Challenges to measuring, monitoring, and addressing the cumulative impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Ecuador

Resources Policy

Volumn 38, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 713-722

  Adler Miserendino, Rebecca ^a   Bergquist, Bridget A ^b   Adler, Sara E ^c   Guimarães, Jean Remy Davée ^d   Lees, Peter S J ^a   Niquen, Wilmer ^e   Velasquez López, P Colon ^f   Veiga, Marcello M ^g  

^a JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^d FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO   (Brazil)

^e Beneficiation Plant Headquartes ^*  (Ecuador)

^f UNIVERSIDAD TÉCNICA DE MACHALA   (Ecuador)

^g UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM); Cross scale policy mitigation methods; Cumulative effects assessment and management (CEAM); Cumulative impacts; Portovelo Zaruma, Ecuador; Trans boundary water pollution

Indexed keywords

CUMULATIVE EFFECTS ASSESSMENTS; CUMULATIVE IMPACTS; ECUADOR; GOLD MINING; MITIGATION METHODS; TRANS-BOUNDARY;

GOLD; LAWS AND LEGISLATION; MERCURY (METAL); MINERS; WASTE MANAGEMENT; WATER POLLUTION;

GOLD MINES;

ARTISANAL MINING; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT; GOLD MINE; REGULATORY FRAMEWORK; SMALL SCALE MINING; STAKEHOLDER; WASTE MANAGEMENT;

ECUADOR;

EID: 84887824958     PISSN: 03014207     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2013.03.007     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. Adler Miserendino, R., Guimarães, J.R.D., Ghosh, S., Godoy, J.M., Silbergeld, E.K., Lees, P.S.J., Bergquist, B.A., In preparation. Mercury Pollution in the Amazon: From Mining or Land-Use Changes?
2. Appleton J., Williams T., Orbea H., Carrasco M. Fluvial contamination associated with artisanal gold mining in the Ponce Enriquez, Portovelo-Zaruma and Nambija areas, Ecuador. Water Air and Soil Pollution 2001, 131(1):19-39.
3. Barry, M., 1996. Regularizing Informal Mining: A Summary of the Proceedings of the International Roundtable on Artisanal Mining. Occasional Paper no. 6. World Bank, Industry and Energy Department, Available at: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/mining/files/Barry.pdf.
4. BBC, 2012. Rival Marches in Ecuador Over Amazon Mining Plans. BBC News. March 22, 2012, Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17483864.
5. Betancourt O., Narváez A., Roulet M. Small-scale gold mining in the Puyango River Basin, southern Ecuador: a study of environmental impacts and human exposures. Ecohealth 2005, 2(4):323-332.
6. Betancourt Ó, Barriga R, Guimarães JRD, Cueva E, Betancourt S. 2012. Impacts on environmental health of smallscale gold mining in Ecuador. In: Charron ,D. F. (Eds.), Ecohealth Research in Practice, Insight and Innovation in International Development, pp. 119-130. New York: New York, Springer.
7. Brereton, D., Moran, C.J., Mc Ilwain, G., McIntosh, J., Parkinson, K., 2008. Assessing the cumulative impacts of mining on regional communities: an exploratory study of coal mining in the Muswellbrook area of New South Wales. Brisbane Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Center for Water in the Minerals Industry, the University of Queensland, Available at: http://www.csrm.uq.edu.au/docs/C14047.pdf.
8. Canuel, R., Lucotte, M., Grosbois, S.B., 2009. Mercury Cycling and Human Health Concerns in Remote Ecosystems in the Americas, SAPIEN (2.1).
9. Cash D.W., Adger W.N., Berkes F., Garden P., Lebel L., Olsson P., Pritchard L., Young O. Scale and cross-scale dynamics: governance and information in a multilevel world. Ecology and Society 2006, 11(2):8.
10. CEAA, 2008. Addressing Cumulative Environmental Impacts Ander the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, En106-76/2008E. Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
11. CEAA, 2011. Comprehensive Study Report: Detour Lake Gold Mine, 978-1-100-19543-8. Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
12. Chincheros, J., 2007. Procedimientos Para la Determinación de Mercurio, Plomo, Arsénico y Manganeso en Muestras Ambientales. Laboratorio de Calidad Ambiental (LCA), Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), La Paz, Bolivia.
13. CONAIE, 2009. Challenge to Ecuador's Mining Law: Presented to the Constitutional Court, Trans. Acción Ecológica and the Quiza Collective. March 17, 2009. Available at: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/get.php?artid=15.
14. Connaugh, J.L., 2005. Guidance on the Consideration of Past Actions in Cumulative Effects Analysis. Memorandum. June 24, 2005. Executive Office of the President, Council on Environmental Quality. Washington, D.C., USA.
15. Constitución de la Republica del Ecuador, 2008. 20 de Octubre. R.O. no. 449.
16. Court, J.D., Wright, C.J., Guthrie, A.C., 1994. Assessment of Cumulative Impact and Strategic Assessment in Environmental Impact Assessment. ISBN: 0642194114. Commonwealth Environmental Protection Agency, Barton, Australia.
17. Decreto Presidencial No. 119, 2009a. Reglamento General de la Ley de Minería. 4 de Novembre.
18. Decreto Presidencial No. 120, 2009b. Reglamento del Régimen Especial de Pequeña Minería y Mineria Artesanal. 4 de Novembre.
19. Doshi, A, Dowell, G., Toffel, M.W., 2012. How Firms Respond to Mandatory Information Disclosure. Harvard Business School Technology and Operations Mgt. Unit Working Paper no. 12-001. Available at: or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1879248.
20. Fagotto E., Fung A. Improving workplace hazard communication. Issues in Science and Technology 2003, 19(2):63-68.
21. Fehr E., Gächter S. 1999. Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments. Institute for Empirical Research in Economics Working Paper (10).
22. Fitzgerald W.F., Lamborg C.H. Geochemistry of mercury in the environment. Treatise on Geochemistry: Environmental Geochemistry 2003, Elsevier Science, Oxford, United Kingdom. B. Sherwood Lollar (Ed.).
23. Franks D.M., Brereton D., Moran C.J. Cumulative social impacts. New Directions in Social Impact Assessment: Conceptual and Methodological Advances 2011, 202-220. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, Gloucester, UK. F. Vanclay, A.M. Esteves (Eds.).
24. Giuffrida, A., Iunes, R.F., Savedoff, W.D., 2002. Occupational risks in latin america and the Caribbean: economic and health dimensions. Health Policy and Planning 17(3) 235-246.
25. Guimarães J.R.D., Betancourt O., Miranda M.R., Barriga R., Cueva E., Betancourt S. Long-range effect of cyanide on mercury methylation in a gold mining area in southern Ecuador. Science of the Total Environment 2011, 409(23):5026-5033.
26. Hilson G. Abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining industry: restructuring the policy and research agendas. Science of the Total Environment 2006, 362(1):1-14.
27. Hilson G. Small-scale mining and its socio-economic impact in developing countries. Natural Resources Forum 2002, 26(1):3-13.
28. Hinton J.J., Veiga M.M., Veiga A.T.C. Clean artisanal gold mining: a utopian approach?. Journal of Cleaner Production 2003, 11:99-115.
29. Horowitz J.K. Environmental policy under a non-market discount rate. Ecological Economics 1996, 16(1):73-78.
30. ILO Yearbook of Labour Statistics 2006, International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland.
31. ILO-IPEC, 2003. Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Ecuador-Supporting the Time Bound Program for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Ecuador (2003-2006). International Labour organization Progress Report. Geneva, Switzerland.
32. James P.M. The miner and sustainable development. Mining Engineering 1999, 51(6):89-92.
33. Jennings, N., 1999. Social and Labor Issues in Small-Scale Mines: Report for Discussion as Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labor Issues in Small Scale Mining. International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
34. Labonne B. The mining industry and the community: joining forces for sustainable social development. Natural Resources Forum 1999, 23:315-322.
35. Lane K. Unlucky strike: gold and labor in Zaruma, Ecuador, 1699-1820. Colonial Latin American Review 2004, 13(1):65-84.
36. Ley de Minería de Ecuador, 2009. 29 de Energo, R.O. no. 517. Available at: http://www.mineriaecuador.com/Download/ley_mineriaec.pdf.
37. Lynn F.M., Kartez J.D. Environmental democracy in action: the toxic release inventory. Environmental Management 1994, 18(4):511-521.
38. MRECI, 2012. Memorando: Denuncia de Organizaciones Peruanas Sobre Contaminacion del Rio Tumbes, 20 de Diciembre. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio e Integración. Quito, Ecuador.
39. NPRC, 2005. Good Neighbor Agreement Between Stillwater Mining Company and Northern Plains Resource Council. August 25, 2005. Cottonwood Resource Council, Stillwater Protective Association. Available at: http://www.northernplains.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/2005amendedgna.pdf.
40. O'Donoghue T., Rabin M. Doing it now or later. American Economic Review 1999, 89(1):103-124.
41. Olsson P., Folke C., Berkes F. Adaptive comanagement for building resilience in social-ecological systems. Environmental Management 2004, 34(1):75-90.
42. Ostrom E., Burger J., Field C.B., Norgaard R.B., Policansky D. Revisiting the commons: local lessons, global challenges. Science 1999, 284(5412):278-282.
43. Pindyck R.S. Uncertainty in environmental economics. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 2007, 1(1):45-65.
44. Sandoval, F., 2002. Small-Scale Mining in Ecuador. Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Development Working Paper (75). International Institute for Environment and Development.
45. Stephan M. Environmental information disclosure programs: they work, but why?. Social Science Quarterly 2002, 83(1):190-205.
46. SGAB-Prodeminca, 1998. Monitoreo Ambiental de las Áreas Mineras en el Sur De Ecuador, 1996-1998: Proyecto de Desarrollo Minero y Control Ambiental, Sub-Componente 3.1. Report SES no. R-Ec-E-9.46/3.1-9810-069. Quito: Sweedish Environmental Systems.
47. Street L., Palmberg J., Artigas J.C., Grubb M. Gold demand trends: full year 2012 2013, World Gold Council, London, United Kingdom.
48. Tarras-Wahlberg N.H., Flachier A., Fredriksson G., Lane S., Lundberg B., Sangfors O. Environmental impact of small-scale and artisanal gold mining in southern Ecuador. Ambio 2000, 29(8):484-491.
49. Tarras-Wahlberg N., Flachier A., Lane S., Sangfors O. Environmental impacts and metal exposure of aquatic ecosystems in rivers contaminated by small scale gold mining: the Puyango River Basin, Southern Ecuador. Science of the Total Environment 2001, 278(1):239-261.
50. Tarras-Wahlberg N., Lane S. Suspended sediment yield and metal contamination in a river catchment affected by El Niño events and gold mining activities: the Puyango River Basin, southern Ecuador. Hydrological Processes 2003, 17(15):3101-3123.
51. Telmer, K., Veiga, M., 2008. World Emissions of Mercury from Small-scale and Artisanal Gold Mining in Pirrone, N. and Mason, R. eds. Mercury Fate and Transport in the Global Atmosphere: Emissions, Measurements and Models. Springer, Germany.
52. Tietenberg, T., Wheeler, D., 1998. Empowering the Community: Information Strategies for Pollution Control. In: Proceedings of Frontiers of Environmental Economics Conference, Airlie House, Virginia, USA.
53. Therivel R., Ross T. Cumulative effects assessment: does scale matter?. Environmental Impact Assessment 2007, 27(5):365-385.
54. UNHCR, 2011. Ecuador Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: Annual Report 2011. Available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/4ea7bf3d.pdf.
55. Veiga, M.M., 2011. Processing Centers in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining: Evolution or More Pollution? Paper presented at the 3rd International Workshop for Advances in Cleaner Production. May 18-20. São Paulo, Brazil. Available at: http://www.advancesincleanerproduction.net.
56. Veiga, M.M., Baker, R., 2004. Protocols for Environmental and Health Assessment of Mercury Released by Artisanal and Small Scale Miners. Report to the Global Mercury Project: Removal of Barriers to Introduction of Clean Artisanal Gold Mining and Extraction Technologies, GEF/UNDP/UNIDO. Available at: http://www.globalmercuryproject.org.
57. Velásquez-López P.C. Review of Mercury and cyanide uses in the artisanal gold mining sector in Ecuador 2007, Report to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
58. Velásquez-López, P.C., 2010. Mercury in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining: Identifying Strategies to Reduce Environmental Contamination in Southern Ecuador-A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
59. Velásquez-López P.C., Veiga M.M., Hall K. Mercury balance in amalgamation in artisanal and small-scale gold mining: identifying strategies for reducing environmental pollution in Portovelo-Zaruma, Ecuador. Journal of Cleaner Production 2010, 18(3):226-232.
60. Velásquez-López P.C., Veiga M.M., Klein B., Shandro J.A., Hall K. Cyanidation of mercury-rich tailings in artisanal and small-scale gold mining: identifying strategies to manage environmental risks in southern Ecuador. Journal of Cleaner Production 2011, 19(9):1125-1133.
61. Walker, L.J., Johnston, J., 1999. Guidelines for the Assessment of Indirect and Cumulative Impacts as Well as Impact Interactions, European Commission Report NE80328/D1/3, Luxemburg.
62. Wasserman J.C., Hacon S., Wasserman M.A. Biogeochemistry of mercury in the Amazonian environment. Ambio 2003, 32(5):336-342.
63. Weitzman M.L. Why the far-distant future should be discounted at its lowest possible rate. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 1998, 36(3):201-208.