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

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enterprise management, efficient production and technical excellence, as well as effective policy making and execution. Forcing miners to use a retort will not change their minds and their values. The first challenge to be addressed is a mental one, the attitudes, beliefs, knowledge levels and practices of miners and mining officials have to be changed. Knowledge levels as relatively easy to influence, if culturally appropriate material is used that is attuned to the educational level of miners. Beliefs are much harder to change, but they too can be changed. Attitudes are the hardest to change, and if no results are achieved the rule of law is often the only way out. But the carrot should come first, and only then the stick. The <strong>WWF</strong> is not in a position to draft or approve mining laws or regulations. That is the role of the National Assembly and the Ministry of Natural Resources (NH). The organization can, however, immediately help develop and impliment an awareness campaign that will drive the point home that retort use is cheap, technically feasible and urgently needed. Such a campaign will not only influence miners but also members of the National Assembly and the administration. The campaign could motivate administrators and law makers to draft, and approve a concise law mandating the use of retorts. Organizing miners. The second proposed intervention is intended to help the miners establish a national miner‟s organization consisting of concession holders, equipment owners and individual miners. Regional differences in mining zones will be accommodated by launching chapters which together will make up the national miner‟s association. The basic idea is to empower miners to have a voice as a major stakeholder, to promote and protect the rights, interests and welfare of miners, facilitate the exchange of experience and the promotion of better practice, and to foster the development and enforcement of Codes of Practice A strong organization will not only protect the interests of miners, it will also provide the government with an active and responsible counterpart to share the burden of reforming the sub-sector. The organization can help create enabling conditions for the miners, starting with effective and realistic laws and regulations and an efficient and equitable mining institution that serves the interests of both the State and the small-scale miner. The organization can also help create many supportive conditions. In the initial phase of sectoral reform it can also play a critical role in monitoring, supervising and enhancing gold mining methods, techniques, and processes, the elimination of undesirable practices and the promotion of sustainable mining. Small-scale enterprises should be able to secure expertise in mining technology and management through the national miner‟s association. The purpose of the exercise is to help miners “think outside of the box.” The organization should develop the capacity to provide ongoing technical and management assistance in the field, thereby increasing recovery, productivity and the earnings of the miners. 4
Zoning of mining areas. The third intervention involves assisting the government in creating a more enabling environment in the sub-sector. It is suggested that the principle reason for zoning is to provide an organizational basis for regulating the mining regions. Better regulated regions are safer and create an enabling environment in which miners and interion communities can collaborate. Zones under effective government management will provide a context in which the miner‟s association can set up assistance schemes to promote technically, economically and environmentally sounder mineral extraction techniques. Higher recovery and productivity will result in higher incomes, allowing miners to invest in better mining equipment and develop superior mining methods, feeding an upward spiral of recovery, profits and reduced pollution. A miner who has a good year and expects to do even better the next year is a better taxpayer and more effective manager. A miner who has barely managed to get by and is uncertain about the next year will not be able to pay taxes, and is not in a position to worry about the environment and the social costs of his operation. The basic idea is to encourage and support the government in creating a viable tax base in the SSGM sector. Policy, legislative and institutional development. With a national organization of miners and the zoning of mining regions in place, the government will be in a much better position to develop a new mining policy. In fact, the work done under the first three interventions will have produced significant input from the key stakeholders that can be used to formulate a policy framework and improve the new draft mining law. The process of interactive policy making, however, should be institutionalized, as rapid changes will most certainly continue to occur in the sub-sector. With a solid policy basis, the new laws that are being drafted will be more practical and will enjoy greater support among the miners. The likelihood of compliance with the regulations will have been significantly increased. Under these circumstances it will also be easier to design and develop efficient and effective mining institution. The British Geological Survey (BGS) has already developed a full proposal for the development of a Minerals Institute and this work could be used as a point of departure in the preparation of a revised proposal. 1.3 Background of the approach The approach recommended here has been inspired by the writings of the Peruvian economist Hernanado de Soto, who has formulated innovative strategies to redress the shortcomings of the “underground” or informal economies in developing countries. De Soto‟s basic thesis is that the poor in developing countries have not accumulated all the assets needed for successful capitalism. Because they are legally disenfranchised, they do not have title to the land and other assets they exploit, the poor are unable to turn these assets into liquid capital – the kind of capital that generates new wealth. De Soto argues that during the industrial revolution, the advanced nations faced the same kind of development problems that low-income countries face today. In those days the developed nations “were themselves Third World countries teeming with black markets, pervasive mafias, widespread poverty and flagrant disregard for the law.” About 150 5
Page 1 and 2: SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCA
Page 3 and 4: 4.6 Concession holders and miners 4
Page 5 and 6: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ACT Amazone C
Page 7 and 8: PREFACE The Suriname gold sector ha
Page 9 and 10: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The World Wildlif
Page 11 and 12: Furthermore, the proposed Inter Dep
Page 13 and 14: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The consultants ap
Page 15 and 16: Chapter I INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 ou
Page 17: government with their experience in
Page 21 and 22: known. The risk of water- and air-b
Page 23 and 24: 1.5 Root causes Why is it so diffic
Page 25 and 26: Box 1: The administrative presence
Page 27 and 28: NW-SE greenstone belt between the G
Page 29 and 30: of inappropriate equipment soon tra
Page 31 and 32: other goods imported from Paramarib
Page 33 and 34: their property to a foreign explora
Page 35 and 36: second informal system to the exist
Page 37 and 38: Hydraulic mining was outlawed in Ca
Page 39 and 40: Chapter III SOCIAL DIMENSIONS In th
Page 41 and 42: 3.2 The second gold rush Until the
Page 43 and 44: 3.3. Life in the mines Life in the
Page 45 and 46: In contrast to the Brazilian migran
Page 47 and 48: spouse, and jeopardizes their acces
Page 49 and 50: Chapter IV MINING CLASSIFICATION AN
Page 51 and 52: of its original rock structure and
Page 53 and 54: concentrate is panned with mercury.
Page 55 and 56: 6. conjunction with another excavat
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
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Table 7. Differences in organizatio
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government‟s policy to phase out
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Institutional: It provides guidance
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The rights of Indigenous, Maroon an
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institutions will be involved, both
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nature, mode of occurrence and quan
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into several categories, basically
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classification of sub-sectors in th
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over a period of five or more years
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To this day, however, little progre
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To issue licenses to small-scale mi
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NB is part of the Forestry Departme
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This development was anticipated by
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in the interior on a regular basis.
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community at the best of their abil
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Help guide law drafters and law mak
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and social laws. An intricate syste
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Table 11. Economic importance of pl
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and likely underestimates the real
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7.1 Summary of the findings Chapter
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the legalization of the activity th
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Uncontrolled sub-sector No funds to
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development leading to a practical
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Hierarchical zoning of SSGM The pro
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13.2 Langatete Zone 13.3 Cottica Zo
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critical, as use of their infrastru
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evised proposal to reflect the outc
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13 De Vletter, D.R., and A.L 1998 t
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32 Maatschap van Geologen en Mijnbo
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51 World Bank 1998 Environmental As
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SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCALE GOLD ... - WWF

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