PNG miners at Mongolia meet

 PAPUA New Guinea was represented at the international conference on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Mongolia recently.

Prominent geologist Jerry Garry and miner Maima Sine Abba participated in the ASM in the Asia Pacific region from May 28-31.

Garry and Abba were invited by organisers Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to present an overview of ASM sector in PNG and to share experiences, discuss issues affecting ASM and build regional networking.

Participants representing ASM miners, NGOs, government and donor agencies came from Asia-Pacific region Europe, South America, Africa, Canada and USA.

The three-day meet covered key aspects of ASM, as follows: including: 

• ASM’s current status in the Asia Pacific region; and
• Key challenges (mercury treaty, supply chain approaches, formalisation, responsible ASM and regional networking.  

Artisanal and small-scale mining sectors are recognised as a significant community-based source of livelihood for 10 million to 20 million people in 70 countries and account for about 20% of global gold production.

In PNG, there are about 100,000 ASM gold miners producing more than five tonnes of gold per annum (representing 13% of PNG gold output) and supporting more than half a million people in the rural areas, compared to only 30,000 people formally employed in large-scale mining sector.