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GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

Intergenerational actions for responsible artisanal mining in the north of Peru

By planetGOLD

December 12^th, 2024

Gold is a valuable metal in society, used in jewelry, electronics, and as a store of value. 20% of its global production comes from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), a sector that serves as an important source of employment but faces various environmental and social challenges. One of the most significant issues in ASGM is the use of mercury for gold extraction, which poses environmental pollution risks as well as health hazards for male and female miners and communities located near the mines.

In the districts of Suyo and Sapillica, located in the Piura region in northern Peru, agriculture and livestock farming are the main economic activities. These practices coexist with mining carried out by the local population, who find gold extraction as a highly profitable business. An agricultural worker in the Piura region earns an average of S/ 716 (USD 188) per month, while the average monthly salary of an artisanal miner is S/ 1,324 (USD 348).

Seeking opportunities plus environmental and social awareness have been the motivations behind the stories of Eisen Vera, Gudvin Cruz, the Jabo Aguilar family, and the Chanta family to take a step forward by stopping the use of mercury, professionalizing their activities through the use of clean technologies, the development of alternative businesses to mining and coexistence with agriculture in the Piura region.

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

Responsible ASGM

The San Sebastián de Suyo Artisanal Miners Association and SERVIMINAS, both located in the Suyo district, decided to work in 2021 on the professionalization of their activities together with the GEF-funded planetGOLD Peru project, executed by MINAM with technical assistance from UNDP. “We are 100% formal miners. We were interested in working with planetGOLD to continue with the environmental management and advice they provide. We were aware that the only way to move forward was to comply with all the requirements demanded by law,” highlights Eisen Vera, partner of the San Sebastián de Suyo Artisanal Miners Association.

According to miners, the advantages of formality include the ease of making contracts for selling their minerals and access to banking and credit. Support for mining organizations on safety issues for mineral exploitation and the improvement of mineral processing through clean technologies has allowed them to begin a new stage of gold production without mercury. In this regard, Gudvin Cruz, Partner of SERVIMINAS, mentions that “with the gravimetric table and the plant, mercury is no longer used, and technology is gradually being implemented so that mining does not harm the environment.”

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

Entrepreneur women

In Cuchicorral, Chirinos Suyo, Magna Aguilar, along with 33 others female pallaqueras, legally formed the first women mineral selectors association in the region: the Chirinos-Suyo Women Mineral Selectors Association. The work of these women consists of selecting minerals discarded from underground mines. “We select the small stones, we crush them with a hammer and when mud comes out, we wash them, we select them and we put them in the sun to fill them in sacks and take them to be ground,” is how Magna describes the work that she began more than a decade ago and with whose income she has been able to support her home.

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

Following the pandemic, the manual gold selection activity in their locality decreased, significantly affecting their income. In 2022, when invited by the project to participate in financial education workshops, Magna and her daughter, Clarissa Jabo, saw an opportunity for learning and growth. Along with other mineral selectors, they strengthened their skills to integrate into the formal banking system and prepare for the establishment of alternative businesses outside of mining. This would enable them to achieve economic independence and avoid the risks of mercury exposure contamination.

“In the financial education workshops, we learned how to finance an association or business, about fixed and variable costs, and how to prepare quotes to assess whether a business is profitable or not,” Clarissa explains about her participation in the financial education workshops provided by GEA Group and planetGOLD Peru.

The following year, with technical assistance from UNDP and the NGO Solidaridad, Clarissa and Magna, with six mineral selection partners, managed to create “Frontera Ambiental”, a business dedicated to raising pigs. This group business with growth projections allows this group of women to stop selecting minerals since they have a new stable family income.

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

Agro-mining

The Sapillica district is located in the mountain area of Piura. Its population is dedicated to farming and raising small animals, mainly for family consumption. Access roads in the highlands make it difficult for vehicles to leave for greater commercialization. With a monthly per capita family income of S/126 (USD 33 - INEI, 2017 census), the presence of gold in its lands led to the appearance of artisanal mines, since the highly sought-after price of gold (S/316 or USD 83 per gram) is attractive to the local population.

The Sapillica Artisanal Miners Association began its journey towards formalization in 2012. Teófilo Chanta, a native of the area and mining partner, comments that “his vision is to maintain a coexistence between mining and agriculture and for people to learn and preserve this vision.” Teófilo, like his sons Daniel and Moisés, are aware that mining is not renewable and they see agriculture as a sustainable activity for the future, as demonstrated by their “Caña Brava” agro-mining and ecological farm.

For this group of miners, environmental care and formalization go hand in hand. In 2020, they decided to work with the planetGOLD Peru project, which enabled them to secure an exploitation contract in 2024. "To my fellow miners, I invite them to make an effort to formalize because they will feel the support of the authorities. Likewise, the use of mercury should be avoided to prevent further environmental pollution, as there are other ways to extract gold," emphasizes Daniel regarding formalization and mercury use in ASGM.

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

GOLD WITHOUT MERCURY

These three stories from Piura demonstrate that artisanal and small-scale mining is driven by the sincere efforts of people striving to create changes. Father and sons, mother and daughter who have found solutions to make the sector more profitable, formal, and responsible. At the same time, they provide greater and better development opportunities for new generations in various rural areas of Peru.

The GEF-funded planetGOLD initiative is implemented in Peru by the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM) with technical assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM). Globally, it is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Footnotes

Text: Jane Lazarte - planetGOLD Perú (UNDP Peru) // Jane Lazarte & Alejandro Salas - planetGOLD Perú (UNDP-GEF-MINAM) // Videos: Uno y Medio for planetGOLD Perú (UNDP-GEF-MINAM)

FootNotes

Text: Jane Lazarte - planetGOLD Perú (UNDP Peru) // Jane Lazarte & Alejandro Salas - planetGOLD Perú (UNDP-GEF-MINAM) // Videos: Uno y Medio for planetGOLD Perú (UNDP-GEF-MINAM)

© 2026 planetGOLD

ORO SIN MERCURIO

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