Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Mining · Mali · 2018–2020

Artisanal gold in Mali: mercury use and its money (Minamata National Action Plan)

Nature's voice · report
About 33.3 t of mercury a year are used in the artisanal gold sector on my land, according to Mali's 2020 National Action Plan: Kayes about 28 t, Sikasso 3.2 t and Koulikoro 2.1 t.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record.
Recorded
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient See the gaps

Mali's 2020 National Action Plan under the Minamata Convention records about 33.3 tonnes of mercury used a year in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, a sector that earns about 729 billion FCFA a year, with mercury sold in 10 g balls at 1,500–2,000 FCFA.

33.3 t a yearMercury used in Mali's artisanal and small-scale gold mining
Kayes about 28 t, Sikasso 3.2 t, Koulikoro 2.1 t; National Action Plan, March 2020 (based on a 2018/2019 baseline study).

Status As of March 2020: Mali's National Action Plan under the Minamata Convention was published; the figures are from the 2018/2019 baseline study.

What?
Mali's 2020 National Action Plan records about 33.3 t of mercury used a year in artisanal and small-scale gold mining, a sector earning about 729 billion FCFA a year. Republic of Mali, Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development
Where?
Kayes region (Kéniéba, Falémé valley), Sikasso and Koulikoro, Mali. Republic of Mali, Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development
When?
Baseline study 2018/2019; National Action Plan dated March 2020. Republic of Mali, Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development
Who?
Gained
Lost
None on record
Harmed
Why?
The plan was published under Article 7 of the Minamata Convention, with GEF funding, executed by UN Environment and the Artisanal Gold Council. Republic of Mali, Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development
How?
Mercury enters the sector in 10 g balls sold on mining sites; it is used in amalgamation, which produces 23 t of the sector's about 26 t of gold a year. Republic of Mali, Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Mali's Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development published a National Action Plan for artisanal and small-scale gold mining in March 2020 under Article 7 of the Minamata Convention. The plan was funded by the Global Environment Facility and executed by UN Environment and the Artisanal Gold Council. It carries a preface by Minister Housseyni Amion Guindo and rests on a baseline study from 2018/2019.

The plan states that the sector earns about 729 billion FCFA a year, or USD 1.23 billion. Average miner income is USD 5,167 a year (range USD 618–9,904). The number of artisanal miners was revised from 200,000 to 512,605. Artisanal gold production is about 26 t a year, of which 23 t is produced by amalgamation. Licence fees are 2,500–10,000 FCFA for artisanal permits and 1,000,000 FCFA for mechanised artisanal exploitation rights.

The plan states that 33.3 t of mercury a year are used in the sector: Kayes about 28 t, Sikasso 3.2 t and Koulikoro 2.1 t, at an average mercury-to-gold ratio of 1.44:1. Mercury is sold on sites in 10 g balls at 1,500–2,000 FCFA (USD 2.50–3.40). According to the plan it comes from Ghana via Burkina Faso, and mercury imports are banned in Mali; the plan describes the supply chain in the words quoted below.

  1. 2018Baseline study for the National Action Plan (2018/2019)
  2. 2020March: National Action Plan for artisanal and small-scale gold mining published; implementation budget covers 2020–2029

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“earns about 729 billion FCFA a year, i.e. USD 1.23 billion”

“33.3 t/yr of mercury used in the sector”

“since importing mercury is banned, the supply chain is entirely illegal”

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

Recorded

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
Implementation budget of the National Action Plan, 2020–2029—
The total in Annex C appears to be USD 2,274,800.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Annual earnings of artisanal and small-scale gold mining$1.2bn
Window: per year
About 729 billion FCFA a year (National Action Plan).
Currency: USD · Window: Mixed — see each line. Figures cover different periods and are not compared as a ratio. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Mercury used a year
33.3 t
Kayes about 28 t, Sikasso 3.2 t, Koulikoro 2.1 t
Mercury-to-gold ratio
1.44:1
Average
Artisanal gold produced
About 26 t a year
Of which 23 t by amalgamation
Artisanal miners
512,605
Revised from 200,000

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseKey earnings undisclosed

Money

  • None on record Implementation budget of the National Action Plan, 2020–2029 — The total in Annex C appears to be USD 2,274,800.

Court

Record

  • Insufficient Insufficient: the mercury figures date from the 2018/2019 baseline study; the plan's implementation budget total for 2020–2029 appears in Annex C as USD 2,274,800.
  • None on record None on record: prosecutions under the mercury import ban.

Did the harm stop?

Not established. The plan records 33.3 t of mercury used a year as of its 2018/2019 baseline; no later figures are on record.

Who paid?

Land and water in the Kayes, Sikasso and Koulikoro regions, where about 33.3 t of mercury a year are used. The plan's implementation budget appears in Annex C as USD 2,274,800 for 2020–2029.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Government and regulators

  1. Plan d'Action National pour l'Extraction Minière Artisanale et à Petite Échelle d'Or au Mali
    Republic of Mali, Ministry of Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development · 2020-03

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Carbon and conservation finance

Baseline
The projected scenario of what would have happened without a project, such as an expected rate of deforestation. Credits are issued for the difference between the baseline and what actually happened, so an inflated baseline produces more credits.
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