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

very SSM (V-SSM). Another option is to use the three-tiered classification system of
Guyana: small-scale- medium-scale and large-scale gold mining. The advantage of this
system is a reduction in the sets of regulations that would be required to for the various
sub-sectors. In view of the corresponding environmental impacts, however, in this
scheme SSM (SSM) should refer only to artisanal, manual or partially mechanized gold
mining, and not include hydraulic mining. Hydraulic mining operations should be
classified with the medium-scale enterprises.
4.4 The organization of enterprises
Every gold miner or developer of a gold mining enterprise seeks to satisfy a need
expressed in the demand for gold. The gold may be used for jewelry, but also for
industrial or investment purposes. But here is where the similarities end. At the one
extreme, gold is one of those minerals that can be produced by a highly organized and
technologically sophisticated enterprise under an investment scheme of several hundred
million dollars. At the other extreme, gold can be produced by a very poor person with a
pick-axe, shovel, a small sluice box and a gold pan, an investment worth less than 100
US Dollars. Gold mining is a very challenging frontier where the investment community
of western world meets head on with the often very poor artisanal miner.
In the case of Suriname, the big players in terms of capital and numbers are both „migrant
miners‟: the foreign investment miner moves liquid capital, physical assets and knowhow
from the wealthy or industrialized nations to Suriname, the subsistence miner
relocates his physical strength and mining experience from Brazil to Suriname. Both are
likely to run into the Maroon miners who have for over a century supplemented their
subsistence income with money income from gold mining or as service providers in the
sector. And both will turn to the custodians of the mining areas, entrepreneurs from
Paramaribo who through their mining expertise and experience or through political
capital control access to most of the greenstone belt in Suriname. So if we are to consider
the purpose and organization of mining enterprises, it would be helpful to explore at least
the five categories of stakeholders listed below and the variety of organizations they
represent or mining capital and technology they mobilize.
1) Foreign investment mining companies
2) Concession holders and mining enterprises
3) Operations by Brazilian migrant miners
4) Customary mining zones controlled by local Maroon miners
5) Occupied mining zones
4.5 Foreign investment mining companies
Since the focus of the report is on SSM it suffices to point out that foreign investment
mining enterprises such as Cambior observe the principle of economic efficiency in
mining. The enterprise strives to achieve the highest possible recovery at lowest cost per
gram, and it has the capital, expertise and experience to do so. The purpose of this type of
enterprise is to turn a profit that will be paid out to shareholders. Basically, owners of
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