Mercury poses danger

LAST year, alluvial mining generated a revenue of K550 million and produced 120,000 ounces of gold, according to the Mineral Resources Authority.
Executive manager regulatory operations division Roger Gunson said it was “reducing mercury use in Papua New Guinea’s artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector”.
“To put that into perspective, that is somewhere for a medium size mine like Simberi mine in New Ireland,” he said.
Gunson said the PNG alluvial sector was a significant component of the overall mining industry, which had been operating since 1881.
“Gold represents 70 per cent of our mineral revenue, the price of gold sits at almost US$1674 (K5,568) an ounce,” he said.
“The high gold price is beneficial for PNG and our alluvial sector.
“For every US$100 (K332) increase in the gold price, our mineral revenue in PNG increase by over K650 million.
“That provides some perspective on the significance of gold on our economy.
“When the grassroot miners are working on the rivers and streams and boosting their rural household income, through to the National Government collecting taxes, the sector is one of the largest SME and directly benefits those communities who have access to the sector.”
Gunson said in many parts of PNG, gold was extracted through the use of mercury, which posed great danger to the health of the miners involved, families, community and the environment.
“Hence, we have a paradox, we want gold and we want to extract gold and sell gold, but we also have a health risk that sits along the side,” he said.
“This project is designed to get a better understanding of our alluvial sector generally and more specifically to identify the extent towards mercury’s use, how it is used and by whom, in addition that will track the region where it is used.”