The ‘resource curse’, or ‘paradox of plenty’, refers to the notion that countries with abundant natural wealth often tend to develop slower than countries that do not possess such natural riches.⁽²⁾ The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the clearest examples of this paradox. The eastern parts of the DRC host large deposits of mineral resources such as diamonds, coltan, copper, tin, manganese, lead, zinc, coal, uranium and gold. Notwithstanding some mineral wealth, the country is among the poorest and most underdeveloped in the world. In addition, the mines in which many of these resources are excavated are polluting the environment, as well as posing health and other threats to the people who work in them. For example, the mercury – a highly toxic liquid metal – used in gold mining, can lead to heavy metal poisoning of the workers’ systems, as well as contribute to growing global environmental threats. This CAI paper describes the role of this toxic liquid metal, mercury, as a global pollutant and analyses the unique challenges related to mercuric use in small-scale artisanal gold mining. Although this paper uses the DRC as a specific example, the process of using mercury in small-scale gold mining is commonplace throughout the developing world where gold is mined.⁽³⁾

Mercury – a global pollutant

Mercury has some characteristics that make it especially hazardous. It is a forceful neurotoxin that is especially harmful to pregnant women (more specifically, the foetus) and young children,⁽⁴⁾ and in high concentrations it can lead to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness, or blindness.⁽⁵⁾ Furthermore, mercury does not degrade and is therefore a constant source of pollution.⁽⁶⁾ Consequently, even though global use of mercury is decreasing, mercury is accumulating in the natural environment due to its characteristic as an increasing pollutant. In addition, as is the case with several hazardous substances, mercury’s reach as a pollutant is global; mercury that is being utilised in one area of the world often spreads and ends up in oceans and other bodies of water where it is absorbed by bacteria. Levels of mercury are then accumulated further up in the food chain and large maritime predators such as swordfish, seals and tuna, which are consumed by some human population groups, are found to contain the highest amounts of the toxic metal.⁽⁷⁾ Evidence of the ingestion of mercury via consumption of these marine predators as part of the human diet has been seen across the globe. In France, 44% of children have mercury levels that exceed health recommendations.⁽⁸⁾ Another example of the global reach of mercury through consumption of affected marine animals is seen in one of the most remote communities in the entire world, the Inuit in Qaanaaq, Northern Greenland,⁽⁹⁾ where the diet of the Inuit consists largely of seal and whale meat.

Mercury and gold mining

Using mercury to extract gold from the surrounding soil dates back hundreds of years. It is an easy and cheap method that leaves the remaining gold clean.⁽¹⁰⁾ The process works as follows: soil that contains small amounts of gold is mixed with mercury, making an amalgamation of gold and mercury.⁽¹¹⁾ The gold and mercury alloy is then heated in so-called ‘gold shops’ and the mercury, which has a lower boiling point than gold, evaporates, leaving only the gold.⁽¹²⁾

Mercury is also a by-product of burning fossil fuels. About one-third of global anthropogenic mercury output is the result of fossil fuel burning. When it comes to the industrial use of the metal, gold mining has been described as “perhaps the most important source of mercury pollution.”⁽¹³⁾ Although it is not the largest source of mercury output, it is one of few industrial areas in which usage is increasing worldwide, and as much as 1,000 tons could be used in this sector every year.⁽¹⁴⁾ Additionally, small-scale gold miners do not typically conserve or capture the mercury that is released in the process of extracting gold from the soil. Thereby, virtually all mercury that is used in this sector ends up polluting the environment.⁽¹⁵⁾ Nevertheless, low-cost capturing systems exist that are capable of conserving up to 80% of the mercury that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.⁽¹⁶⁾ Unfortunately, this technology is rarely applied.

Metal prices

In 1973, the price of gold was less than US$ 100 per ounce (oz).⁽¹⁷⁾ Over the last few years, prices of gold have been historically unmatched.⁽¹⁸⁾ In October 2012, the gold price was roughly US$ 1,750 per oz. At the same time, due to its decreased industrial use, mercury prices have plummeted. In 2000, mercury was sold at about 5% of its peak value.⁽¹⁹⁾ Today, recycled mercury has a retail price in the United States of America (US) of between US$ 0.125 – US$ 0.5 per oz.⁽²⁰⁾ The historically high gold prices create incentives for mining the treasured metal, whilst at the same time, the vast difference in prices between the two metals means that there is very small economic motivation to capture and reuse mercury that is consequently released into the atmosphere causing pollution. Furthermore, the low price of mercury has “discouraged the innovation of mercury-free technologies.”⁽²¹⁾

In 1994, the British sustainable development advocate, John Elkington, coined the phrase ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL) as an alternative to the generally accepted single bottom line of a company – the financial one.⁽²²⁾ According to the TBL, companies and corporations have three different responsibilities of equal importance.⁽²³⁾ The first bottom line is the economic one, a company has to be profitable and make money. The second one is the social bottom line and has to do with the social responsibility of the company, namely the people, particularly the host communities in which the corporation operates. The third one is the environmental bottom line; the company has a responsibility towards the planet. The TBL thus consists of three Ps: people, planet, and profit. Elkington’s idealist notion was that “only a company that produces a TBL is taking account of the full cost of doing business”⁽²⁴⁾ – only a TBL business can therefore be considered sustainable. The economic bottom line is present in the case of small-scale gold mining in the DRC - with the high gold prices, earnings from this sector are respectable. As for the social bottom line, the mining industry offers earnings of between two and three times previous incomes for most miners.⁽²⁵⁾ Nevertheless, the exposure to mercury compromises the health of the workers. In the case of small-scale artisanal gold mining, economic profit comes at the expense of planet and people, even though workers’ salaries are often higher than what many other sectors can provide.

Small-scale gold mining: A problematic source of income

Most developing countries where gold is mined apply the method of mining gold by using mercury. Approximately 15 million people in 55 separate countries work as small-scale gold miners, and circa 80 to 100 million people depend on the incomes from this industry.⁽²⁶⁾ Gold is a much sought after metal and it exists in plentiful amounts in the DRC. Supposedly, this is a welcome contribution to one of the world’s most deprived countries. The soaring gold prices could be an advantage for the people who are working in the industry in the DRC, as well as the people who rely on the incomes from this sector.

Unfortunately, the aforementioned paradox, the resource curse, often worsens the overall prosperity of a country instead of benefitting it. As an example, in the oil-producing (OPEC) countries, gross national product (GNP) decreased on average by 1.3% between 1965 and 1998.⁽²⁷⁾ During the same time period, the average GNP for all lower and middle-income countries rose by 2.2%.⁽²⁸⁾ There are many plausible causes for the resource curse, but corrupt leaders and poor governance are thought to be of paramount influence.⁽²⁹⁾ Additionally, in the hands of the wrong people, vast mineral wealth often triggers conflicts. Finally, countries that do not have natural resources tend to have to work more actively to broaden their export base, and resource-rich countries at times tend to be too dependent on one or a few commodities.⁽³⁰⁾

There are, however, countries that have managed to combine mineral wealth with economic growth – Botswana is a prominent African example. This is important to note, as it shows that even though natural wealth can sometimes hinder development, it is not necessarily always the case.

Many people depend on gold mining as a source of income in the DRC and elsewhere, and the gold industry is relatively lucrative for the workers. Despite the problems plaguing the small-scale artisanal gold industry, the aim should be to make it well functioning, and not to abandon it completely as there are less harmful alternatives to use when cleaning gold than mercury, and techniques are available that hinder mercury from leaching out into the environment. This will be expanded on later on in this paper.

Illegal mercury trade

Mercury comes from four major sources: primary mining (where mercury is the mined solely for the purpose of producing mercury), secondary mining (where mercury is mined together with, and as a by-product of, mining other metals), excess mercury from the chlor-alkali sector, and recycled and recovered mercury from waste and goods.⁽³¹⁾ Since 1960, the worldwide demand for mercury has decreased from 9,000 tons to 4,000 tonnes per year.⁽³²⁾ Especially in the industrial world, the use of mercury has consciously been phased out and replaced by mercury-free alternatives.

Approximately 80% of the current global demand for mercury comes from developing nations.⁽³³⁾ As a result of a decreased global demand and of initiatives that aim to bring the use of mercury to an end worldwide, primary mining is decreasing. For a long period of time, Spain was the number one producer of primary mercury, but in recent years, mining has come to a stop in the Southern-European country.⁽³⁴⁾ Another large producer, China, only mines the metal for its own domestic market.

Primary mining adds mercury to the global stockpiles and to the market, and is therefore the most problematic of the four major sources. For this reason, it is positive and noteworthy that the output of primary mined mercury has decreased over the last few years. Nevertheless, this creates new challenges. The decreased supply means that mercury is now largely sold on the black market, and trade is increasingly difficult to track.⁽³⁵⁾ Countries can, for example, import excess amounts of mercury for dental use, for example, and the additional supply can subsequently be sold to the mining industry.⁽³⁶⁾ Working towards reducing the utilisation of mercury on a global level is an important way of compromising the black market trade. The upside is that since mercury has relatively few sources of supply and demand, such an initiative has potential to work.⁽³⁷⁾

Initiatives against gold mined with mercury

Gold can be mined without the use of mercury. Still, economically, using mercury for small-scale artisanal gold miners in developing countries makes sense, as it is a cheap and easy method in which the gold ends up clean. An environmentally preferable alternative to using mercury is cyanide.⁽³⁸⁾ However, applying this technique is expensive and, therefore, often not a viable alternative for small-scale miners. Often, miners lack better options, and knowledge levels regarding the dangers of mercury poisoning are low.⁽³⁹⁾ Since mercury poisoning works relatively slowly, it can be difficult to detect, but the health of the miners is regularly heavily influenced by long-term exposure to the toxic metal. Nevertheless, there are initiatives to educate gold miners about the dangers of mercury exposure.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (UNIDO) global mercury project is one such initiative.⁽⁴⁰⁾ The abovementioned mercury capturing system – whereby mercury vapour and aerosols from burning the gold/mercury amalgam are filtered – is an area of promise.⁽⁴¹⁾ Capturing systems are not perfect, as substantial amounts of mercury are still released. However, using capturing systems that catch some mercury is better than doing nothing, and possibly, as they evolve, future systems can become more effective. Other initiatives against gold mined using mercury can be found in consumer/market interventions.

From a consumer perspective, gold that is fairly traded and fairly mined offers an alternative to ‘traditional’ gold. The Fairtrade and Fairmined dual stamp focuses on exactly this, and aims to assure retailers and consumers that their gold is ethically produced. The Fairtrade and Fairmined dual stamp is issued by the Faritrade Foundation, a charitable organisation that aims at creating “opportunities for producers and workers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalised by the conventional trading system.”⁽⁴²⁾ Minimising the use of mercury is a prerequisite for being granted the dual stamp. An additional beneficial effect of the dual stamp is the fact that it increases awareness among consumers. Consumers have both great power and responsibility; if the market demands Fairtrade and Fairmined gold, this type of product is bound to increase. However, it is always problematic to guarantee that a product that is marked as Fairtrade actually meets the requirements. For example, Fairtrade controlling officers provide an opportunity for bribery.⁽⁴³⁾ Meanwhile, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which is not linked to Fairtrade but is a similar certification system, for the certification of so called ‘blood diamonds’, has fuelled “corruption and violence in Zimbabwe”⁽⁴⁴⁾ and often “failed to deal with the trade in conflict diamonds….”⁽⁴⁵⁾

Although Fairtrade and Fairmined gold is a respectable project, there are risks involved with trying to make gold mercury-free.Moreover, many small-scale artisanal gold miners are working in the informal sector, since mining laws tend to favour large-scale industrial mining.⁽⁴⁶⁾ The question that arises is thus: would small-scale artisanal miners, who, for economic reasons are more or less forced to use mercury as a part of their mining process, go out of business if gold would have to be ethically certified? The economic bottom line on the one hand, and the social and environmental bottom lines on the other hand, would thus be contradicting each other.

The problems of mercury in small-scale artisanal gold mining are complex and multi-faceted, and there is unlikely to be a magic bullet that can fix the situation. Strategies that target both the production end and the consumer end of the spectrum are important. Among other things, UNIDO’s global mercury project engages with the workers and educates them about the dangers of mercury, whilst the Fairtrade and Fairmined dual labelling system works with raising awareness regarding ethical consumption. Still, using mercury in gold mining is a part of a larger, structural problem that involves corrupt regimes, illegal trade and, most importantly, deep-rooted poverty. It is impossible to adequately understand and come to terms with the issue of mercury in gold mining in a vacuum. Hence, the best way to address this concern is probably to keep working for sustainable, equitable economic growth in the DRC and other developing nations.

Concluding remarks

Mining and industrial use of mercury have gradually decreased since the 1960’s. It is especially in industrial countries that the use of mercury has diminished. However, of all the large industrial sectors where mercury is used, small-scale artisanal mining presents the greatest challenge. Miners’ health is endangered and virtually all mercury that is used in this sector ends up as a global pollutant. Moreover, in many other sectors where mercury is utilised, less harmful alternatives exist. In the case of small-scale artisanal gold mining, the problem is not easily fixed. Mercury is cheap and it is an efficient way to extract gold. By using mercury, the environmental and the social bottom lines of the TBL are compromised. However, other alternatives are more expensive, thus compromising the economic bottom line. Hence, the problem is complex and multifaceted. Although, technologies that capture mercury instead of allowing it to be released into the environment are available, more often than not, these systems are not used. Due to the nature and complexity of the problem, perhaps the most important aim is to work for structural changes in order to thwart the motivation to use mercury in gold mining. This is best achieved by sustainable, equitable economic growth in gold exporting developing countries.

Written by Oskar Holst ⁽¹⁾

NOTES:

(1) Contact Oskar Holst through Consultancy Africa Intelligence's Enviro Africa unit (enviro.africa@consultancyafrica.com).
(2) Greer, L., et al., 2006. “Curtailing mercury’s global reach”, in Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2006. The Cromwell Press: London.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.
(8) Ibid.
(9) Ibid.
(10) ‘Mercury in gold mining poses toxic threat’, MSNBC, Associated Press, 1 October 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com.
(11) Greer, L., et al., 2006. “Curtailing mercury’s global reach”, in Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2006. The Cromwell Press: London.
(12) Ibid.
(13) Ibid.
(14) Ibid.
(15) Ibid.
(16) Bailey, M., ‘Reducing mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining’, Environmental Protection Agency, http://www.epa.gov.
(17) 1 oz = 28.35 grams
(18) ‘Goldprice history’, Gold Price, http://goldprice.org.
(19) Greer, L., et al., 2006. “Curtailing mercury’s global reach”, in Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2006. The Cromwell Press: London.
(20) ‘Scrap mercury recycling’, The recycler’s exchange, http://www.recycle.net.
(21) Ibid.
(22) ‘Triple bottom line: It consists of three Ps: Profit, people and planet’, The Economist, 17 October 2009, http://www.economist.com.
(23) Ibid.
(24) Ibid.
(25) Greer, L., et al., 2006. “Curtailing mercury’s global reach”, in Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2006. The Cromwell Press: London.
(26) Ibid.
(27) Gylfason, T., ‘Natural resources, education and economic development’, Centre for economic policy research, Paper No. 2594, October 2000, https://notendur.hi.is.
(28) Ibid.
(29) ‘Analyzing the natural resource curse’, PBS, http://www.pbs.org.
(30) Ibid.
(31) Greer, L., et al., 2006. “Curtailing mercury’s global reach”, in Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2006. The Cromwell Press: London.
(32) Ibid.
(33) Ibid.
(34) Ibid.
(35) ‘Mercury in gold mining poses toxic threat’, MSNBC, Associated Press, 1 October 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com .
(36) Ibid.
(37) Greer, L., et al., 2006. “Curtailing mercury’s global reach”, in Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2006. The Cromwell Press: London.
(38) ‘Questions and answers’, Fairtrade foundation, http://www.fairtrade.org.uk.
(39) ‘Mercury in gold mining poses toxic threat’, MSNBC, Associated Press, 1 October 2009, http://www.msnbc.msn.com .
(40) ‘Global mercury project’, UNIDO, http://www.unido.org.
(41) Ibid.
(42) ‘The Fairtrade mark’, Fairtrade Foundation, http://www.fairtrade.org.uk.
(43) Sidwell, M., ‘Unfair trade’, Amam Smith Institute, London, 2008, http://www.adamsmith.org.
(44) ‘Global witness leaves Kimberley Process, calls for diamond trade to be held accountable’, Global Witness, 5 December 2011, http://www.globalwitness.org.
(45) Ibid.
(46) ‘Questions and answers’, Fairtrade foundation, http://www.fairtrade.org.uk.