Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining

Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is an important livelihood activity that employs an estimated 10 million miners and may support, directly and indirectly, as many as 100 million persons worldwide. In Suriname, ASGM accounts for more than half of national gold production. The sector directly employs an estimated 20,000 persons as small-scale gold miners plus a similar number of mining service providers.

Social Solutions supports governments, private sector and NGOs in efforts to collect information about, and provide services to, ASGM populations. In Suriname, Social Solutions has conducted general assessments of ASGM populations in specific regions, including a national protected area, as well as more targeted studies. These targeted studies include regular monitoring studies for the Suriname government Looking for Gold, Finding Malaria program, as well as a Seroprevalence and Behavioral Surveillance Survey among commercial sex workers and their clients at mine sites. Outside of Suriname, Social Solutions researchers have worked with artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities in Mongolia, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Colombia.

Presently Social Solutions works with the Artisanal Gold Council on a program to reduce the use of mercury in ASGM industry through the introduction of mobile mercury free processing systems. The project will be implemented in coordination with local educational institutions as a means of capacity building within the country and to ensure sustainability of the results.