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Towards responsible small-scale mining

Interest in mercury-free technologies, health care, and the environment is becoming relevant in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Puno, Peru.

By planetGOLD

February 22^nd, 2021

One Ananea, multiple realities

In the south of Peru, in the region of Puno, famous for Lake Titicaca, you will find the district of Ananea; a name that derives from the Quechua "Ananay" which means "How beautiful! How nice!" In the middle of the Andes mountain range, at more than 4610 meters above sea level, with a climate that easily reaches -5 °C at night, the landscape mixes between the Puna grassland and the brown of the soil removed by the mining activity in the zone.

Probably the most emblematic and internationally known place in this district is La Rinconada. Located in the Ananea snow-capped mountains, this town has been visited by journalists from different parts of the world, whose publications show the complex environmental and social problems around the extraction of gold.

© UNDP Peru

Gold mining in Puno is characterized by its community. There is a strong presence of cooperatives and associations. According to the data of the latest Comprehensive Mining Formalization Registry (REINFO) of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Peru (MINEM), the Puno region has registered more than 12,500 artisanal and small-scale mining organizations in the process of formalization.

Among them is the Oro Sur Mining cooperative, where Elvis Macedo has worked as Occupational Health, Safety & Environmental Manager for 6 years. He is from Puno, was born in Azángaro, and points out that "the great positive impact that mining leaves in Puno are the profits and economic gains that help the development and progress of the region."

Ananea is a district inhabited by 12,615 people, according to the 2017 census of the National Institute of Statistics and Information of Peru (INEI). The population is dedicated to gold mining and camelid breeding, with artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) as the largest source of local work, either directly or indirectly.

© UNDP Peru

© UNDP Peru

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2019 Ananea presented a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.6184. This in numerical terms should reflect better quality of life in the town; however, the contrast of life expectancy at birth with per capita family income invites us to reflect. Ananea registered a life expectancy at birth of 61.62 years in 2019, well below the national average of 75.42 years; likewise, their per capita family income was S/ 1,672.7 nuevos soles (450 USD), an amount above the S/ 950 nuevos soles (250 USD) of the minimum wage in Peru.

"The most positive impact at this moment is the development of the region, but the negative that mining leaves us in Puno is the pollution caused by the use of mercury," says Juana Quea, president of the Polar Bear Mining Society, also registered in the REINFO system. Juana is one of the few women who raises her voice in a predominantly male mining sector and is aware of the problems that afflict the district and the need for a change that artisanal and small-scale gold mining should carry out in the region.

Elvis agrees with Juana, considering mercury as a toxic substance that can generate a “serious impact on the occupational health of the workers who handle it and on the environment,” and also adds that its use occurs “because so far mercury has not been replaced with another more effective substance that helps in the recovery of gold in mining.”

© UNDP Peru

Mercury and its use in ASGM

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is currently the largest source of mercury emission and release in the world. Mercury has the property of forming an amalgam with gold, which is why it is frequently used to separate and extract gold from rock, sand, or other material in which it is found.

This metal, cataloged by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the ten chemical substances of greatest concern to public health, is used in ASGM in one or more of the processes that require the extraction of gold, in grinding, washing, and/or smelting; each one releases different amounts of mercury.

Although in Puno, the use of retorts has spread among mining cooperatives, the practice of open-air refogueo is still common. Through this process the amalgam is heated so that the mercury evaporates and the gold remains; when this is done without using a mercury-trapping mechanism, such as the retort, a large amount of vapors are released into the environment, which is inhaled by miners and bystanders. Mercury can travel long distances, generating a cycle of contamination that extends to surrounding communities.

© UNDP Peru

New mercury-free technologies

Exposure to mercury by both miners and communities can be reduced and avoided with alternative mercury-free technologies, which can be simple and effective. To bring these technologies closer to miners, the planetGOLD Perú and GIRH-TDPS projects organized equipment and technology tests in December 2020 in the Ananea district.

Both projects are financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented in Peru by the Ministry of the Environment (MINAM), in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Mines and with technical support from the UNDP. Likewise, the work in Puno is carried out in close coordination with the Regional Directorate of Energy and Mines.

On December 9th to 11th, the meeting was held at San Antonio, Santiago, and Limata mining cooperatives, with the attendance of about 70 people including cooperative associates, mining workers, and public officials of the region, who were able to see the equipment on-site, test them and answer questions directly with the suppliers about the operation, investment and technical assistance.

During the event, gravimetric technologies such as the vibrating screen, gravimetric tables, and centrifugal concentrators were tested. These do not require mercury; their operation is based on gravity and the difference in weight between gold and the other minerals that accompany it during its separation.

These metallurgical tests are important for the determination of the most appropriate equipment and technologies for the characteristics of each deposit, thus allowing optimization of its production process and reducing the environmental impacts that mining work may generate in the region. In the same way, they will be used for the pilot plants that both planetGOLD Peru and the GIRH-TDPS plan to start up in Puno.

Road to a responsible ASGM

“The implementation of clean technologies can be delayed due to its costs and the economic investment it requires,” Juana tells us, during the technology tests in Ananea, “but it is best to abandon the use of mercury” she emphasizes.

Elvis, for his part, indicates that "some mining companies have already gradually implemented clean technologies, also a few small artisanal miners." This is in view of the realization that these new technologies allow greater recovery of the mineral, which can be even more than 95%.

The acceptance of the mercury-free technology tests is a good sign of ASGM's interest in Ananea to improve its practices. A change that can generate not only greater profitability for the mining company, but also allows a safer and cleaner source of work for the thousands of local people whose daily sustenance for their families depends on this activity. A change that can generate major transformations in the socio-economic development of the region.

"Clean technologies together with good labor programs can mitigate environmental pollution" - Mariano Quispe

"The implementation of clean technologies is good, but the biggest limitation is the financial means" - Artemio Sánchez

"It is very interesting that little by little they must adapt, as the technologies are relatively new there is still lack of information" - Alfredo Condori

Footnotes

Writing: Jane Lazarte - planetGOLD Peru (UNDP) // Photo: Heidi Haeberle for GIRH-TDPS (UNDP) // Video: Jair Guillen for GIRH-TDPS (UNDP)

FootNotes

Writing: Jane Lazarte - planetGOLD Peru (UNDP) // Photo: Heidi Haeberle for GIRH-TDPS (UNDP) // Video: Jair Guillen for GIRH-TDPS (UNDP)

© 2026 planetGOLD

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