is difficult to overstate the impact of the epidemics on indigenous populations after Europeans came to the shores of the Amazon.</p>
<p>Like us, indigenous peoples were caught by an invisible enemy and had to choose between severing social and economic ties between villages and families or confront infection and death. In the case of the Yanomami, epidemics appeared during each of their initial contacts: in 1959 with the Brazilian Border Commission; in 1967 with the New Tribes Mission; in 1973-74 with the Perimetral Norte road construction and in 1987-1990 with the illegal gold miners. They soon suspected that the incomers were the source of the problem and attributed the disease to the smell of the grease that wrapped the metal tools they were given: their word for disease is <a href="https://www.persee.fr/doc/hom_0439-4216_1988_num_28_106_368972"><em>xarawa</em> which also means fume or smoke</a>. The desirable and useful metal tools were a source of mortal danger, in what may be an early tale about epidemics and globalisation.</p>
<p>Previous experiences by indigenous peoples in the Amazon might assist a critical look at what is happening now in Brazil. Recently the Brazilian National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) banned external entries to indigenous territories to prevent transmission of the Covid-19 disease, which might wreak havoc in populations with low resistance to any kind of respiratory illness. But at the same time, President Jair Bolsonaro is aiming to alter the law so that <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901119309864">mining companies could enter indigenous territories</a> and, with his tacit approval, thousands of illegal gold miners are currently extracting gold in many of them, especially the <a href="https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/12158">Yanomami territory</a>, which FUNAI will not be able to prevent. </p>
<p>Bolsonaro also appointed <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-indigenous/brazil-prosecutors-seek-to-remove-ex-missionary-from-indigenous-post-idUSKBN2052KY">Ricardo Lopes Dias</a>, a former missionary of an evangelical church known for aggressively seeking contact and evangelising indigenous peoples, as head of FUNAI’s department for isolated and recently contacted tribes. It is feared that the FUNAI’s policy of “leave them alone unless there is a good reason” in relation to isolated groups may be changed, leading to further potentially disastrous contacts.</p>
<h2>A “pristine” jungle that never was</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329385/original/file-20200421-82684-nve3vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329385/original/file-20200421-82684-nve3vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329385/original/file-20200421-82684-nve3vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329385/original/file-20200421-82684-nve3vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=834&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329385/original/file-20200421-82684-nve3vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329385/original/file-20200421-82684-nve3vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/329385/original/file-20200421-82684-nve3vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1048&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Darcy Ribeiro’s landmark book, <em>Os Indios e a civilização</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://globaleditora.com.br/catalogos/livro/?id=3770">Global Editors</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What happened to indigenous peoples in the <a href="https://acervo.socioambiental.org/acervo/publicacoes-isa/cercos-e-resistencias-povos-indigenas-isolados-na-amazonia-brasileira">Amazon during the 20th century</a> also sheds light to the colonial period. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4564847/">Epidemics were frequent</a>, sometimes deliberately sowed by Europeans (see <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23816287?seq=1"><em>Os Indios e a civilização</em></a>, by Brazilian anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro). Regrouping Indians around missions turned out to be a source of dissemination for diseases, and interethnic conflicts incited by the colonists wiped out an unknown number of people and tribes. Father Acuña, who was on the <a href="https://bdor.sibi.ufrj.br/bitstream/doc/287/1/203%20PDF%20-%20OCR%20-%20RED.pdf">Pedro Teixeira expedition in 1637-38</a>, describes numerous villages and thriving life along the banks of the Amazon, but a few decades later this region will be seen only as the realm of nature: a “pristine” forest. </p>
<p>The disappearance of the indigenous populations of the Amazon explains, in part, assertions by anthropologist Betty Meggers in her 1954 article <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/663814">“Environmental Limitation on the Development of Culture”</a>, that the rainforest does not allow for large villages due to resource scarcity. Today, however, naturalists, ethnobotanists and archaeologists are compiling more and more data that proves that the Amazon was probably <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24395921">relatively densely populated</a>.</p>
<p>The rainforest has been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213305414000241">heavily transformed by indigenous peoples</a>, and it is only the untrained Western eye that cannot accept human influence can be present – <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6328/925">and lasting</a> – in the apparent disorder of the forest. Uncovering <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0278416517302313">big earth structures</a>, <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9781402018398">heavily modified soils</a>, innumerable traces of villages and <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2015.0813">plant domestication</a>, we are now able to see how a whole world of thriving civilisations disappeared.</p>
<p>The disappearance probably occurred in two ways. The first one by the collapse of villages/networks, such as the Marajoara civilisation of the Amazon estuary. Only a few items, especially funerary urns, earth mounds and canals, yet once a <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-74907-5_19">thriving and complex civilization existed</a>. The second may have been adaptation and the simplification of lifestyles to escape both the epidemics and the predation by slavers or missionaries (See A. Roosevelt’s book <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230492523_Moundbuilders_of_the_Amazon_Geophysical_Archaeology_on_Marajo_Island_Brazil"><em>Moundbuilders of the Amazon: Geophysical Archaeology on Marajó Island</em></a>, 1991). Current hunter-gatherer groups may in fact be remnants of older civilisations that adapted and chose to be mobile in order to escape destruction.</p>
<p>The vision of the Amazon as a relatively densely populated region, and a centre of dissemination of cultivars and civilisations is now recognised among the scientific community and has recently been <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/amazon-jungle-ancient-population-satellite-computer-model/">passed to a wider audience</a>, as the recent communication around archaeological discoveries in the Mamiraua reserve, the Tefé National Forest or in the Llanos de Moxos (Bolivia) show. However, a great number of people continue to perpetuate old images of “the world’s last virgin forest” each time the Amazon is threatened by fires or deforestation. Maybe now that we are faced with the consequences of a global pandemic, we can start rethinking, and accept that its population was wiped out principally by disease and predation. Likewise, how indigenous peoples of the Amazon transformed the forest and adapted it to their needs <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/117/6/3015">without destroying it</a>. </p>
<h2>Pulling back from the “tipping point”</h2>
<p>When the Covid-19 pandemic is over and the world starts thinking again about our impact on the environment, such an example might prove inspiring, especially at a time when the Amazon forest is at the <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/12/eaba2949">“tipping point”</a> and repeatedly faces <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/2/eaay1632">giant fires</a>. </p>
<p>We might also want to reflect on the fact that advances of Western-style consumption of remaining forests can be the sources of new diseases, especially of <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2014.0950">viruses passing from animals to humans</a> like <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/bat-species-may-be-source-ebola-epidemic-killed-more-11000-people-west-africa">Ebola</a>. Like a boomerang, such diseases currently strike us in the same way that indigenous peoples across the world were struck by germs that were disseminated at the time of the colonial conquest.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors wish to acknowledge Bruce Albert, author with Davi Kopenawa of “The Falling Sky”, and Fiona Watson, of Survival International, for their contribution.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136090/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>François-Michel Le Tourneau a reçu des financements de l'ANR et le CNRS.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Milliken ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>There are telling parallels between the current pandemic and those that decimated indigenous populations in the post-Columbian era in the Amazon.François-Michel Le Tourneau, Géographe, directeur de recherche au CNRS, École normale supérieure (ENS) – PSLWilliam Milliken, Research leader, Royal Botanic Gardens, KewLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1232922019-09-25T13:44:31Z2019-09-25T13:44:31ZLifting the lid on Ghana’s illegal small-scale mining problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293555/original/file-20190923-54775-1mqzir0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Small-scale gold mining in what is modern day Ghana can be traced as far back <a href="https://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Crawford-et-al-2015-Final-Report-1.pdf">as the 15th century</a>. It continues to be an important means of livelihood for many relatively low-income Ghanaians and is highly significant for the economy as a whole. In fact, its economic importance has increased dramatically in recent years. </p>
<p>Under Ghanaian law mining is “reserved for Ghanaians”. Despite this, over the last decade there’s been a <a href="https://www.asiabyafrica.com/point-a-to-a/galamsey-ghana-illegal-mining-china">notable development</a> – the arrival of large numbers of foreign miners, particularly from China. </p>
<p>In 2006 small numbers of Chinese and other foreign miners came to Ghana to engage in gold mining. Then a hike in gold prices from 2008 onwards led to a veritable gold rush and the arrival of significant numbers of foreign miners. Most were working on an illicit and illegal basis. Foreign miners came from countries in West Africa, as well as Armenia and Russia. But the largest concentration was from China.</p>
<p>By 2013, the scale of Chinese citizens’ involvement in informal gold mining in Ghana was inviting increasingly hostile media coverage as well as outbreaks of violence. The government was finally forced to act. Then President John Mahama established an inter-ministerial task force to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/15/ghana-deports-chinese-goldminers">combat</a> illegal small scale mining. The President was careful to include both by Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians. But the subtext was clear – this measure was primarily aimed at foreign miners. </p>
<p>By mid 2013 significant numbers of foreign nationals, the majority of whom were Chinese, had been arrested or deported. Many more left voluntarily. As a result the visible presence of foreign miners in small scale gold mining declined. But, as research we’ve been involved in over the past 15 years shows, there have been enduring legacies of this short, intensive period of foreign involvement. </p>
<p>Our research ranged from looking at <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14662043.2017.1283479">conflict, collusion and corruption</a> in small-scale gold mining, specifically in relation to Chinese miners and the state in Ghana. We also looked at <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/imig.12518">the impact</a> of China’s informal gold rush in Ghana as well as the militarisation and criminalisation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining.</p>
<p>Our findings revealed that the sector is rife with corruption. We also conclude that closing off foreign involvement in small-scale mining in the face of extremely low local investment and high unemployment is unlikely to work. Our view is that the government may have to shift its focus. Instead of trying to ban the activity, it should allow it, and accompany this with better regulation.</p>
<h2>The mining sector</h2>
<p>Last year <a href="http://ghanachamberofmines.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Performance-of-the-Mining-Industry-2018.pdf">Ghana</a> overtook South Africa as the largest producer of gold in Africa. Artisanal and small scale mining accounts for 35% of Ghana’s <a href="https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/16618IIED.pdf">total</a> gold production. </p>
<p>For many years, small-scale mining suffered benign neglect from the state which focused on large-scale mining. Local financial institutions also remained uninterested, and very little was done to advance production technology. </p>
<p>Small-scale mining was illegal until 1989 when a new <a href="https://asgmresearch.weebly.com/uploads/3/0/1/6/30160743/small-scale_gold_mining_act1989.pdf">law</a> was passed to legalise and regularise the sector by introducing a licensing process. This was then consolidated in the Minerals and Mining <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha85046.pdf">Act</a> in 2006 which enabled artisanal miners to apply for a concession of 25 acres maximum in designated areas through the Minerals Commission. </p>
<p>But it’s estimated that less than 30% of small-scale miners are formally registered. Most remain informal and illicit, known as “galamsey”.</p>
<p>Big changes happened at the beginning of the new millennium. Ghana’s small-scale mining got caught in the vortex of globalisation which led to increased movement of people across continents, easier movement of finance, technological migration and intensification of mining. A sector that had been deprived of investment for so long suddenly discovered new suitors. </p>
<p>Among them were miners and business people from <a href="https://chinaafricaproject.com/shanglin-county-cliques-african-gold-rush-making-a-fortune-or-die-trying-translation/">Shanglin County</a> in Guangxi Province of China, who were already familiar with small-scale gold mining in their home country. They had developed more advanced technology to increase gold production, and were able to obtain loans from Chinese banks to invest in the activity. </p>
<h2>Conflict, collusion and corruption</h2>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14662043.2017.1283479">research</a> on conflict, collusion and corruption, we looked at how Ghanaian artisanal miners quickly seized the opportunity and entered into informal partnerships with the Chinese investors. Most partnerships were illegal because Ghana’s laws reserve small-scale mining for Ghanaians. </p>
<p>But there was one exception: foreign companies were <a href="https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/16618IIED.pdf">allowed</a> to act as “support service providers” to small-scale concession holders.</p>
<p>After the spike in the gold price in 2008, an astonishing illicit, free-for-all ensued. Both Ghanaian and Chinese miners engaged in both conflict and collaboration over access to gold. The situation was described as “out of control” and characterised by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14662043.2017.1283479">“a culture of impunity”</a> at its height in 2012 and 2013. </p>
<p>Chinese miners, in particular, numbering tens of thousands, introduced mechanisation and new technology.</p>
<p>Looking at <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/imig.12518">the impact</a> of this period, we found that irregular migration into an informal sector had long‐lasting effects. Irrevocable changes happened in a short space of time. </p>
<p>One consequence of the developments was that the economic rewards became greater. Another was that inequality among Ghanaians involved in small‐scale mining also increased substantially. This included a gendered dimension, as women, children, and many young people were left to extract the “scraps” left after mechanised alluvial gold mining.</p>
<p>Another affect of the rise in small-scale mining has been that many acres of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/ghana-gold-mining-cocoa-environment/">cocoa</a> farms have been lost. This has led to a significant <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14662043.2017.1283479">drop</a> in cocoa production.</p>
<p>Another consequence was incalculable environmental damage to land and water bodies. Streams and rivers being diverted for mining purposes, and surface and ground water was polluted with hazardous chemicals, notably cyanide and mercury for gold processing. </p>
<p>The Ghana water company <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/ghana-gold-mining-cocoa-environment/">reported</a> that between 2008 and 2018 there was a 50% loss of water available for treatment. It warned that if illegal mining was left unchecked, Ghana could be importing water in the next 10 years.</p>
<p>Already in some villages in the western and central regions of Ghana, residents have to travel to urban areas to buy sachet water for drinking and basic staples such as cassava to feed themselves due to mercury and diesel pollution of land and water resources. </p>
<p>The government’s taskforce has done little to stop the activity. Recent <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Water-crisis-in-Cape-Coast-worsens-as-GWCL-blames-galamsey-749652">evidence</a> of worsening water quality shows this. Ghana’s <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/20-chinese-nationals-arrested-for-engaging-in-galamsey/zf22r3v">media</a> also continues to report recurring arrests of illegal miners, both foreign and locals.</p>
<p>In our view, small-scale mining with foreign involvement is unlikely to stop. The state would do better by creating legislation for this mid-level group, which has claimed space for itself, and to regulate it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabriel Botchwey received funding from the International Growth Centre, under the auspices of London School of Economics, to undertake part of the research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon Crawford received funding from the International Growth Centre, under the auspices of the London School of Economics, to undertake part of research</span></em></p>Efforts to regulate the lucrative mining venture are not proving successful due to collusion and corruption.Gabriel Botchwey, Senior Lecturer, Political Science, Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development Gordon Crawford, Professor, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1139952019-04-18T21:10:14Z2019-04-18T21:10:14ZEarth Day: Colonialism’s role in the overexploitation of natural resources<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270020/original/file-20190418-28110-hl4mnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mining is a highly destructive endeavour towards our environment but demand for gems and minerals is non-stop; early colonial relationships continue to define these industries. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are currently experiencing the worst <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/10/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-event-already-underway-scientists-warn">environmental crisis</a> in human history, including a “biological annihilation” of wildlife and dire risks for the future of human civilization. </p>
<p>The scale of that environmental devastation has <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/05/rate-of-environmental-damage-increasing-across-planet-but-still-time-to-reverse-worst-impacts/">increased drastically</a> in recent years. Mostly to blame are anthropogenic, or human-generated factors, including the burning of <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/">fossil fuels</a> like coal and oil. </p>
<p>Other industries like gem and mineral mining also destroy the world’s ecological sustainability, leading to deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats. Much of this traumatic exploitation of natural resources traces its origins to early <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01916599.2012.716603">colonialism</a>. </p>
<p>Colonialists saw “new” territories as places with unlimited resources to exploit, with little consideration for the long-term impacts. They exploited what they considered to be an <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520246782/the-unending-frontier">“unending frontier”</a> at the service of early modern state-making and capitalist development. </p>
<p>To understand our current <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html">ecological catastrophe</a>, described as “a world of worsening food shortages and wildfires, and a mass die-off of coral reefs as soon as 2040,” we need to look at the role of colonialism at its roots. </p>
<p>This exploration is not a debate over <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/dont-mistake-nostalgia-about-british-empire-scholarship">whether colonialism was “good” or “bad”</a>. Instead, it is about understanding how this global process helped create the world we currently inhabit. </p>
<h2>Clear-cutting rainforests for industrial rubber</h2>
<p>Since the 15th century, <a href="https://indianoceanworldcentre.com/welcome/our-mission/">the Indian Ocean has been the site of global trade</a>. Colonialism built upon local economic systems but also profoundly built up and shaped many of the massive industries and processes that are currently at play in the region. </p>
<p>For example, British colonialists transformed the <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674287242&content=reviews">Malay peninsula into a plantation economy</a> to meet the needs of industrial Britain and America. This included the expanding demand for cheap rubber during the industrial revolution. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270011/original/file-20190418-28103-d0fnyt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thousands of Indians were brought in as indentured (contract) workers to work in various Malayan rubber plantations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nlb.gov.sg/biblio/14416012">The Malaysian Indian Dilemma/Janakey Raman Manickam</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Exploitative colonial policies in Singapore and the peninsula limited the economic options of poor Malays, Indians and Chinese. These workers were increasingly forced to clear cut vast swathes of rainforest to literally carve out a living for themselves at the expense of local ecosystems. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, more than half a century after the end of colonial rule in the Malay peninsula, the over-exploitation of local resources through extensive logging continues apace. Once numerous, Malayan tigers are now classified as a <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/malayan-tiger#">critically endangered</a> species due, in part, to habitat loss from logging and road development. </p>
<p>Deforestation in Malaysian Borneo also continues to accelerate, mainly due to the ongoing global demand for <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/drivers-of-deforestation-2016-palm-oil">palm oil</a> and lumber.</p>
<h2>Exporting for global markets</h2>
<p>In Myanmar (formerly Burma), trade in raw commodities goes back centuries. Under colonial rule, the export of minerals, timber and opium expanded enormously, placing unprecedented strain on local resources. </p>
<p>The integration of regions north of the <a href="https://wle-mekong.cgiar.org/changes/where-we-work/irrawaddy-river-basin/">Irrawaddy River basin</a> into the Burmese colonial state <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417504000179">drastically increased</a> economic integration between upland areas rich in natural resources and larger flows of European and Chinese capital. </p>
<p>Today, despite generating <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/cf46e086-6909-11e6-a0b1-d87a9fea034f">billions of dollars in revenue</a>, these regions are some of the poorest in the country and are home to widespread human rights abuses and environmental disasters. </p>
<h2>Extracting Africa’s gemstones and minerals</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/10/diamond-trade-still-fuels-human-suffering">human cost</a> of the diamond trade in West and South Africa is relatively well-known. Less known are the devastating effects on Africa’s environment that the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/may/02/society.conservationandendangeredspecies1">stripping of natural resources</a> such as diamonds, ivory, bauxite, oil, timber and minerals has produced. This mining serves a global demand for these minerals and gems.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-environmental-impact-of-the-mining-industry.html">intensive mining operations</a> required to deliver diamonds and other precious stones or minerals to world markets degrades the land, reduces air quality and pollutes local water sources. The result is an overall loss of biodiversity and significant environmental impacts on human health. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=623&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270015/original/file-20190418-28103-1jay9t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">African gold miners in a tunnel following a vein of ore, in the Crown Mine, in the greatest gold-bearing region of the world, near Johannesburg, South Africa, 1935.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From 1867 to 1871, exploratory digging along the Vaal, Harts and Orange rivers in South Africa prompted a large-scale diamond rush that saw a massive influx of miners and speculators pour into the region in search of riches. By 1888, the diamond industry in South Africa had transformed into a monopoly, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/history-of-de-beers-2011-12">De Beers Consolidated Mines</a> becoming the sole producer. </p>
<p>Around the same time, miners in nearby Witwatersrand discovered the world’s largest gold fields, fuelling the spread of lucrative new mining industries. As European powers carved up the continent in the so-called “scramble for Africa” during the late 19th century, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050718000128">commercial exports</a> came to replace slavery as the primary economic motivation for direct colonial occupation. </p>
<p>New transportation technologies and economic growth fuelled by the industrial revolution created a global demand for African exports, including gemstones and minerals that required extensive mining operations to extract.</p>
<p>From 1930 to 1961, the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-2281.12103">diamond industry in Sierra Leone</a> played a crucial role in shaping and defining colonial governmental strategies and scientific expertise throughout the region. </p>
<p>Nearby Liberia was never formally colonized and was established as a homeland for freed African-American slaves. But American slaveholders and politicians saw the republic primarily as a solution to <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/03/our-liberian-legacy/304821/">limit the “corrupting influence” of freed slaves on American society</a>. </p>
<p>To “help” Liberia get out of debt to Britain, the U.S.-based Firestone Tire and Rubber Company extended a $5-million loan in 1926 in exchange for a 99-year lease on a million acres of land to be used for rubber plantations. This loan was the beginning of direct <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1922/09/liberia-and-negro-rule/376221/">economic control</a> over Liberian affairs. </p>
<h2>Unequal power relations</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12076">report</a> suggests that Africa is on the verge of a fresh mining boom driven by demand in North America, India, and China that will only worsen existing ecological crises. Consumer demand for minerals such as tantalum, a key component for the production of electronics, lies at the heart of current mining operations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270009/original/file-20190418-28084-iu6dgu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Photograph from 1892 of a pile of American bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our understanding of colonialism is often limited to simple ideas about what we think colonialism looked like in the past. These ideas impede our ability to identify the complex ways that colonialism shaped and continues to shape the uneven power structures of the 21st century, as anthropologist and historian Ann Laura Stoler <a href="https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/19/DuressImperial-Durabilities-in-Our-Times">argues in her book, <em>Duress</em></a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2017/wp152_2017.pdf">Unequal power relations</a> between and within developed and developing countries continue to define the causes and consequences of climate change. A clearer understanding of where these problems came from is a necessary first step towards solving them.</p>
<p>People in prosperous countries are often unaware that the garbage they throw out every day often gets shipped around the world to become <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/craig-and-marc-kielburger/canada-manila-recycling_b_5452730.html">somebody else’s problem</a>. </p>
<p>While people debate whether climate change should be taken seriously from the comfort of their air-conditioned homes, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/climate-change-drives-migration-crisis-in-bangladesh-from-dhaka-sundabans/">hundreds of thousands of people</a> are already suffering the consequences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph McQuade receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is a Senior Research Fellow at the NATO Association of Canada.</span></em></p>Much of the devastation of our globe’s natural resources traces its origins to early colonialism. These relationships continue to define the extraction of resources that severely impact ecosystems.Joseph McQuade, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for South Asian Studies, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1105152019-04-02T13:21:14Z2019-04-02T13:21:14ZFrom medicine to nanotechnology: how gold quietly shapes our world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266772/original/file-20190401-177163-1hbwmu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">itti ratanakiranaworn/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The periodic table of chemical elements <a href="https://www.iypt2019.org/">turns 150</a> this year. The anniversary is a chance to shine a light on particular elements – some of which seem ubiquitous but which ordinary people beyond the world of chemistry probably don’t know much about.</p>
<p>One of these is gold, which was the subject of my postgraduate degrees in chemistry, and which I have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Werner_Van_Zyl">been studying</a> for almost 30 years. In chemistry, gold can be considered a late starter when compared to most other metals. It was always considered to be chemically “inert” – but in recent decades it has flourished and a variety of interesting applications have emerged. </p>
<h2>A long, curious history</h2>
<p>Gold takes its name from the Latin word aurum (“yellow”). It’s an element with a long but rather mysterious history. For instance, it’s one of 12 confirmed elements on the periodic table whose discoverer <a href="http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/79/gold">is unknown</a>. The others are carbon, sulfur, copper, silver, iron, tin, antimony, mercury, lead, zinc and bismuth.</p>
<p>Though we’re not sure who discovered it, there’s evidence to suggest it was known to the ancient Egyptians as far back as <a href="http://raregoldnuggets.com/?p=6724">3000 BC</a>. Historically, its primary use was for jewellery; this is still the case <a href="https://www.sbcgold.com/blog/top-6-common-uses-for-gold/">today</a>, it’s also used in mint coins. Gold is also found in ancient and modern art: it’s used to prepare ruby or purple pigment, or as gold leaf.</p>
<p>South Africa was once the top <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/06/13/top-10-gold-producing-countries/#7580dae84a87">gold-producing country</a> by far: it mined over 1,000 tonnes in 1970 alone. Its annual output has steadily fallen since then – the top three gold producing countries <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/06/13/top-10-gold-producing-countries/#7580dae84a87">in 2017</a> were China, Australia and Russia, with a <em>combined</em> output of almost 1000 tonnes. South Africa has dropped to 8th position, even surpassed by Peru and Indonesia. </p>
<p>But gold’s uses and its chemical properties extend into many other areas beyond jewels and minted coins. From pharmaceutical research to nanotechnology, this ancient element is being used to drive new technologies that are pushing the world into the future.</p>
<h2>Why and how it’s useful</h2>
<p>Of the 118 confirmed elements in the periodic table, nine are naturally occurring elements with radioactive <a href="http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nuclear-applications/radioisotopes-research/radioisotopes-in-medicine.aspx">isotopes</a> that are used in so-called nuclear medicine. Gold is not radioactive, but is nevertheless very useful in medicine in the form of gold-containing drugs. </p>
<p>There are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03214741">two classes</a> of gold drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. One is injectable gold thiolates – molecules with a sulfur atom at one end, and a chemical chain of virtually any description attached to them – found in drugs such as Myocrisin, Solganol and Allocrysin. The other is an oral complex called <a href="https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB00995">Auranofin</a>. </p>
<p>Gold is also increasingly being used in <a href="https://www.nature.com/collections/btvngkffdj">nanotechnology</a>. A nanomaterial is generally considered a material where any of its three dimensions is 100 nanometres (nm) or less. Nanotechnology is useful because it is not restricted to a particular material – any material could in principle be made into a nanomaterial – but rather a particular property: the property of size. </p>
<p>For example, gold in its bulk form has a distinct yellow colour. But as it is broken up into very small pieces it starts to change colour, through a range of red and purple, depending on the relative size of the gold nanoparticles. Such nanoparticles could be used in a variety of applications, for example in the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039914018302054">biomedical</a> or <a href="https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=3284">optical-electronic</a> fields. </p>
<p>Another exciting advancement for gold in nanotechnology was the discovery in 1983 that a clean gold surface dipped into a solution containing a thiolate could form <a href="https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2010/cs/b907301a">self-assembled monolayers</a>. These monolayers modify the surface of gold in very innovative ways. Research into surface modification is important because the surface of anything can show very different properties than the bulk (that is, the inside) of the same material. </p>
<h2>More to come</h2>
<p>Gold nanoparticles have also proven to be an effective catalyst. A catalyst is a material that increases the rate of a chemical reaction and so reduces the amount of energy required without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. This is important because catalysis lies at the heart of many <a href="https://www.anl.gov/article/7-things-you-may-not-know-about-catalysis">manufactured goods</a> we use today. For example, a catalyst turns propylene into propylene oxide, which is the first step in making antifreeze. </p>
<p>Two discoveries in the 1980s made scientists look at gold catalysis differently. Masatake Haruta, in Osaka, Japan, made mixed oxides containing gold – and <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acscatal.5b01122">discovered</a> the material was remarkably active to catalyse the oxidation of toxic carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. Today, this catalyst is found in vehicle exhausts.</p>
<p>At the same time <a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/38519-hutchings-graham">Graham Hutchings</a>, who was working in industry in Johannesburg, South Africa, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nchem.388">discovered a gold catalyst</a> that would work best for acetylene hydrochlorination. This process is central to PVC plastic, which is used in virtually all plumbing production. Until then, the industrial catalyst for this process was using environmentally unfriendly mercuric chloride material. </p>
<h2>Many applications</h2>
<p>In my opinion, gold has many more uses that haven’t yet been discovered. There is much more to come in the world of <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ed400782p">gold research</a>. </p>
<p>There will, in the next few years, be new developments in how the element is used in, amongst others, medicine, nanotechnology and catalysis. It will also find new applications in relativistic quantum chemistry (combining relativistic mechanics with quantum chemistry), surface science (the physics and chemistry of surfaces and how they interact), luminescence and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9783527626724.ch5">photophysics</a> – and more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110515/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Werner van Zyl does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Gold is one of 12 confirmed elements on the periodic table whose discoverer is unknown.Werner van Zyl, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Lecturer in sustainable biomass, energy and water systems, University of KwaZulu-NatalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1060732018-12-16T19:21:07Z2018-12-16T19:21:07ZAfterlife of the mine: lessons in how towns remake challenging sites<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249385/original/file-20181207-128211-sd2oz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Old mine sites suffer many fates, which range from simply being abandoned to being incorporated into towns or turned into an open-air museum in the case of Gwalia, Western Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The question of what to do with abandoned mine sites confronts both regional communities and mining companies in the wake of Australia’s recent mining boom. The companies are increasingly required to consider site remediation and reuse. Ex-mining sites do <a href="https://theconversation.com/sending-mines-to-rehab-good-for-health-good-for-the-environment-2216">present challenges</a>, but also <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-mine-to-wine-creative-uses-for-old-holes-in-the-ground-3245">hold opportunities</a> for regional areas. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-to-rehab-the-mining-downturn-risks-making-mine-clean-ups-even-more-of-an-afterthought-58502">No to rehab? The mining downturn risks making mine clean-ups even more of an afterthought</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Old mine sites can provide a foundation for unique urban patterns, functions and transformations, as they have done in the past. It is useful to look at historical gold-mining regions, such as the Victorian goldfields, to understand how these sites have shaped the organisation and character of their towns.</p>
<p>Research by The University of Queensland’s Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation suggests Australia has <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-should-we-do-with-australias-50-000-abandoned-mines-18197">more than 50,000 abandoned mine sites</a>. Some are in isolated places. But many others are close to or embedded within regional settlements that developed specifically to support and enable mining activity. </p>
<p>Abandoned mines present unique challenges for remediation:</p>
<ul>
<li>the sites are large (sometimes enormous)</li>
<li>their landscapes are <a href="https://theconversation.com/restoration-wont-work-a-new-way-to-fix-old-mines-21236">environmentally and structurally degraded</a></li>
<li>sites are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-children-exposed-to-toxic-mining-metals-do-worse-at-school-48343">often contaminated</a> by substances used in processing – like arsenic in the case of historical goldmines. </li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/soil-arsenic-from-mining-waste-poses-long-term-health-threats-5901">Soil arsenic from mining waste poses long-term health threats</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These characteristics exclude mining sites from reuse for activities such as residential development. The sites are often considered fundamentally problematic. At times former mining sites have been reused opportunistically, accommodating functions and uses that could co-exist with the compromised physical landscape.</p>
<h2>How have old mines shaped our towns?</h2>
<p>The industrial patterns established during the Victorian gold-mining boom are traceable through observing the street layout and the location of civic buildings, public functions and open spaces of former gold-mining towns. </p>
<p>For example, in the gold-mining town of Stawell, a pattern of informal and winding tracks was established between mining functions. These tracks later provided the basis for the town’s street organisation and land division, including the meandering Main Street, which forms the central spine of the town.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left: Cascading dams in Stawell are remnants of the industrial crushing processes that were linked together along naturally occurring gullies. Right: Looking from Cato Lake towards Stawell Town Hall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper, Laura</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cato Lake, behind Main Street, was transformed from the tailings dam of the Victoria Crushing Mill. St Georges Crushing Mill and its associated dams became the Stawell Wetlands. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Current residential allotments in Stawell overlaid with the geographical survey of 1887. The gaps correspond to mining claims, crushing mills, tailings dams and other industrial processes associated with mining.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper, Laura/Map underlay from Mining Department of Melbourne</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other mining sites were transformed into the car park for Stawell Regional Health, the track for Stawell Harness Racing Club and the ovals for the local secondary college. A survey of public open spaces in Stawell shows that over time former mining sites accommodated most of the town’s public functions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Open space in Stawell showing the correlation of past mining sites with public function:
1. Central Park – public reserve est. 1860s.
2. Cato Park and Bowls Club – was Victoria Co. Crushing Mill
3. Stawell Regional Health – built over a mullock heap associated with the St George Co. Crushing Mill.
4. Wetland Precinct – was part of St George Co. Crushing Mill
5. Stawell Harness Racing Club – was part of Wimmera Co. Crushing Mill
6. Stawell Secondary College and grounds – was part of Wimmera Co. Crushing Mill
7. Borough of Stawell reservoir (disused) – was part of Wimmera Co. Crushing Mill
8. Federation University (Stawell Campus) – was School of Mines and prior, St George Lead (surface diggings)
9. Stawell State School – public reserve established in 1865
10. North Park Recreation Reserve – was part of Galatea Co. Mine / Grants Crushing Mill
11. Stawell Leisure Complex – was part of Galatea Co. Mine / Grants Crushing Mill
12. Oriental Co. Mine Historic Area – was Oriental Co. Mine
13. Moonlight-cum-Magdala Mine Historic Area – was Magdala Mine / Moonlight Co. Mine
14. Big Hill reserve, lookout and arboretum – site of multiple claims including Sloan and Scotchman, Cross Reef Consolidated and Federal Claim</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper, Laura</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many other Victorian goldfields towns developed in similar ways to Stawell. These towns have lakes or other water bodies in and around their central urban areas that were born out of mines. </p>
<p>Calembeen Park and St Georges Lake in Creswick and Lake Daylesford in Daylesford were all formed through the planned collapsing of multiple underground mines to create urban outdoor swimming spots. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Calembeen Park in Creswick is a swimming hole with a diving board that takes advantage of the extreme depth of the lake formed through collapsing several underground mines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Bendigo, the ornamental Lake Weeroona was formed on the site of the alluvial diggings. Other sites in these towns became parks, ovals, rubbish tips and public functions that could be accommodated on the degraded land.</p>
<p>Abandoned mine sites outside towns have also been used for unique purposes. Deemed unsuitable for use by the farming and forestry industries, these sites have developed into havens for flora and fauna, including endangered species. A 2015 article in Wildlife Australia magazine details instances of the Eastern Bentwing-bat and the Australian Ghost Bat <a href="https://www.forestrycorporation.com.au/about/releases/safeguarding-the-public-and-protecting-threatened-bats-at-mogo-state-forest">adopting abandoned gold mines</a> as replacement habitat for breeding and raising their young. </p>
<p>The neglect of other gold-mining sites has preserved historical remnants by default. The <a href="https://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/castlemaine-diggings-national-heritage-park">Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park</a> in Victoria is one example. Here, water races, puddling machines and crushing batteries are hidden amid dense bushland. </p>
<p>The town of Gwalia in Western Australia, abandoned after its mine closed, has been transformed into a <a href="http://www.gwalia.org.au/">town-sized open-air museum</a>.</p>
<h2>And what uses are possible in future?</h2>
<p>Historical gold-mining sites in or near towns continue to be adapted for unusual uses. The Stawell Goldmine on Big Hill in Stawell is being converted to accommodate the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (<a href="https://www.darkmatter.org.au/allposts/2018/11/27/sabre-south-and-supl">SUPL</a>), a research laboratory one kilometre below the surface. Cosmic waves are unable to infiltrate the abandoned mining tunnels, so the conditions are ideal for exploring the theorised existence of dark matter.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Working on the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory deep underground in an old mine tunnel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Swinburne University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digging-for-cosmic-gold-the-hunt-for-dark-matter-at-the-bottom-of-a-gold-mine-69890">Digging for cosmic gold: the hunt for dark matter at the bottom of a gold mine</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Bendigo it is proposed to use the extensive historical mine shafts under
the town to <a href="https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/renewable-energy/pumped-hydro">generate and store pumped hydroelectricity</a>. This scheme, recently explored as a <a href="https://www.bsg.org.au/bendigo-pumped-hydro-project/">feasibility study by Bendigo Sustainability Group</a>, would use solar panels to create power to pump underground water up through the mining shafts to be stored at the surface. When power is required the water would be released through turbines to generate electricity.</p>
<p>The lack of demand for remediating sites for market-led uses (such as urban development, farming or forestry) broadens their potential for uses that might otherwise seem marginal or improbable, such as new forms of public space. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-mine-to-wine-creative-uses-for-old-holes-in-the-ground-3245">From mine to wine: creative uses for old holes in the ground</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The scale and remoteness of many post-industrial mining sites in Australia – such as Western Australia’s <a href="http://www.superpit.com.au/">Super Pit gold mine</a>, which is 3.5 kilometres long and 600 metres deep – might mean that approaches to reuse different from those taken with historical goldmines are required. We don’t have to wait until a mine’s closure to think about how it might be used in the future.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the regions. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The industrial patterns of mining shaped many Australian towns, which found varied uses for disused mine sites. The mining boom ensures the challenges these sites present will be with us a long time.Laura Harper, Lecturer in Architecture, Monash UniversityAlysia Bennett, Lecturer and Researcher, Department of Architecture, Monash UniversityRoss Brewin, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1081422018-12-05T11:16:41Z2018-12-05T11:16:41ZMadagascar: fear and violence making rainforest conservation more challenging than ever<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248995/original/file-20181205-186076-1462ryd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ranomafana National Park.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search?searchterm=ranomafana+national+park&search_source=base_search_form&language=en&page=1&sort=popular&image_type=all&measurement=px&safe=true">LouieLea/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>People are too afraid to return to the village so they are sleeping in the forest or have left altogether. They have lost their stored grain and all their belongings. I don’t know how they will get by.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These are the words of Riana*, a young woman from Bevoahazo, a tiny village in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar. Bevoahazo sits on the edge of Ranomafana National Park in a <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1257">UNESCO world heritage site</a> teeming with endangered and endemic species. Security in the area <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/conservation-in-a-weak-state-madagascar-struggles-with-enforcement/">has been deteriorating</a> over the last few years but things have escalated recently.</p>
<p>On November 24, 50 men raided the village stealing stores of rice – vital food reserves for local people who are mostly subsistence farmers – and injuring anyone who tried to defend their property. A few days later the local police chief, <a href="https://www.lexpressmada.com/29/11/2018/ranomafana-des-dahalo-tuent-le-commandant-de-brigade/">Heritiana Emilson Rambeloson</a>, who had come to the area with a small team to investigate, was shot dead.</p>
<p>I spent two years living in Bevoahazo in the early 2000s while researching the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00269.x-i1">sustainability of crayfish harvesting</a>. I have spoken to friends from the village who are are currently staying in the nearby town of Ranomafana for safety, and researchers in the area to get a better understanding of what is happening. </p>
<h2>Bandits and biodiversity</h2>
<p>Patricia Wright, a professor of anthropology, has spent more than 30 years working in Ranomafana. She directs the <a href="https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/centre-valbio/">Centre Valbio</a>, an internationally renowned conservation research centre situated on the edge of the forest. She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The security situation is at crisis point. This is leading to real human suffering in one of the most important places for biodiversity on the planet. The [murdered policeman] was smart, dedicated to his job and was interested in wildlife and the importance of the forest. A genuine friend. We will miss him.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The recent death comes just months after a member of Valbio staff was killed by bandits. Jean François Xavier Razafindraibe <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/bandits-raid-village-near-madagascar-park-killing-conservation-worker/">was killed</a> when armed men raided his village close to the park entrance in June 2018.</p>
<p>Ranomafana National Park was established by the Malagasy government <a href="https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20033127502">to protect its globally important biodiversity</a>. As part of the <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1257">Forests of Atsinanana</a> it is home to a number of critically endangered endemic lemurs such as the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9672/16119513">golden bamboo lemur</a> and the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22918/16121857">black-and-white ruffed lemur</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248729/original/file-20181204-34134-1gp9xs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248729/original/file-20181204-34134-1gp9xs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248729/original/file-20181204-34134-1gp9xs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248729/original/file-20181204-34134-1gp9xs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248729/original/file-20181204-34134-1gp9xs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248729/original/file-20181204-34134-1gp9xs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248729/original/file-20181204-34134-1gp9xs8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ranomafana National Park is home to the critically endangered black-and-white ruffed lemur.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Burgas</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ranomafana is a popular tourist spot in Madagascar with stunning scenery, rare wildlife and the friendly, sleepy town nearby. So far the insecurity hasn’t influenced tourism. As Wright says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The bandits steer clear of tourists, but the villagers are living a life of fear.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Gold mining’s dark influence</h2>
<p><a href="http://blog.khbannarmartin.com/?p=238">Miners</a> panning for gold illegally in the forest interior are a source of the insecurity. This has been an ongoing issue for many years but has become much more difficult for the park authorities to control. The miners <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/conservation-in-a-weak-state-madagascar-struggles-with-enforcement/">pollute rivers</a>, clear the rare swamp forest and hunt endangered wildlife for meat.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248741/original/file-20181204-34148-1tfj8k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248741/original/file-20181204-34148-1tfj8k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248741/original/file-20181204-34148-1tfj8k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248741/original/file-20181204-34148-1tfj8k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248741/original/file-20181204-34148-1tfj8k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248741/original/file-20181204-34148-1tfj8k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/248741/original/file-20181204-34148-1tfj8k.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illegal gold miners in the forest are thought to be the source of the raids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ricardo Rocha</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The situation is complicated. Armed cattle thieves known as <a href="http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20180623-madagascar-difficile-lutte-contre-le-vol-zebus"><em>dahalo</em></a> are causing havoc in many areas of Madagascar. A recent estimate suggests they have caused <a href="http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20180623-madagascar-difficile-lutte-contre-le-vol-zebus">4,000 deaths</a> in the last five years alone.</p>
<p>In 2017, the mayor of the neighbouring town of Ambalakindresy, Elysé Arsène Ratsimbazafy, was shot dead in what is <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/conservation-in-a-weak-state-madagascar-struggles-with-enforcement/">widely believed to have been a hit</a>. He had run for election on a platform of ridding the town of the bandits and had cooperated with efforts to get the miners expelled from the national park interior.</p>
<p>Mar Cabeza, a professor of biology at the University of Helsinki, returned from the area a few days ago. She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The gold mining has escalated in recent years and differs greatly from previous subsistence-related threats. The widespread fear has negatively affected both research and conservation management.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of Cabeza’s PhD students, Marketta Vuola, was meant to conduct research in the attacked villages recently, but was warned of the danger and moved to another village. Vuola told me </p>
<blockquote>
<p>News spread fast, with all villages in the region being afraid. We spent last night hiding, with our day packs ready to escape to the forest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There has been a robust response to the recent series of attacks. The district quickly sent reinforcements of 80 police. This will hopefully reassure the local population, allowing people to return to their village, and will reduce the immediate threat.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/animals-are-victims-of-human-conflict-so-can-conservation-help-build-peace-in-warzones-90045">Animals are victims of human conflict, so can conservation help build peace in warzones?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This reassurance is essential as my old friend Koto* told me over the phone: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>People need to be able to get back home to tend their crops; if they can’t do this they will suffer even more.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However the rise in insecurity reflects a wider problem of respect for the rule of law in Madagascar. Jonah Ratsimbazafy, a professor of paleontology at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you focus on what is happening, then you will lose your hope for Madagascar. We must focus on the solutions. Good governance is crucial in order to develop the economy of Madagascar and for saving the irreplaceable biodiversity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/former-madagascar-presidents-to-contest-run-off-vote-18304151">Madagascar will elect a new president on December 19</a>. People in Bevoahazo, and throughout Madagascar, are hoping that the new government can bring the change so desperately needed.</p>
<p><em>*Names changed to protect identities.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia P G Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recent spate of attacks have left local people scared for their safety in rural Madagascar, threatening vital conservation work in the nearby rainforest.Julia P G Jones, Professor of Conservation Science, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1034752018-09-23T18:16:32Z2018-09-23T18:16:32ZThe ‘natural resource curse’ and artisanal mines: the case of Burkina Faso<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236901/original/file-20180918-158234-ugx1mp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">file aqomku</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Is there a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse">“natural resources curse”</a> as economists call it? This burning question arises in all resource-rich countries where the majority of the population is living in poverty. Political instability, conflicts, or poorly run institutions are all country-level explanations. But is it enough? Another important aspect of the question is that resources can be extracted in an artisanal or industrial way. The effects on local populations then differ widely.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.afd.fr/en/gold-digger-and-machine-evidence-distributive-effect-artisanal-and-industrial-gold-rushes-burkina-faso">recent article</a>, we explored the case of Burkina Faso. In five years, this West African country has become the fourth largest gold exporter in Africa. The surge in gold production was triggered by the strong growth of the gold price during the 2000s, which resulted in the creation of eight industrial mines between 2007 and 2014. The number of artisanal mines increased from 200 in 2003 to more than 700 in 2014. Despite this, 43% of the population was living below the poverty line in 2014.</p>
<p>Artisanal mines have a bad reputation. Extraction using traditional and labour-intensive techniques leads to serious health risks and environmental damage. The economic benefits are also assumed to be low because of their comparatively low yields compared to industrial mines.</p>
<p>However, these artisanal mines are central to the livelihood of more than <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/12458">100 million people</a> in the world today. In 2014, in Burkina Faso alone, 640,800 people worked in the extractive sector, or 3.6% of the country’s population. Virtually all of these people worked in artisanal mines (industrial mines employed around <a href="https://eiti.org/document/burkina-faso-2014-eiti-report">6,000 people</a> in 2014). Paradoxically, studies quantitatively measuring the effects of artisanal mines are extremely limited.</p>
<p>To try to understand the reality of the “natural resource curse” around artisanal and industrial mines, we compare in the article the standard of living of households living in the immediate vicinity of mines with the situation of those living further, before and after the mining boom. We look at household consumption, which is the best indicator of their economic resources in the absence of reliable income data. We benefit from geocoded data on surveyed households, industrial mines, declared artisanal mines, and geological zones of formation of Birimian green rocks, which constitute the main geological formation explaining the development of gold in Burkina Faso (see figure 1).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235425/original/file-20180907-90549-162ex3w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235425/original/file-20180907-90549-162ex3w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235425/original/file-20180907-90549-162ex3w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235425/original/file-20180907-90549-162ex3w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235425/original/file-20180907-90549-162ex3w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235425/original/file-20180907-90549-162ex3w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235425/original/file-20180907-90549-162ex3w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1: Geocodes of the household surveys, artisanal mines, industrial mines and the Birimian green stone belt in Burkina Faso.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bazillier et Girard (2018)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Artisanal gold miners stimulate the local economy</h2>
<p>Our results indicate that artisanal mines have a strong positive effect on the standard of living of local populations. A 1% increase in the price of gold raises household consumption by 0.15%. During the gold price boom (2009 and 2014), these households consumed 10% more than households not living in close proximity to mines. Figure 2 summarizes these effects by comparing household consumption before and after the gold price explosion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237540/original/file-20180921-129850-180rpd6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237540/original/file-20180921-129850-180rpd6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237540/original/file-20180921-129850-180rpd6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237540/original/file-20180921-129850-180rpd6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237540/original/file-20180921-129850-180rpd6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237540/original/file-20180921-129850-180rpd6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237540/original/file-20180921-129850-180rpd6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 2. Households around artisanal mines consume more when the gold price is high.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bazillier et Girard (2018)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Households benefiting from artisanal mines have two types of activities. Either they are households likely to diversify their economic activity, or they are households that benefit from a stronger local demand for goods and services because of the activity of gold miners. We show, for example, that households working in the public sector do not see their income changed by the gold price explosion, while the effects are strong for those working in agriculture, services and trade.</p>
<p>Artisanal gold mining also appears to complement and not substitute for agricultural activities, even when the price of gold is high. Artisanal mining is indeed a seasonal activity, mainly taking place in winter, when the work in the fields is limited.</p>
<h2>“Enclave” activities</h2>
<p>During the same 2007 to 2014 period, eight industrial gold mines opened. The volume of gold that has since been extracted largely exceeds that extracted in the artisanal mines. The production techniques used differ widely. Industrial mines are capital intensive but provide high wages to their few employees and may trigger increases in local demand. We compare the level of consumption of households living near industrial mines before and after the opening of these mines, compared to other households.</p>
<p>We do not observe any significant differences in consumption trajectories between households living within 25 kilometres of industrial mines and other households (see Figure 3). We thus observe no effect of industrial mines on the standard of living of local populations. This result is consistent with the work of <a href="https://books.google.fr/books/about/The_Strategy_of_Economic_Development.html">Alfred Hirschman</a>, who describes extractive activities as “enclave” activities with little effect on local development.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235428/original/file-20180907-90559-1oxd7se.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235428/original/file-20180907-90559-1oxd7se.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235428/original/file-20180907-90559-1oxd7se.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235428/original/file-20180907-90559-1oxd7se.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235428/original/file-20180907-90559-1oxd7se.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235428/original/file-20180907-90559-1oxd7se.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235428/original/file-20180907-90559-1oxd7se.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 3: Households near industrial mines do not see their standard of living increase after the mining operations open.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bazillier et Girard (2018)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This does not, of course, prevent industrial mines from having other effects, particularly at the macroeconomic level be it through exports or state budget. According to the Ministry of Mines, mining export revenues are valued at CFAF 1,022 billion in 2016 (1.56 billion euros), and industrial mines have also contributed up to CFAF 190 billion (290 million euros) to the state budget.</p>
<h2>Rethinking mining policies</h2>
<p>While we do not find any effects related to the opening and expansion of industrial mines, we find a significant impact related to the rise of artisanal mines in Burkina Faso, which has resulted in an income increase of 5 cents in euros per day for households living close to them (for an average income of 50 cents in euros per day, i.e., a 10% increase). Our results therefore call for a better consideration of the importance of artisanal mines for local populations in mining policies.</p>
<p>Such policies could, for example, seek to best ensure the cohabitation of artisanal and industrial mines, which often target overlapping areas. This could maximize the benefits from mineral resources, both for the central state and local populations. Finally, there is the question of local investments made by industrial mines. Despite a policy of social responsibility displayed by most investors, these do not seem to have a systematic effect on the local standard of living.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoire Girard has received funding from the Labex Voltaire (ANR-10-LABX-100-01). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rémi Bazillier ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>In just a few years, Burkina Faso has become the fourth largest gold exporter in Africa. But with 43% of the population still below the poverty line, what are the local benefits?Rémi Bazillier, Professeur d'Economie, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneVictoire Girard, Research fellow, Université d’OrléansLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1023042018-08-29T13:15:09Z2018-08-29T13:15:09ZWhy we’re hunting for treasure – in old landfill sites<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234062/original/file-20180829-195331-1qufo87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=395%2C467%2C3790%2C2110&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">vchal / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans are generally getting better at dealing with their mess. In the UK, for instance, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683051/UK_Statisticson_Waste_statistical_notice_Feb_2018_FINAL.pdf">45% of household waste</a> is now recycled – yet that still means more than 12m tonnes are buried in the ground every year. </p>
<p>Burying that rubbish isn’t cheap, and neither is keeping it in the ground once there. Old landfill sites are covered with grass and turned into innocuous-looking hills filled with waste, and even they have to be monitored to make sure they aren’t contaminating the local environment. For instance, as material decomposes, greenhouse gases such as <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases#methane">methane</a> are given off. If there is not enough methane to make it economically viable to capture (and there usually isn’t) it often needs to be burned off to convert it to CO₂, a less potent greenhouse gas. There are also concerns that thousands of older sites, often built on flood plains or near the seashore, may be at risk from <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/landfill-dumps-across-uk-at-risk-of-leaking-hazardous-chemicals-a6887956.html">flooding or coastal erosion</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234063/original/file-20180829-195331-nub3xn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Methane vents at an old landfill site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lulub / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So what should be done about these old landfill sites? One answer may be to dig them up again.</p>
<p>Old landfills do have valuable waste, the most obvious being processed metals, glass and electronics. Indeed, junk electronic goods such as old TVs or computers typically have higher concentrations of gold and rare earth elements per tonne than are found naturally in ore. A 2014 United Nations University report stated that each year more than <a href="https://unu.edu/media-relations/releases/discarded-kitchen-laundry-bathroom-equipment-comprises-over-half-of-world-e-waste-unu-report.html">300 tonnes of processed gold</a> are dumped in landfills – that’s 10% of the total amount mined worldwide. Belgium, for example, is already <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956053X11004740">mining its old landfills</a>, by extracting waste and filtering for metals and recyclable material.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234064/original/file-20180829-195328-1sbfhw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There’s gold in them thar landfills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ShutterPNPhotography / shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Digging up old landfills could well have a much lower environmental impact than mining in fresh rocks. For example, toxic chemicals like <a href="https://www.miningfacts.org/environment/does-mining-use-mercury/">mercury</a> and cyanide are used to <a href="https://www.gold.org/about-gold/gold-supply/gold-refining">find and isolate gold</a> in regular mines. Recovery of materials from landfill could offer a much cleaner solution to feed our need for smart technology, energy storage and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/aug/24/nickel-mining-hidden-environmental-cost-electric-cars-batteries">electric vehicles</a>. </p>
<h2>Digging into the past</h2>
<p>To demonstrate what all this would involve in practice, we took part in a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bgpc2f/the-secret-life-of-landfill-a-rubbish-history">BBC Four documentary</a> that chronicled the history of rubbish and explored what we have thrown away and how this has changed over time. </p>
<p>Part of this work looked at a municipal landfill in England’s Midlands that closed in the 1980s - it’s now a big grassy knoll - we can tell its age when we dug into it and found dated newspapers. The site has a methane flare burning 24 hours a day which requires periodic maintenance, and the local council will have to keep monitoring things for the foreseeable future. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234065/original/file-20180829-195310-tvnbt8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kris Wisniewski from Keele University collecting conductivity geophysical data over the 1980s landfill site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bgpc2f">BBC Four: The Secret Life Of A Landfill</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To locate potentially recoverable and valuable metals, we surveyed a section of the landfill using <a href="http://nsg.eage.org/">near-surface geophysics</a>, looking for “hot spots” of high conductivity/magnetism which will be where concentrations of discarded metal will be buried. Once we had found where to look we dug down five metres. We found large amounts of processed metals, recyclable glass, discarded household artefacts, yellow pages, much of which we recycle now, as well as black plastic bin bags. </p>
<p>Interestingly we only found a few electronic items. This is in contrast to today’s landfills, which are full of mobile phones and gadgets and <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-everything-you-know-about-e-waste-is-wrong-93904">largely avoidable e-waste</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234066/original/file-20180829-195298-jgxjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234066/original/file-20180829-195298-jgxjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234066/original/file-20180829-195298-jgxjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234066/original/file-20180829-195298-jgxjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234066/original/file-20180829-195298-jgxjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234066/original/file-20180829-195298-jgxjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/234066/original/file-20180829-195298-jgxjbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Metallic and glass landfill materials found after digging the geophysical anomalies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bgpc2f">BBC Four: The Secret Life Of A Landfill</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Clearly existing old landfills could be, quite literally, untapped gold mines. With growing demand, coupled with scarcity of materials, including rare earth elements, these may be a valuable future national resource for much more than just metal. Waste companies have even recently suggested designing new landfills to capture energy from them and to deal with problematic waste streams such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cant-all-plastic-waste-be-recycled-100857">plastics that can’t be recycled</a>. For instance, heat from <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.07.028">decomposing rubbish</a> or <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.05.032">burning waste</a> could be trapped and turned into geothermal power, providing a “rubbish solution” to our energy problems too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102304/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Pringle receives funding from the HLF, the Nuffield Foundation, Royal Society, NERC, EPSRC and EU Horizon2020. He is affiliated with the Geological Society of London.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sharon George does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Old landfills could be, quite literally, untapped gold mines.Jamie Pringle, Senior Lecturer in Engineering & Environmental Geosciences, Keele UniversitySharon George, Lecturer in Environmental Science, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/958492018-06-13T23:12:22Z2018-06-13T23:12:22ZToxic leftovers from Giant Mine found in snowshoe hares<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221847/original/file-20180605-119847-bo5590.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Snowshoe hares near the now closed Giant Mine outside of Yellowknife, N.W.T show signs of arsenic contamination.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/denalinps/6990916044">(Denali NPS/flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Even though it was closed decades ago, the Giant Mine on the outskirts of Yellowknife has left a long environmental legacy. </p>
<p>The gold extraction process, which required roasting ores at extremely high temperatures, created a toxic byproduct called arsenic trioxide. For about 55 years (1948-2004), arsenic and other toxic elements were released into the environment, causing <a href="http://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2016/08/24/arsenic-contamination-persists-in-yellowknife-lake-a-decade-after-gold-mine-shut-study/">widespread contamination of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems around Yellowknife</a>. </p>
<p>About <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/giant-mine-arsenic-process-1.4418862">237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide dust is buried</a> underground, and <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/dots-lakes-arsenic-nwt-yellowknife-water-1.4230597">several nearby lakes show arsenic contamination</a>. </p>
<p>Elevated arsenic levels have also been reported in soil, vegetation and fish around Yellowknife, but we knew little about how it has affected the health of the small mammals that live in the area. </p>
<p>Many of these fur-bearing animals are still being trapped for their pelts and for food, so knowing their arsenic levels is also important for human health.</p>
<h2>Weak bones</h2>
<p>Small mammals can serve as sentinels for environmental contamination. Snowshoe hares (<em>Lepus americanus</em>) live in a relatively small area and eat soil, so they are likely to accumulate higher levels of arsenic and other trace metals from the environment. </p>
<p>Exposure to elevated levels of arsenic can cause damage to the liver and other organs. And cadmium, a toxic metal and another byproduct of the gold extraction process, can replace calcium in the bones, leading to bone deformities and weakness. </p>
<p>In humans, chronic arsenic exposure (usually from water) can lead to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-03/documents/human_health_effects_from_chronic_arsenic_poisoning_3v.pdf">changes in skin colour, skin growths and cancers of the skin, lung and internal organs</a>.</p>
<p>When we measured arsenic and cadmium levels in hares living within two kilometres of the Giant Mine and compared them to hares living about 20 kilometres away from Yellowknife, the results were striking. </p>
<p>The arsenic levels in the guts of snowshoe hares living near the Giant Mine were <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717322982">20-50 times greater</a> than those living away from it. We also saw higher concentrations of arsenic in the organs and nails of the Giant Mine hares. </p>
<p>Cadmium levels were also higher but the difference wasn’t as marked. Hares from both locations had weaker bones and showed signs of osteoporosis, probably due to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article/82/2/468/1656953">chronic exposure to cadmium</a>. </p>
<h2>Ecological implications</h2>
<p>This chronic exposure to elevated levels of arsenic and cadmium may explain why snowshoe hares living near the Giant Mine are in poor health. </p>
<p>Wildlife living in metal contaminated areas in other parts of the world have also shown problems with reproduction, osteoporosis, neurological damage and chronic metabolic disease. But in Canada, it’s the first time we’ve seen small wild mammals with chronic arsenic poisoning.</p>
<p>The high levels of pollutants could compromise the long-term survival of the snowshoe hare and other small mammals in the Yellowknife area. </p>
<p>The high arsenic and cadmium burden in hares could have consequences for other animals that prey on them, such as foxes, wolves or other carnivorous mammals, and <a href="https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1524242446493/1524243007228">for the people who hunt them</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95849/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Som Niyogi is a Professor at the Department of Biology and an associate faculty of Toxicology Program, University of Saskatchewan. He receives research funding from the Aurora Research Institute, and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Solomon Amuno is adjunct professor at the School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan. He receives funding from the Aurora Research Institute.</span></em></p>Historical gold mining at the Giant Mine near Yellowknife, N.W.T. released toxic arsenic into the environment. Snowshoe hares are showing signs of poisoning.Som Niyogi, Professor, University of SaskatchewanSolomon Amuno, Adjunct Professor, University of SaskatchewanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/962342018-05-09T14:10:45Z2018-05-09T14:10:45ZSouth Africa’s historic silicosis class action: why the settlement matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218257/original/file-20180509-34021-1i4zpie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The lawyers for miners who either fell sick or died after contracting <a href="http://www.labour.gov.za/DOL/downloads/documents/useful-documents/occupational-health-and-safety/Useful%20Document%20-%20OHS%20-%20What%20you%20should%20know%20about%20Silicosis.pdf">silicosis</a> and <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/the-southern-africa-tb-in-the-mining-sector-initiative">tuberculosis</a> on South Africa’s gold mines, have reached a <a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/industry/silicosis-settlement-reached/">historic class action settlement</a> with the industry. The R5 billion (US$400 million) settlement becomes the country’s second class action resolution and therefore very much a precedent setter.</p>
<p>Class action is a newish feature within South Africa’s legal landscape. It was incorporated into the country’s post-apartheid era constitution adopted in 1996. But class action litigation has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africa-needs-formal-rules-for-class-action-lawsuits-90702">used infrequently</a> in South Africa, unlike in the <a href="https://www.law.duke.edu/grouplit/papers/classactionalexander.pdf">US</a> where it’s become a prominent feature of justice.</p>
<p>The constitutional provision quite clearly sets out that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>anyone acting as a member of, or in the interest of, a group or class of persons [may approach the courts]. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite this, there isn’t a significant body of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africa-needs-formal-rules-for-class-action-lawsuits-90702">procedural rules</a> in place. Cases such as the silicosis matter contribute to the growing body of rules of the game and are likely to influence future class actions. In particular, clarification of the space should allow vulnerable communities to use class action to secure justice.</p>
<p>The silicosis case will see multitudes of former gold mining workers who acquired respiratory diseases, such as Silicosis and Tuberculosis, during their working lives from 1965 to date, receive due compensation.</p>
<p>The compensation process is to be arranged through a new entity that’s been set up specifically for this purpose – the Tshiamiso Trust. The agreement identifies various classes of eligible claimants, depending on the stage of the diseases. The amounts of compensation ranges from R10,000 to R500,000.</p>
<p>The proposed silicosis settlement <a href="https://probonomatters.co.za/2018/05/settlement-of-the-silicosis-and-tb-class-action-all-you-need-to-know/">notes</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a compromise settlement is far preferable to all concerned than an inevitably lengthy and expensive litigation process, allowing for eligible claimants more quickly to receive compensation and relief for their conditions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In my mind the significance of this settlement is captured by five elements: compensation, accountability, deterrence, education and reinforcing rights.</p>
<h2>Significance of the settlement</h2>
<p><strong>Compensation:</strong> This relates to the compensation that the claimants will be paid. For many, especially the employees who are ill and their dependent spouses and children, the payments will enable them to secure medical assistance and to ensure access to some of the basic necessities of life. They will at least have a measure of certainty that some of their needs will be taken care of.</p>
<p><strong>Accountability:</strong> The settlement is an indication that employers will be held accountable, no matter how long after the harm has occurred or manifested itself. In other words, the obligation of employers to create safe working environments is reinforced.</p>
<p><strong>Deterrence:</strong> Although past employment conditions did not protect the claimants, it is hoped that gold mining companies are put on notice about ensuring that working conditions protect the health and safety of workers. Employers must put in place processes and programmes to reinforce health and safety. Although mining is essentially a dangerous occupation, mining companies should <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/mines-report-progress-prevention-deadly-silicosis/">minimise harm</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Education:</strong> The class action and settlement agreement will serve as a useful educational tool for the wider public who seek healthy and safe working conditions. In addition, the process of settlement, including the notices, applications, negotiations between the lawyers, companies and workers will educate the public on legal processes and heighten awareness of health and safety considerations in all workplaces.</p>
<p><strong>Reinforcing Rights:</strong> This matter is significant in its potential to reinforce South African society’s appreciation and pursuit of rights embodied in the <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/SAConstitution-web-eng.pdf">Constitution</a>. The settlement agreement reassures workers and others that the law can be used as an instrument of justice. It shows that those who violate the rights of people will be held accountable.</p>
<h2>Alleviating harm</h2>
<p>The agreement is ground breaking in that it is the first class action settlement of its kind. It follows another silicosis litigation which led to the establishment of the <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/r66-million-paid-out-former-miners-silicosis/">Qhubeka Trust</a> in March 2016. </p>
<p>The Constitutional Court has also allowed a claim by the dependants of a deceased miner to sue his employers for his death from <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/jephson-summary-anglogold-ashanti-lawsuit-nov-2012.pdf">silicosis and tuberculosis</a>.</p>
<p>And class action litigation that prompted the settlement might be continued by victims who choose not to be part of this settlement. For those who endorse the agreement, it leads to a full and final settlement of the claims against the gold mining companies.</p>
<p>The settlement is conditional to a confirmation by the court. This is a requirement built into the class action procedures to guard against abuse of the system.</p>
<p>No doubt the establishment of the Qhubeka Trust and the <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2011/3.html">constitutional court litigation</a> made a substantial contribution to – and considerably influenced – the cause of action and approach adopted by the lawyers negotiating the current settlement. </p>
<p>As is the case with all litigation involving damages, those who are harmed cannot be made whole. But they and their dependants can at least be provided with some level of compensation that may alleviate the effects of the harm. Hopefully this settlement will do the same.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Penelope Andrews does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Class action is a newish feature within South Africa’s legal landscape. Cases such as the silicosis matter are likely to influence many more.Penelope Andrews, Dean of Law and Professor, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/904082018-01-24T09:13:41Z2018-01-24T09:13:41ZEthiopia could be sitting on one of world’s great untapped gold deposits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202850/original/file-20180122-182973-17q25f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ethiopian-cents-image-lion-head-isolated-716736049?src=MqPalwucGkqsIEJJ26g5Iw-2-42">Andrey Lobachev</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To the west of Ethiopia near the Sudanese border lies a place called the Asosa zone. This may be the location of the oldest gold mine in the world. Dating back some 6,000 years, it provided a key source of gold to the ancient Egyptian empire, whose great wealth was famous throughout the known world. It may even have supplied the Queen of Sheba with her lavish gifts of gold when she visited King Solomon of Israel almost 3,000 years ago. </p>
<p>The excitement in this part of the world is more about the future, however. Some local inhabitants already make a living from prospecting, and several mining companies have been active in the area in recent years, too. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=945&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=945&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202851/original/file-20180122-182948-2y98r4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=945&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When Sheba met Sol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ethiopian-cents-image-lion-head-isolated-716736049?src=MqPalwucGkqsIEJJ26g5Iw-2-42">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what comes next could be on a much bigger scale: I have just co-published with my colleague, Owen Morgan, <a href="https://abdn.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/the-asosa-region-of-western-ethiopia-a-golden-exploration-opportu">new geological research</a> that suggests that much more treasure might be buried under the surface of this east African country than was previously thought. </p>
<h2>Treasure trail</h2>
<p>The Asosa zone is made up of flatlands, rugged valleys, mountainous ridges, streams and rivers. It is densely vegetated by bamboo and incense trees, with remnants of tropical rainforests along the river valleys. The zone, which is part of Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region, is spotted with <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/dept/archaeology/journal/04GonzalezFernandez.pdf">archaeological sites</a> containing clues to how people lived here thousands of years ago, together with ancient mining pits and trenches. </p>
<p>Local inhabitants have long taken advantage of these riches. They pan for gold in Asosa’s streams and also extract the precious metal directly from outcropping rocks. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202822/original/file-20180122-46210-1ei2jtm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=684&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Local inhabitants panning for gold.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Owen Morgan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More substantial exploitation of the region’s riches dates back to the Italian invasion of the 1930s. The Italians explored the Welega gold district in West Welega, south-east of Asosa. </p>
<p>Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, believed the country had the potential to become a global leader in gold. But when the revolutionary Derg government deposed him and the country plunged into civil war, gold mining disappeared off the agenda for a decade and a half. It took until the early 2000s before the government started awarding exploration licences. </p>
<p>Several mines are up and running, neither of them in Asosa. One is at Lega Dembi slightly to the east, owned by Saudi interests. <a href="https://hornaffairs.com/2017/08/28/new-gold-mines-in-shire-wollega-tulukapi-as-illicit-trade-rises/">The other</a>, at Tigray in the north of the country, is owned by American mining giant Newmont, and just started production late last year. </p>
<p>More is already on the way: the beneficiary of the Italian efforts from the 1930s in Welega is the Tulu Kapi gold prospect, containing 48 tonnes of gold. This was <a href="http://www.kefi-minerals.com/strategy">most recently acquired</a> in 2013 by Cyprus-based mining group KEFI Minerals (market value: roughly US$2.3 billion (£1.7 billion)). </p>
<p>As for Asosa, the Egyptian company ASCOM made a significant gold discovery in the zone in 2016. It <a href="https://enterprise.press/stories/2016/06/12/qalaa-seeks-gold-in-ethiopia/">published</a> a maiden resource statement that claimed the presence of – curiously the same number – 48 tonnes of gold. Yet this only looks like the beginning. </p>
<h2>Au-some potential?</h2>
<p>The Asosa zone geology is characterised by various kinds of volcanic and sedimentary rocks that are more than 600 million-years-old. The region has been intensely deformed by geological forces, resulting in everything from kilometre-long faults to tiny cracks known as veins which are only centimetres in length. </p>
<p>Some of these veins contain quartz, and it is mainly here that the region’s gold accumulated between 615m and 650m years ago – along with silver and various other minerals. The gold came from molten materials deep within the Earth finding their way upwards during a process known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/continents-may-not-have-been-created-in-the-way-we-thought-33334">subduction</a>, where tectonic forces drive oceanic crust beneath a continent. This is comparable to the reasons behind gold deposits in <a href="http://bullmarketrun.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Sillitoe-2000-Gold-Rich-Porphyry-Deposits.pdf">island arcs</a> like some of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0375674295000276">the ones</a> in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. </p>
<p>Our field observations and panning <a href="https://abdn.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/the-asosa-region-of-western-ethiopia-a-golden-exploration-opportu">suggest that</a> gold should be generally abundant across the Asoza zone – both in quartz veins but also elsewhere in the schist and pegmatite rocks in which they are located. We also see signs of substantial graphite deposits, which are important for everything from touch-screen tablets to lithium-ion batteries. </p>
<p>There is undoubtedly much more world-class gold within this area than has already been discovered, pointing to a promising source of income for the government for years to come – much of the region remains unexplored, after all. It probably is no exaggeration to say that Ethiopia’s gold potential could rival South Africa’s, which would put it somewhere around the <a href="https://financesonline.com/top-10pgold-producing-countries-in-the-world/">top five</a> gold producing nations in the world. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202820/original/file-20180122-46232-qea4pz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">View across the gold-bearing schist rocks of the Asosa zone, Benishangul-Gumuz.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Owen Morgan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are still some substantial challenges, however. Dealing with governmental red tape can be difficult. In an area like the Asosa zone there are dangerous wildlife to avoid, such as venimous snakes, baboons and even monkeys. The vegetation also becomes forbiddingly wild during wet seasons. </p>
<p>It is also important to strike up good working relationships with local inhabitants, showing the utmost respect to local cultures – it’s the ethical way to operate, and failing to do so can make life harder with the authorities in the capital. This includes the need to preserve the natural beauty of the region; gold mining already has a very bad <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/environmental-disaster-gold-industry-180949762/">international reputation</a> for environmental damage. </p>
<p>With the right approach, however, western Ethiopia will be a literal gold mine that could bring economic benefit to the region. What the Queen of Sheba may have known 3,000 years ago, the modern world is finally rediscovering today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90408/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liam Bullock was previously employed by GP Resource Mining Ltd (UK) (2015-2016), who worked in partnership with Tactical Environmental Response Ltd (UK) and GP Resource Mining PLC (Ethiopia), who previously held licences to explore for gold in Asosa. </span></em></p>Hailie Selassie thought his country’s gold could rival the biggest deposits in the world. He may be proven right.Liam Bullock, Research Fellow, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/848782017-10-06T15:23:49Z2017-10-06T15:23:49ZCan a river have legal rights? I visited the jungles of Colombia to find out<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189169/original/file-20171006-25772-1myroow.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sigaudiovisual/10462694794">sigaudiovisual.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fundamental human rights are now recognised across much of the world. Humans, however, cannot exist without the natural world. So should we also award rights to environmental entities? The idea has gained traction in recent years – and it is rivers that have found themselves at the vanguard of landmark legal developments. </p>
<p>Rivers often have strong cultural and spiritual identities as sacred living entities or life-giving beings. These existential understandings have underpinned legal actions in New Zealand and India that have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/21/rivers-legal-human-rights-ganges-whanganui">endowed rivers with rights</a> that are comparable to their human counterparts. </p>
<p>It is a case in Colombia that is of particular interest to me as a river scientist and geographer, however. In May 2017, the country’s constitutional court <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/colombias-constitutional-court-grants-rights-to-the-atrato-river-and-orders-the-government-to-clean-up-its-waters/">awarded rights to the Atrato</a>, a river that flows through the globally recognised “<a href="http://www.cepf.net/resources/hotspots/Pages/default.aspx">biodiversity hotspot</a>” of Colombia’s north-western Pacific rainforest.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=679&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189209/original/file-20171006-25784-yg3ew6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Atrato flows northwards through Chocó Department and eventually into the Caribbean Sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colombia_-_Choc%C3%B3.svg">shadowxfox / wiki</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This ruling is subtly different from the others because the legal arguments emphasise rationalism rather than existentialism. In Colombia, the Atrato River has been awarded rights because of what it provides for human life – not because it should be equated with human life. Its “bio-cultural” rights now include the river’s “<a href="https://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/433/colombian-river-gains-legal-rights">protection, conservation, maintenance and restoration</a>”. This places a significant burden on the Colombian state to ensure the rights are enforced – and it demands that local people are empowered to manage their river properly.</p>
<p>Colombia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombia-faces-challenge-to-build-peace-without-sacrificing-its-famed-biodiversity-82720">political context</a>, and its recent civil war, makes this particularly challenging. The Atrato is located in the Chocó Department – Colombia’s poorest and one of its most geographically isolated. Despite the 2016 peace agreement between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the FARC), Chocó remains a stronghold for a range of paramilitary and anti-government militia groups who are yet to sue for peace. </p>
<p>Most prominently, this means the militias remain in control of the Atrato Basin’s rich deposits of “placer” gold (the gold deposited in river sediment). With the state unable to intervene, illegal mining of this sediment has accelerated unchecked over the past three decades with little effort to mitigate (or even monitor) its environmental impact. The Atrato’s new rights demand it must be protected and eventually restored. But in the absence of comprehensive baseline data, it is hard to know what this means let alone how it should best be achieved. </p>
<h2>Abstract rights … in practice</h2>
<p>It is against this backdrop that I travelled to the Atrato Basin in August 2017 as part of a small expedition of researchers from British universities and the Chocó Technical University. We were accompanied by lawyers from Tierra Digna, the NGO responsible for advocating for the Atrato. Our objective was to identify how the river’s abstract rights could translate into concrete progress on the ground.</p>
<p>Our focus was one of the Atrato’s major tributaries, the Rio Quito. Local testimony and recent analysis of satellite imagery indicated that more than 100km of the Quito’s river channel and floodplain had been almost completely destroyed in less than 20 years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189164/original/file-20171006-25790-1lqv2ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How one section of the Rio Quito changed in the past two decades. The extent of mining is clearly visible on the 2017 image.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Landsat / Sentinel 2</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The reality was sobering. River bank deforestation followed by large-scale mechanised mining has left several hundred square kilometres of mining waste along the Rio Quito. In some places the ground is heavily contaminated with mercury and plants are unable to reestablish. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189166/original/file-20171006-25745-rw859q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An industrial dredger on the Rio Quito.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Neil Burnside, University of Glasgow</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Industrial dredgers and excavators have reshaped the river to the point that regular seasonal floods no longer occur, breaking the vital cycle of nutrients and carbon between river and floodplain. And, as a result, the Quito has become very <a href="https://water.usgs.gov/edu/turbidity.html">turbid</a> – destroying fish habitat, and affecting the quality of drinking water for people.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189167/original/file-20171006-25749-8qrbmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=571&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Highly turbid waters from the Rio Quito (right) entering the main Atrato River channel (left).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.elchocomining.net/">Steve Cagan</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mining in the Atrato Basin has also <a href="https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/mining-challenges-colombia%E2%80%99s-el-choco">displaced tens of thousands of Afro-Colombian and indigenous people</a> from their land, and several community leaders who resisted have been injured or killed. Sexual violence experienced by displaced women is a <a href="https://latinamericandiaries.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2016/10/31/the-devastating-environmental-and-social-impact-of-gold-mining-in-choco-colombia/">particular problem</a>, and communities have reported birth defects and skin lesions which may be linked to chemical exposure and mercury poisoning.</p>
<p>The Atrato River in general, and Rio Quito in particular, serve as a stark reminder that awarding environmental rights is not the same as realising them. Such rights don’t exist within a vacuum, of course, and they will only be fulfilled if political, socio-economic and cultural systems support them.</p>
<p>In the Atrato Basin, change could start with <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-amazonian-forest-peoples-are-counter-mapping-their-ancestral-lands-84474">effective mapping</a> and monitoring. We need to know where mining contaminants – in particular fine sediment and mercury – have come from and how much has been released. We also need to understand how gold mining fits into the political economy of conflict and violence in the Department of Chocó. Local communities must also be empowered to be participants in identifying sustainable solutions.</p>
<p>The task is monumental, but if the Atrato River’s rights can be translated into effective action, the river and its communities have the potential to become archetypes for how human and bio-cultural rights together can help deliver sustainable futures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The expedition to the Atrato River was co-organised by the following NGOs: ABColombia (<a href="http://www.abcolombia.org.uk">www.abcolombia.org.uk</a>); the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (sciaf.org.uk) and Tierra Digna (tierradigna.org).</span></em></p>The Atrato River has been awarded rights. But it will be tough to translate these abstract ideals into actual progress.Nick Mount, Associate Professor of Hydroinformatics, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/852502017-10-06T04:42:12Z2017-10-06T04:42:12ZExplainer: why is Western Australia fighting with miners over gold royalties?<p>Gold miners are <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-05/gold-sector-wines-and-dines-media-fights-royalty-hikes/9017660">fighting back</a> against the Western Australian government’s <a href="http://static.ourstatebudget.wa.gov.au/17-18/2017-18-wa-state-budget-bp1.pdf">plan</a> to hike gold royalties by 50%, from 2.5% per ounce to 3.75%. </p>
<p>Western Australia is trying to improve its budget position. The miners claim that they cannot absorb the royalty increase. This fight shows the need to take a closer look at gold royalties and how much they raise, check out royalty rates on other commodities and consider how royalties could be done better. </p>
<p>There are some legitimate concerns about royalties. As they are paid almost immediately on production or “royalty” value, one concern is that payments are made before net profit is determined. Industry <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/10/04/gold-ceos-join-fight-wa-royalties">argues</a> that this is a strong deterrent to investment in marginal projects (mines that are barely profitable).</p>
<p>A well-designed tax should not affect business decisions (they should be “neutral”). The way WA levies royalties is also problematic in that no adjustment is made for profitability of a mine. Among other things, this means the government loses revenue in times of high commodity prices as royalty rates are fixed. </p>
<h2>How much exactly does WA receive in royalties?</h2>
<p>In 2015, the WA government released a <a href="http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Documents/Minerals/Mineral_Royalty_Rate_Analysis_Report.pdf">report</a> that analysed the state’s mineral royalty system. It stated that the system is designed to return to the community about 10% of the value of its minerals. Industry <a href="http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Documents/Minerals/Mineral_Royalty_Rate_Analysis_Report.pdf">agreed in principle</a> with the indicative 10%. </p>
<p>As you can see in the table below, gold is the second-highest royalty-earning commodity in the resource-dependent state. But this is estimated to fall from 2019-20, which is in line with the experience of Victoria, the other gold-producing state. </p>
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<p>Coincidentally, the current price of gold is quite high, despite a slowdown since 2013. Prices are determined by the global market, subject to consumer sentiment on world events. Although there is trend of declining prices, the WA government’s move on royalties is driven more by its immediate debt concerns than by the gold price. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2ebpB/3/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="300"></iframe>
<h2>What is a royalty and how does it differ from company tax?</h2>
<p><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2918357">As early as</a> 1400 the British Crown used the term “royalty” to describe any right or privilege retained by the crown. Today a royalty is a type of rent due to government as the resource owner (based on the volume, value or profits of minerals at the mine) in return for the privilege of extraction. </p>
<p>Crucially, a royalty is paid in addition to company tax. The justification for levying a royalty is that mineral resources are finite – extraction can only occur once.</p>
<p>WA uses two systems to collect mineral royalties. The first is a specific rate – levied as a flat rate per tonne produced. The second is “ad valorem” – calculated as a proportion of the “royalty value”, which is a form of market value of the mineral. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Documents/Minerals/Mineral_Royalty_Rate_Analysis_Report.pdf">Specific rate</a> royalties generally apply to low-value minerals and raw materials, such as salt, talc, clay and sand. These royalties are between 73 and 117 cents per tonne.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Documents/Minerals/Mineral_Royalty_Rate_Analysis_Report.pdf">ad valorem system</a> has three general tiers of rates depending on the form in which the mineral is sold and used for higher-value commodities. Ore attracts a 7.5% royalty, concentrate (minerals that have been processed) 5% and metal 2.5%. The system takes into account price fluctuations and material grades in the royalty formula. </p>
<p>Gold is currently subject to the lower rate of 2.5%, and its industry has only been paying royalties since 1998.</p>
<p>The table below shows the mining royalty types and rates for the states and territories in Australia. Queensland and New South Wales have higher ad valorem rates for coal. Northern Territory has a royalty profit-based system, which attempts to address the lack of “tax neutrality” in royalties.</p>
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<h2>If not royalties, then what?</h2>
<p>So we can see a number of difficulties in the royalty system and lack of options for government. But if we want to see what a better system would have looked like we need only recall the mineral resource rent tax (MRRT) <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/num_act/mrrta2012295/">introduced by the federal Labor government</a> in 2012. </p>
<p>One of the basic ideas of the MRRT was that payments on the value of minerals are paid after net profit is determined. Revenue collections would adjust according to profitability, which negates the main criticisms of royalties.</p>
<p>But industry and state governments fought against the MRRT from the outset. The MRRT was repealed in 2014. It could have been done better, using both systems in tandem. </p>
<p>The result is that state governments are left with an imperfect royalty system that needs regular adjustment to rates when more revenue is needed, which is unavoidable as the community requires an equitable return on its resources. Industry will always argue against any increase to taxes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85250/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane Kraal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Western Australian government is trying to improve its budget position but businesses claim increasing royalties will deter investment.Diane Kraal, Senior Lecturer, Business Law and Taxation Dept, Monash Business School, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/830342017-08-28T20:10:39Z2017-08-28T20:10:39ZThe world protests as Amazon forests are opened to mining<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183567/original/file-20170828-27584-zaks90.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Amazon, often described as the “lungs of the Earth”, is the largest rainforest in the world. Its extraordinary biodiversity and sheer scale has made it a globally significant resource in the fight against climate change.</p>
<p>But last week the Brazilian president Michel Temer <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-mining-idUSKCN1B32A5">removed the protected status of the National Reserve of Copper and Associates</a>, a national reserve larger than Denmark.</p>
<p>The reserve, known as “Renca”, covers 46,000 square kilometres and is thought to contain <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/amazon_threats/other_threats/amazon_mining/">huge amounts of copper</a>, as well as gold, iron ore and other minerals. Roughly 30% of Renca will now be open to mining exploration. Renca also includes indigenous reserves inhabited by various ethnic communities living in relative isolation.</p>
<p>The decision, which has been denounced by <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/08/25/world/science-health-world/decree-opening-brazil-amazon-mining-comes-criticism/#.WaOVupMjHUI">conservation groups and governments around the world</a>, comes as the unpopular Temer struggles with a crushing political and economic crisis that has seen <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-economy-employment-idUSKBN15F1LE">unemployment rise above 12%</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/with-dilma-rousseff-impeached-brazil-is-set-for-years-of-political-turmoil-57689">With Dilma Rousseff impeached, Brazil is set for years of political turmoil</a>
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<h2>Political and economic turbulence</h2>
<p>Brazil is currently in the middle of the largest corruption scandals in its history. Since 2014, an ongoing federal investigation called <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/01/brazil-operation-car-wash-is-this-the-biggest-corruption-scandal-in-history">Operation Car Wash</a> has implicated elite businesspeople and high-ranking politicians, uncovering bribes worth millions of dollars exchanged for deals with the state oil company Petrobas. According to the BBC, almost a third of President Temer’s cabinet is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39576896">under investigation for alleged corruption</a>. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that Brazil needs to find ways out of recession and unemployment. As the minister of mining and energy has said, “the objective of the measure [to allow mining] is to attract new investments, generating wealth for the country and employment and income for society.” </p>
<p>However it’s not clear that this move will benefit ordinary Brazilians. This is not the first gold rush into this area, and the Amazon still has high indices of poverty and many other challenges.</p>
<p>During the 1980s and 90s tens of thousands of miners flocked to gold deposits in the Amazon, driven by high international prices. One of the most famous examples, “<a href="http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/hell-serra-pelada-1980s/">Serra Pelada</a>,” saw 60,000 men dig a massive crater in the Amazon Basin. </p>
<p>These mining operations typically provided little economic benefits to the local populations. Instead, they attracted thousands of people, which led to <a href="http://projects.aljazeera.com/2015/07/brazil-gold-mine/">deforestation, violent land conflicts</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9600798">mercury pollution in the rivers</a>.</p>
<p>In reality the Amazon and its people deserve a sustainable model of development, which takes advantage of the outstanding biodiversity and beauty of its standing forests. The historical record shows mining is likely to lead to a demographic explosion, and further deforestation, pollution and land conflicts.</p>
<h2>The principle of non-regression</h2>
<p>One important aspect of international environmental law is called the “<a href="https://sapiens.revues.org/1405">principle of non-regression</a>”. The principle states that some legal rules should be non-revokable in the name of the common interest of humankind. Essentially, once a level of protection has been granted there is no coming back. </p>
<p>This principle is reflected in <a href="http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Brazil/brtitle8.html">article 225 of the Brazilian constitution</a>, which lays out the right to a healthy environment:</p>
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<p>All have the right to an ecologically balanced environment […] and both the Government and the community shall have the duty to defend and preserve it for present and future generations.</p>
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<p>The Brazilian constitution also describes the Amazon forest as a “national heritage”. It must then be treated accordingly. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deep-in-the-amazon-jungle-brazils-hidden-cities-are-in-crisis-66712">Deep in the Amazon jungle, Brazil's 'hidden cities' are in crisis</a>
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<p>While the Amazon is a fundamental part of Brazil’s history, it’s also an essential part of the global battle against climate change. The Amazon contains <a href="https://theconversation.com/drying-amazon-threatens-to-increase-carbon-emissions-22822">half the worlds’ tropical rainforests</a>, and its trees absorb and store vast amounts of carbon dioxide. </p>
<p>According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, land use, including deforestation and forest degradation, is the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data">second-largest source of global emissions after the energy sector</a>. </p>
<p>Developed countries around the world have committed resources to help Brazil offset the costs of safeguarding their forests. One example is the <a href="http://www.amazonfund.gov.br/">Amazon Fund</a>, created in 2008. It has received billions of dollars from foreign governments such as Norway and Germany, to combat deforestation and to promote sustainable practices in the Brazilian Amazon.</p>
<p>But with <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/01/news/economy/brazil-economy-unemployment/index.html">14 million Brazilians unemployed</a>, further assistance is required to ensure that they can protect their forests.</p>
<p>As well as governments, companies have also committed billions of dollars to fight climate change and support projects that reduce carbon emissions and promote energy efficiency. Most businesses have also created self-regulatory standards to ensure compliance with international laws and ethical standards.</p>
<p>The decision of the Brazilian government leaves us with two questions. How will the international community honour their commitments to keep global warming below 2°C, if countries begin rolling back their environmental protections? And how will companies involved in mining projects in the Amazon honour their social responsibility commitments and moral obligation towards present and future generations?</p>
<p>The degradation of the Amazon will affect the entire world. The clearing of the Amazon for mining will lead to the emissions of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases, furthering global warming and causing the irreversible loss of biodiversity, and water resources, as well as damage to local and indigenous communities.</p>
<p>Let us not take a step back towards more destruction. Rather, let us strengthen the protection of our remaining forests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83034/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have previously received funding from Swiss Foundations to conduct my Masters, PhD and book publication.
Recently, I received funding from the School of Law, Western Sydney University, to conduct research on illegal logging.
I am a Member of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Commission on Environmental Law</span></em></p>Last week Brazil opened thousands of kilometres of previously protected Amazon rainforest to mining, in a bid to combat ongoing political and economic disasters.Beatriz Garcia, Lecturer, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.