Artisanal and small-scale mining visioning workshop

Before the workshop, here's some background reading on how IIED is working to create a space for dialogue between different representatives of the mining sector

Day one:

The morning of the first day had seen stakeholders come together and agree that the long-term goal was to have ASM as a functional and sustainable business sector. The steps along the way, however, were still up for debate

At the close of day one, stakeholders felt that a local-dialogue series on ASM must tackle the two elephants in the room: the issue of government capacity and injecting fresh thought and debate on how to formalise the sector, both of which hinged on market and rights-based approaches

Day two:

It was agreed that any conversation on formalisation must begin with rights, and that a human rights approach was seen as important to help orient a more progressive vision for the future

The idea of using different kinds of information to target and mobilise different stakeholders was met with enthusiasm. So too was changing how we frame debates in the sector

Positive and innovative examples were also put on display, with approaches taken by the Ethiopian government peaking top interest

Market-drivers were seen as powerful forces that set formalisation efforts down the right path, but it was thought that more still needed to be done to ensure initiatives penetrate to the ground level

Conversations on government capacity started with the idea of integrating ASM into exiting mandates and revisting old policies to review their efficacy

And while it was widely viewed that government must play a leading role, it is not just the responsiblity of governments to take up the mantle of leadership. Each stakeholder group has a role to play

The role of a global set of actors, too, was up for debate

While building the business case for ASM was seen as a top priority among dialogue attendees

One former large-scale miner articulated the potential of ASM in the community of Mgusu, Tanzania:

“After studying the production rates of ASM in Mgusu, the number of people involved, their recovery rates and so on, we saw that on average, the miners produced ~13 oz.of gold per community member, per year. Even if you assume there are only 100,000 people, then the yearly production of gold from ASM would sit at ~1.3million oz./yr. Now compare this with the national production rates for Tanzania, which sit at ~1 million oz., with investment from the mining sectorsitting in the billions."

"The potential is there and it is massive. And it could be realised with, relatively speaking, very little effort and investment. The recovery data of ASM in this area sat at 10-30 per cent using traditional recovery methods. With the introduction of proper metallurgical methods, one could double the efficiency of the miners to a 50-60 per cent recovery rate.”

Knowledge and information was seen as a two-way street. Any initiative must enter communities to take stock of the different kinds of information miners want and need

Others who could not attend the dialogue passed on their thoughts of change for the sector. Anthony Mavunde, from the Federation of Miners Association of Tanzania (FEMATA), highlighted the importance of improving geological, environmental and regulatory information and its accessibility for ASM miners, and that if we really want to address the deep-rooted vulnerabilities of the sector, we need to start on the ground, building stronger artisanal mining communities

Over the next few weeks, IIED will be compiling and analysing the experiences, perspectives and knowledge captured from the two-day workshop. From here, we move to in-country multi-stakeholder dialogues that will tackle these issues at their root: on the ground.