Many people tend to associate large-scale operations, heavy use of technology and multinational companies with mining, but it’s much more than that. That’s why it serves to examine the other, equally important and very human face of mining.

30 C A N A D I A N J E W E L L E R . C O M F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 4

Digging deeperinto artisanal andsmall-scale mining

Mining News

Finding PurposeSeeing all of this, I kept asking myself why these people would choose to work in this industry. Is it worthwhile to live in such harsh conditions? The answers came through conversations with the miners, who said that while the work was very difficult, it was available to them and, despite allof the exploitation, it was much more lucrative than similar activities like agriculture. In a world where jobs were becoming more difficult to find, particularly in rural areas, this activity was not only possible and viable, but it helped the miners feed their families at the end of the day. The reason all of this was so important to me as a jeweller was because it started to unfold the reality behind the extraction of gold and diamonds, which is not only about machines, technology and capital. It’s a sector built on a complex and diverse human reality. It’s even more crucial when we recognize that ASM is responsible for extracting 70 per cent of gems and around 20 per cent of diamonds and gold in the world. ASM now employs (directly and indirectly) around 150 million underprivileged people worldwide, yet it receives almost no support or even recognition for what this workforce provides. In my first column, I talked about the importance of dreams in the jewel-lery business. Today I would like to share a miner’s dream with you. Manuel Reinoso, a Peruvian ASM leader, made the following remarks to a UN meet-ing in Nairobi on the reduction of the impacts of mercury: “Yesterday I had a dream: I was with my family, living in a real house, with all my children educated. I had a mining title and environmental license to run my mine. I was paying taxes and royalties to my country. Thanks to the support of the government, I had adopted clean technologies in my mine. My gold was eco-certified and sold directly in the developed world for a fair price. I am convinced that this dream is not only mine; this is a dream of every artisanal miner in the world, who wants to be recognized as a miner who builds a responsible future in his country.” It seems to me that we are approaching a place in the jewellery and ASM sectors where dreams like this one can be realized. With growing consumer demand, better market models and certification systems, there is a unique opportunity to build strong connections and tools that can benefit the industry. In subsequent columns, I will explore these opportunities and the obstacles that may stand in the way, as well as the roles that jewellers play in these schemes. CJ

BACK IN 1981, I WAS A YOUNG LAWYER IN MOZAMBIQUE who had just started working in the mining sector. The sector was perceived to be very intensive in capital and technology and over the previous century, it had become saturated by only a handful of international players. It was in 1989 when I first encountered the very different reality of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM). I was part of a pioneering multi-disciplinary research project that was addressing the impacts of mercuryuse by this sector.

Into The Heart Of Darkness I remember reading anything I could get my hands on in order to understand the ASM phenomenon, but the very limited material available at the time was of little help. I did manage to find two conflicting visions about the miners in this sector. One thought, rare and historic in its nature, regarded the miners as adventurers, pioneers, heroes and symbols of courage. The other vision, more common and current, considered them to be less than criminal,embodying attributes that were deemed negative by society. I decided to travel to Poconé, a project area located at the gates of Pantanal in Mato Grosso State, in order to see what an ASM operation actu-ally looked like. I wanted to witness the environmental impacts and social disturbances that were portrayed by the media with my own eyes. More importantly, I wanted talk with the people that, at the time, were right inthe centre of the country’s social conflicts. What I discovered was definitely something that was both less poeticand much scarier than the two visions suggested. I saw people who were less fortunate and trying to survive through economic conditions that demanded hard work and offered difficult living conditions. These people could only dream of being able to live comfortably and earn proper money one day. I also saw land disturbances, rivers thick with sedimentation, and witnessed the use of mercury without proper health or environmental standards. These working conditions posed daily threats, especially to those directly involved in the mining activities.

by Maria Laura Barreto