SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCALE GOLD ... - WWF

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Figure 6.3. Gold marketing chain Suriname gold miner/ service provider Gold miner/ service provider working in Guyana or French Guiana LEGAL <strong>GOLD</strong> MARKETING Legal buyer Unlicensed dealer Jeweler Exporter ILLEGAL <strong>GOLD</strong> MARKETING CBvS International illegal trade circuit Jewelry International gold refining companies Gold can follow many routes to end up in the illegal circuit (Figure 6.1). The miner or service provider may decide to sell to a jeweler, usually of Chinese descent, or another unlicensed buyer. Jewelers may use a share of this gold to produce jewelry, but most of this gold ends up on the international illegal gold market. The exporter also may decide to bypass the Central Bank and royalty payments, to instead sell illegally to international buyers. This requires that the exporter or his or her connections smuggle the gold abroad. The arrest of smugglers at the international airport several times a year suggests that illegal gold marketing continues to be a lucrative business. An evaluation of changes in gold purchasing policy shows that the CBvS has been quite adaptive to customary practices in marketing. From being the sole purchaser, a position that was impossible to hold, it has now opened up the buying market. Today the Bank itself merely serves as a regulatory body and collector of royalties. This policy appears to work fairly well, though the control of buyers and exporters remains problematic. The Bank‟s involvement has shifted from strict control, with a presence in all legal buying centers, to a more removed position. The role of licensed private sector involvement should be extended to the interior, so that better control can be exercised at the source of production. Perhaps a more active involvement of the concession leasing enterprises or a miner‟s association could help government get a better grip on the gold trade in Suriname. The role of mine inspectors in the process of gold buying in the interior is also critical, once again indicating the importance of a government presence in the remote mining areas. 92
7.1 Summary of the findings Chapter VII DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS Between 75 and 150 million US Dollars worth in gold is produced by small-scale miners in Suriname each year. Most of the mining is extra-legal. Even on mining areas covered by a permit most of the mining is extra-legal: parts of exploration permits are being leased to miners for exploitation. The Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto noted that 70% of the world population lives outside of the law. In the SSGM sector in Suriname this number is probably over 90%. Several key issues stand out in the sub-sector: No fully developed integrated SSM policy No zoning of mining regions, making planning and regulatory control difficult Out of date legislation that does not reflect the current realities in the gold mines Weak institutional structure with limited representation in the field A negligible government take from the sub-sector Extra-legal operations throughout the interior and massive environmental destruction that results from unsound ore extraction and processing techniques. Health, security and social threats emerging in unstructured mining regions and zones In the preceding chapters the causes of these problems have been analyzed and discussed at length. We have reviewed the history of gold mining in Suriname, analyzed the social dimension of the sub-sector, discussed the economics of SSM and reviewed the role of the private sector and State in the sub-sector. The many problems that were identified all revolve around one basic question: how can we transform the extra-legal polluting resources of the informal miners to a legal and sustainable source of employment and income? How can the State, the private sector, civil society and the miners themselves help the sub-sector break out of the negative circles of cause and effect that have been identified in the foregoing chapters? 7.2 The World Bank Model In the World Bank Roundtable on Artisanal Mining in 1995 Richard Noetstaller pointed out that “both informal miners and governments are caught in negative circles of cause and effect.” With regard to the miners, he pointed out that “the use of inadequate mining and processing techniques and equipment leads to a low productivity of operations and low recovery of valuable minerals which in turn results in low revenues and the inability to accumulate funds for investment. The lack of funds to improve methods and acquire appropriate equipment traps artisanal miners in crude, inefficient mining and processing, 93
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SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCA
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4.6 Concession holders and miners 4
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACT Amazone C
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PREFACE The Suriname gold sector ha
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The World Wildlif
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Furthermore, the proposed Inter Dep
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The consultants ap
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Chapter I INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 ou
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government with their experience in
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Zoning of mining areas. The third i
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known. The risk of water- and air-b
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1.5 Root causes Why is it so diffic
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Box 1: The administrative presence
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NW-SE greenstone belt between the G
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of inappropriate equipment soon tra
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other goods imported from Paramarib
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their property to a foreign explora
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second informal system to the exist
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Hydraulic mining was outlawed in Ca
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Chapter III SOCIAL DIMENSIONS In th
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3.2 The second gold rush Until the
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3.3. Life in the mines Life in the
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In contrast to the Brazilian migran
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spouse, and jeopardizes their acces
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Chapter IV MINING CLASSIFICATION AN
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of its original rock structure and
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concentrate is panned with mercury.
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Page 57 and 58: 4.3 The classification scheme of No
Page 59 and 60: capital invest in such an enterpris
Page 61 and 62: Most workers are paid a percentage
Page 63 and 64: least earn some income from mining
Page 65 and 66: Fixed costs Operator (150 gr. p. m.
Page 67 and 68: Finally, the concession holder who
Page 69 and 70: Table 7. Differences in organizatio
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Page 73 and 74: Institutional: It provides guidance
Page 75 and 76: The rights of Indigenous, Maroon an
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Page 79 and 80: nature, mode of occurrence and quan
Page 81 and 82: into several categories, basically
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Page 85 and 86: over a period of five or more years
Page 87 and 88: To this day, however, little progre
Page 89 and 90: To issue licenses to small-scale mi
Page 91 and 92: NB is part of the Forestry Departme
Page 93 and 94: This development was anticipated by
Page 95 and 96: in the interior on a regular basis.
Page 97 and 98: community at the best of their abil
Page 99 and 100: Help guide law drafters and law mak
Page 101 and 102: and social laws. An intricate syste
Page 103 and 104: Table 11. Economic importance of pl
Page 105: and likely underestimates the real
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Page 111 and 112: Uncontrolled sub-sector No funds to
Page 113 and 114: development leading to a practical
Page 115 and 116: Hierarchical zoning of SSGM The pro
Page 117 and 118: 13.2 Langatete Zone 13.3 Cottica Zo
Page 119 and 120: critical, as use of their infrastru
Page 121 and 122: evised proposal to reflect the outc
Page 123 and 124: 13 De Vletter, D.R., and A.L 1998 t
Page 125 and 126: 32 Maatschap van Geologen en Mijnbo
Page 127: 51 World Bank 1998 Environmental As
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