CASM Conference - Brasilia Oct/2008

1. Mercury Use Reduction and Land Reclamation in the Tapajos Region, Brazilby Rodolfo N. Sousa/ Marcello Veiga CASM Conference - Brasilia Oct/2008

2. Global Mercury Project A United Nations (GEF/UNIDO) program created in 2002 aiming to: Reduce Hg pollution caused by ASM Introduce and disseminate good practices Train miners and develop community awareness

3. Global Mercury Project In collaboration with UBC Dept of Mining Engineering Senegal Guinea Sudan Laos Venezuela Indonesia Suriname Cambodia Ghana Colombia Tanzania Brazil Ecuador Mozambique Zimbabwe

4. The Amazon scenario • Area of 5,5 million km2 in 9 countries, of which 72% (4 million km2) is located in Brazil • The Brazilian Amazon has lost 18% of its original area or 650,000 km2(larger than France) • The Amazon looses 0.27% - 0.65% of its area every year or 24,000 km2 (the size of Belgium) • Deforestation in the Amazon started in 1970’s

5. Deforestation in the Amazon Garimpo Canaan 4 million km2 18% deforestation Brasilia

6. 1980’s: Serra Pelada, the largest concentration of miners in the world

7. 2008: Typical Mining communities (“garimpos”)

8. Magnitude of ASM in the Tapajós 40,000 miners 500 to 2,000 mining sites 400 air strips 5.8 tonnes/year of gold 10-12 tonnes/year of Hg for amalgamation

9. Socio-economic aspects Most miners do not have mining permit or environmental license; Education is very limited; Gold is the main source of revenue; A miner consumes 40g Hg/month, produces 18g Au/month, and income of US$350/month Hg costs US$200/kg. Au is sold by US$25/g.

10. Environmental and Health Aspects Mercury contamination: soil, air, biota, fish, miners; High level of Hg in fish: 4 to 5ppm, cases of 22ppm, whereas guideline is 0.5ppm; Mercury vapor: amalgamation without retorts and gold shops without proper filters; Water contamination: tailings disposed directly into the rivers (siltation exacerbates bioaccumulation), Hg, CN, oil, sewage, garbage

11. Environmental and Health Aspects Drinking water: water consumed directly from local streams, no latrines or proper waste disposal, high level of malaria and parasitosis Deforestation: pits are open in critical areas along the streams and rivers. Very low level of land reclamation

12. Hydraulic monitors – huge open pits in the forest

13. Sediment / tailings released directly into the rivers

14. Sediments / tailings released directly into the rivers

15. Sediment released by sluice boxes – Crepori River

16. Tapajós River Mobility of Hg-contaminated Tailings Tailings take >4 t/a of Hg to other areas Hg is methylated and bioaccumalted downstream 200 km Hg-rich Tailings from gold miners Crepori River Source: Telmer et al. (2006)

17. ASM in the Tapajos In 2006, Brazil produced 40 tonnes of gold, of which 5.2 tonnes were produced by ASM (estimated 3 tonnes in the Tapajos) 300 – 600 pits, each with a volume greater than 10,000m3 are opened annually 3 to 6,000,000 tonnes/a of tailings into the rivers Area disturbed by excavation of pits by hydraulic monitors in the Tapajos is around 12,000 ha

18. Scenario of Artisanal Mining an GMP’s approach • Large number of people involved • Low level of formal education and basic infra structure • Most miners are informal / ASM is a marginal activity • ASM causes more environmental impact than most large companies but they are not in the media • Very low investment for ASM on the ground • UNIDO / GMP acknowledge that: • The project is a very important initiative, but very small in scale when compared with the scale of the problem. • Education and prevention are keywords for the success of the project

19. General statements about training programs Training is a step to reach a result, but it is not a result in itself; Number of trainees and program content are important information, but are not the result itself; Training people does not imply that they have learned lessons; Learning lessons does not imply that they will implement what they have learned; But, The real result of training occurs when the trainees incorporate the lessons learned to their daily routine

20. Objectives & effectiveness evaluation 5 MAIN OBJECTIVES: Promote legalization of mines Improvement of Gold Production Protection of Forest and Water Reduction of Hg Use Improve Health and Sanitation Evaluation of “garimpos” prior to the training and 3 to 4 months after training

21. Project promotion: “Take care of your treasure”

23. Training of trainers (multipliers)

24. Indoor Training

25. Outdoor Training - Practical field lectures

26. Multiplication of training / awareness campaign

27. Multiplication of training / awareness campaign

28. Evaluation before and after the training

29. Introduction of biosand water filters

30. Use of biosand filters for drinking water

31. Accidents: landslides, fallings, motor pulley belts

32. Miner Burning Amalgam (exposed to Hg vapor)

33. Demonstration of homemade retorts

34. Distribution of retorts to disseminate the culture of protection against mercury vapour during the amalgam burning

35. Kitchen bowl retort (homemade solution) Hg condenses on the glass bowl Wet sand to seal Hg vapour

36. Brasil, 2006

37. 60 retorts like this purchased locally

38. Use of retorts to burn amalgam and recover Hg

39. Demonstration of mercury reactivation and recycling

40. Fume hoods: developed local supplier, Filters installed in local gold shops

41. Fume hood in Gold Shops: GMP & USEPA

42. TDU - Transportable Demonstration Unit

43. Cyanidation tests – A lab in the jungle

44. Homemade prototypes (amalgamator)

45. Pool for amalgamation of concentrate

46. Construction of latrines

47. Garbage disposal

48. Vision General structure of the Action Plan Mission General Objectives Goals Performance Indicators Monitoring processes and results

49. Most relevant indicators

50. Reclamation in ASM Complex and costly reclamation methods are not effective in ASM. Simplicity is mandatory. For example, soil salvation is an ideal technique but complex for ASM Cases of rehabilitation are “volunteer initiatives”, as non-compliance is prevalent