The Ministries of the Environment (Minam), Energy and Mines (Minem), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), through the planetGOLD Peru project, inaugurated the first gravimetric plant that processes gold without mercury, in the Suyo district of the Piura region.
The installed plant will benefit miners and sorters in said town, in order to avoid the annual use of 30 kg of mercury among artisanal and small-scale miners, leaving behind practices such as the use of quimbaletes or burning mercury-gold amalgam. Likewise, it will serve to train miners, teachers, students and researchers in the region by carrying out metallurgical tests and the use of new technologies.
It is hoped that this practice can be replicated in other areas of the country, promoting responsible mining to achieve clean social activity.
Financing
For this purpose, financing was provided by the Global Environment Fund (GEF), through the planetGOLD Peru project, which is implemented by Minam, in alliance with Minem and with technical assistance from UNDP.
The equipment allows the efficient recovery of gold without the use of mercury through gravimetry and water recirculation.
During the inauguration ceremony, Vicente Espinoza, specialist from Minam’s Pollution and Chemical Substances Control Directorate, highlighted the work of the planetGOLD Peru project and the sector’s commitment to promote practices that allow the elimination of the use of mercury for the processing of gold. He noted that “this will promote environmentally friendly mining.”
For his part, Yakir Rozas, regional liaison of the General Directorate of Mining Formalization of Minem, highlighted the work of the miners in the region to advance towards order, transparency and environmental care. Likewise, he acknowledged that his sector will continue to support initiatives that contribute to the improvement of the sector and its formalization process.
Franco Villagarcía, UNDP Prosperity Program officer, thanked the various participating institutions for this initiative that has local results with global impacts.
“The start-up of this plant shows that it is possible to have a formal activity and responsible practices with the environment and people.”
Piura: Government inaugurates first plant to obtain gold without mercury.
The data
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM) is responsible for producing 20% of the world’s gold, however, many of these operations use mercury to process gold. The Peruvian State, as a signatory of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, together with the United Nations, promote various actions to reduce and eliminate the use of mercury in the sector.
