Scales of Responsible Gold Mining: Overcoming Barriers to Cleaner Artisanal Mining in Southern Ecuador

Gold mining by itinerant miners is acknowledged by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as the means of livelihood for more than 13 million people in the developing world. Though there are many potential socio-economic benefits of smallscale mining, there are also negative impacts from these small and inefficient operations due to wasteful extraction and processing techniques, often involving mercury amalgamation. Environmental planners are thus confronted with the prospect of regulating this sector to reduce the ecological impact of mining while preventing large scale unemployment in some of the most impoverished areas in the world. This thesis explores some of the barriers to formalizing the artisanal gold mining sector and how to overcome these from a policy perspective. The overarching research question may be stated as follows: What is the range and scale of barriers to cleaner production of artisanal gold mining and why have they not been overcome by existing policy intervention? Various development agencies have recommended that artisanal mining be formalized as a legal enterprise as the primary means of overcoming these barriers to cleaner production. In the early 1990s the government of Ecuador was among the first regimes to legalize all de facto informal mining settlements, an essential component of the formalization process. This study empirically tests the hypothesis that the process of formalization in Ecuador has led to better mining practices and contributed toward sustainable development in mining communities. The findings first challenge the conventional wisdom about the improved environmental performance of small-scale enterprises. Unskilled artisanal gold miners prefer using mercury for amalgamation because it does not require special skills and is inexpensive, fast and effective. The study used ethnographic methods, observational fieldwork and archival research to ascertain the perspectives of miners, government officials, mining consultants, NGO leaders, and nonmining community members from the mining regions of Bella Rica/Ponce Enriquez and Portovelo-Zaruma. The study finds while progress has been made in reducing environmental impact, there remain numerous challenges to sustainable development in the small-scale gold mining sector. The roles of the government as enforcer of laws and regulations and promoter of mining development need to be better defined. The lack of enforcement and control has allowed environmentally destructive mining practices to persist. Miners also need to take responsibility for the negative impacts from their livelihood; however, they need improved access to financial resources and more incentives for conservation. There are some positive examples where miners have organized themselves and formed cooperation systems with local and regional governments. The future of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Southern Ecuador remains uncertain as gold deposits become increasingly more difficult to extract and government resources are focused on larger scale investment. Alternative development strategies will thus need to be considered in the long-term and plans for transitioning miners to other livelihoods are important to consider.