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Background

Mercury Use in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) to recover gold from ores and sediments occurs in approximately seventy countries. A minimum of 1000 tonnes of mercury is used each year for this, making mercury use in ASGM the largest direct use source of mercury to the global environment. World Emissions of Mercury from Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining, (begin at page 18) by Dr. Kevin Telmer (Chair of the Gold and Mercury Working Group) and Dr. Marcello Veiga provides a thorough explanation of how, why and where mercury is used in ASGM. The publication also provides a global estimate of total mercury used in ASGM on a country by country basis.

The IUGS-GEM Working Group on Gold and Mercury was created to address the importance of this geoscience problem and its implications for ecosystems and society. Goals of the working group are to educate on, and participate in developing, disseminating and implementing solutions associated with this issue.

Recent News and Relevant Developments

Ghana Meeting Confirmed !!
  • The Working Group on Gold and Mercury will be meeting in Ghana this September to collaborate on Working Group products and visit ASM sites.
IUGS-GEM is an official member of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership
  • In February 2009 the United Nations Environment Program agreed on the need to develop a global legally binding instrument on mercury. This is being undertaken by an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee supported by the Chemicals Branch of the UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics as secretariat. Participation in the intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) is open to all Governments. Non-governmental organizations are playing a key role in the process as observers, but also as educators.
Work of the intergovernmental negotiating committee will be carried out over five sessions. Tentative dates are as follows:
INC 1 7 to 11 June 2010, Stockholm, Sweden (attended by Dr. Kevin Telmer)
INC 2 24 to 28 January 2011
INC 3 30 October to 4 November 2011
INC 4 June 2012
INC 5 early 2013

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