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

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sub-sector. This is the only way to ensure that sufficient resources are available to finance a permanent administrative presence in the remote mining regions and zones of the interior. Government efforts should not focus only on securing fiscal revenues. Assistance schemes and other enabling conditions such as technical assistance for improved practices and security are also indispensable in bringing the sub-sector under control , and reducing the negative impacts. Without a good zoning and administration of the mining areas, it will not be possible to provide assistance and monitor compliance with existing regulations. Without an up-to-date mining code and regulations designed on the basis of the prevailing realities in the gold fields, and without “miner-friendly” government institutions, any new monitoring and control system that is introduced will not be effective. 24
Chapter III SOCIAL DIMENSIONS In this chapter we identify the main stakeholder groups in the interior, where SSM takes place. We begin with a description of the traditional inhabitants of the forest: Indigenous peoples ad Maroons. These forest peoples lived for several centuries in relative isolation from outsiders and the Suriname nation state. This changed in the late 1870’s, when thousands of miners came to work local gold deposits. A century later a massive influx of Brazilian miners took place, often returning to the areas that were mined at the onset of the first gold rush. We characterize these foreign and local miners, as well as their living conditions in and outside the mines, in sections 3.2 through 3.4. Small-scale miners throughout the world are organized in cooperatives and associations that provide financial, technical, administrative, and other support. As we describe self-organization among miners in Suriname, we will seek to explain the relative lack of self organization among Suriname miners. The chapter concludes with a brief evaluation of the positive and negative impacts of SSGM on individuals, families and communities. These impacts have been described in detail in numerous other studies, and instead of repeating what has been said before, the reader is referred to complementary books, reports, and papers. 3.1 Traditional inhabitants of the interior The Suriname interior, where all gold mining takes place, is inhabited by forest peoples; Indigenous peoples (or Amerindians) and Maroons (Figure 3.1). Each of these groups is made up of several culturally distinct societies. Among the Indigenous peoples one can distinguish coastal and inland societies. Coastal Amerindians consists of Caribs and Arowaks. Trios, Wayanas and several smaller Indigenous communities live further inland. The Trio and Wayana are linguistically related to the Caribs, even though they live in the southern part of Suriname. Among the Suriname Maroons, two language families can be identified: the Afro- Portuguese and Afro-English. The Saramaka and Matawai speak an Afro-Portuguese language dating back to the 17 th century that was developed in Central-Suriname on the Portuguese-Jewish plantations. The languages spoken by the other four groups – Ndjuka (or Aukaners), Paramaka Kwinti, and Boni (or Aluku)- are related to Sranantongo, the coastal creole language that was developed on the English plantations around the same time. Nowadays most interior groups, particularly Maroons, rely to a greater or lesser extent on goods and services from the coast. Where possible Indigenous and Maroon children attend public schools; the ill tend to visit Western clinics; families may eat canned fish, 25
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 and 18: government with their experience in
Page 19 and 20: Zoning of mining areas. The third i
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: Hydraulic mining was outlawed in Ca
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
Page 69 and 70: Table 7. Differences in organizatio
Page 71 and 72: government‟s policy to phase out
Page 73 and 74: Institutional: It provides guidance
Page 75 and 76: The rights of Indigenous, Maroon an
Page 77 and 78: institutions will be involved, both
Page 79 and 80: nature, mode of occurrence and quan
Page 81 and 82: into several categories, basically
Page 83 and 84: classification of sub-sectors in th
Page 85 and 86: over a period of five or more years
Page 87 and 88: 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
Page 101 and 102:
and social laws. An intricate syste
Page 103 and 104:
Table 11. Economic importance of pl
Page 105 and 106:
and likely underestimates the real
Page 107 and 108:
7.1 Summary of the findings Chapter
Page 109 and 110:
the legalization of the activity th
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
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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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