Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Gold losses and mercury recovery in artisanal gold mining on the

Madeira River, Brazil
Michela Balzino a, b, Jacopo Seccatore b, c, *, Tatiane Marin b, d, Giorgio De Tomi b, d,
Marcello M. Veiga e
a
Department of Environment, Landscape and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
b ~o Paulo, Brazil
Research Center for Responsible Mining, University of Sa
c
Instituto of Geoci^ ~o Paulo, Brazil
encas, Universidade de Sa
d
Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, University of Sa ~o Paulo, Brazil
e
Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: For the last 40 years artisanal mining has been playing a key role in the economy of the Madeira River,
Received 11 March 2015 State of Rondo ^ nia, in the Brazilian Amazon. The main process through which artisanal miners in the
Received in revised form region recover gold is by river dredging. The dredges are floating platforms that excavate the bottom of
28 April 2015
the river and, after a sorting phase, separate the gold (Au) from the sediment by means of mercury (Hg)
Accepted 4 May 2015
amalgamation. The objectives of this paper are to map the process, demonstrate the inability to
Available online 12 May 2015
completely recover the Au from the excavated sediments, and reveal the actual impact of Hg. Several
dredges were visited and all the unit operations involved in the mining and processing circuit were
Keywords:
Artisanal mining
analyzed. Significant losses of Au are associated with inefficient sorting techniques. The Au grade of the
Mercury sediments rejected during the sorting phase ranges from 0.1 to 7.8 ppm, reaching values higher than the
Gold world average Au grade of the producing mines. Analyzing the amalgamation process, it was possible to
Amazon quantify the Hg released into and recovered from the environment. The results show that, contrary to
Madeira River common belief, Hg is recovered from the bottom of the river instead of being released into it. The total
Hg-mass balance is actually closed with a positive recovery and with an emission factor (Hg:Au ratio)
lower than the average (0.1e0.2). Despite this result, Hg continues to be volatilized into the atmosphere
in the form of vapors. In the region of the Madeira River a campaign must be developed to encourage the
use of more efficient and Hg-free technologies for Au recovery. Responsible and Hg-free AGM operations
can contribute effectively to rehabilitate the entire area.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction a (Seccatore et al., 2014). Even though the artisanal Au mining,

Artisanal gold mining (AGM) is an important source of income in
a developing, low-income region (Hentschel et al., 2003) such as
the Brazilian Amazon due to the high Au concentration in the
sediments of the river bottom (3e30 g/m3)and in the layer of al-
luvial over-consolidated deposit called mocororo ^ (up to35 g/m3)
(Bastos, 2004). This activity has played and currently plays an
important economic role in the country, attracting a large number
of miners (Veiga, 1997a,b) with an estimated Au production of 21 t/
* Corresponding author. Research Center for Responsible Mining, University of
S~
ao Paulo, Brazil.
E-mail address: jacopo.seccatore@usp.br (J. Seccatore).
locally called garimpagem, has long roots in the history of this ter-
ritory since the 1950s (Cremers et al., 2013), the sector truly began
to grow as a viable livelihood alternative in the 1970s (UNDP, 2011;
Cremers et al., 2013) and in the early 1980s when the Au price
reached US$ 850/oz (Mylchreest, 2007). In particular, the area of
Madeira River has been one of the most productive Au regions of
Brazil in the last decades, starting as an individual and informal
manual activity with floating sluice boxes in the riverside during
the dry season and quickly transformed into a mechanized activity
(Bastos and Lacerda, 2004). Garimpagem was regulated in 1979
(Almeida et al., 2009), when the Brazilian government established
an Artisanal Mining Reserve (Reserva Garimpeira, Ministry Decree.
1345/79 and 1034/80) in the area between Porto Velho and Vila de
Abuna ~ (Linhares et al., 2009). Nowadays, Au mining in Madeira

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.012
0959-6526/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Balzino et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377
River is performed mainly aboard dredges (dragas, see Fig. 1), which
are floating platforms (from the smallest observed 8 m
14 m, to
the largest 10 m
30 m).
Dredges excavate the bottom of the river with a rotating drum,
and pump the disaggregated material aboard, where the sorting
and processing phases take place (Bastos, 2004). Amalgamation is
used on board to separate the Au from the concentrated sediments.
The recovery process is usually not well planned and the tech-
niques and devices employed are rudimentary, unsafe and outdated.
The methods of extraction and separation are often not efficient,
resulting in high losses of profit. Furthermore, the Hg involved in the
amalgamation is as much inefficient as dangerous due to the Hg
vapors emitted to the atmosphere and around the burning sites. The
Hg level can be alarmingly high, reaching the WHO (World Health
Organization) limit for public exposure of 1.0 mg/m3 (EHP, 2014). For
this reason, over the past twenty years the artisanal mining activ-
ities have been constantly denounced in the local and international
media (Hacon et al., 2008). Despite the much higher awareness
among the artisanal Au miners about Hg issues and the actual
improvement of their techniques (Hester and Harrison, 1994), the
area continues to be affected by the impact of past mining activities
that have been the cause of 3000 t of Hg released in the middle of the
Amazon environment from 1975 to 2002 (Bastos et al., 2008; Diaz
and Elmer, 2000). For a comparison, “annual emissions from
ASGM are estimated at 727 tonnes, making this the largest sector
accounting for more than 35% of total anthropogenic emissions”
(UNEP, 2013). Nowadays, the impact of the AGM in the area has
drastically decreased (Bastos et al., 2006) but the lack of support
from governments, poor technical management and a high interest
in immediate profits mean that Hg releases and emission remain a
problem in the region (Veiga and Hinton, 2002).
Improvement of the current situation requires deeper knowl-
edge of the operating methods, and participation of the miners in
the transformations and the decision-making process is paramount
to convert them into small, responsible entrepreneurs (Seccatore
et al., 2013; Hinton et al., 2003). The present study is part of such
an effort.
Fig. 1. One of the dredges observed during the research.
371
2. Mining, concentration and amalgamation
The gold recovery process is organized into three main phases:
mining, concentration, and amalgamation of the concentrated ore.
Fig. 2 shows the flowchart of the whole process. Fig. 3 shows the
flow of the ore aboard a dredge, from excavation to waste disposal.
Fig. 4 shows pictures of the equipment and materials involved in
the process.
A cutting drum (locally called abacaxi, pineapple in Portuguese)
excavates the river bottom, at depths from 15 to 20 m, breaking up
rocks and consolidated materials. The cutting drum is coupled to an
arm (which ranges from 10 to 40 m in length), whose structure is
composed of a pipe connected to a suction pump that sucks the
mixture (water, gravel and sand) on board at the same time. The arm
is controlled through cables and winches by an operator aboard the
dredge, and no diver is employed (Fig. 4A). The pumped material is
sorted by grain size in grids that act as sieves. The grids are made of
iron bars with an average opening of 2.9 cm, where larger stones and
other impurities are retained. The oversize is rejected and dumped
into the river (Waste1, Figs. 2 and 3). The selected material flows
over sluice boxes covered with carpets (Carpets1, Figs. 2 and 3). The
sluice boxes are slightly inclined (about 20 ). Finer Au is trapped in
the carpet fibers by sedimentation, together with sands and other
impurities (Fig. 4B). The engine is stopped for 1 h every 20, when the
carpets are quickly removed, rolled and replaced with dry ones. The
carpets from the sluice boxes are then washed intensely in a tank
with running water, so that the fine particles detach from the carpet
fibers and flow into a tank. After this phase, fine particles flow onto
another smaller sluice box, covered with new carpets (Carpets2,
Figs. 2 and 3) which concentrate the heavier fraction and reduce the
amount of sand (Fig. 4C, Figs. 2 and 3).
The washing operation is repeated with Carpets2 and the ob-
tained concentrate is collected for the amalgamation process. The
coarser material is rejected and dumped into the river (Waste2,
Figs. 2 and 3). Amalgamation of Au from the gravity concentrates
employs metallic Hg which is introduced into a cement mixer for
no longer than 60 min (Fig. 4D). The amount of Hgin introduced in
372 M. Balzino et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377

Fig. 2. Flowchart of the Au recovery process.

the amalgamation barrel (cement mixer) is arbitrarily determined
by the worker in charge of the amalgamation process. The worker
in charge determines the required quantity according to the sus-
pected Au grade detected by observation when the carpets are
washed: the higher the amount of Au observed in the carpets, the
higher the amount of Hg added into the mixer. No measurement is
performed during this phase. This mixing process eventually
pulverizes the Hg, forming droplets that are lost with tailings that
squez-Lo
return to the river. Vela  pez et al. (2010) report that the
amalgamation of concentrates using barrels or mixers loses around
1.4% of the Hg introduced in the process, whereas 30% of Hg is lost
when the whole ore is amalgamated in small ball mills. The
amalgam is separated from the rest of the heavy minerals by
panning in a bucket and the worker removes the ferrous fraction

Fig. 3. Scheme of the flow of the ore aboard a dredge, from excavation to waste.
 M. Balzino et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377
Fig. 4. A e Arm and cutting drum, B e Grid and Carpets1, C e Open tank and Carpets2, D e Cement mixer, E e Retort, F e Final Au.
with a magnet. After squeezing off the excess Hg, the amalgam,
usually containing 60% Au and 40% Hg, is decomposed by burning
in a furnace with a retort which retains up to 95% of the evaporated
Hg (Fig. 4E). This process has been described in detail in dedicated
works (Veiga et al., 2013; UNEP, 2008). The impure Au, called dor e,
is melted in open air with a propane torch, obtaining Au with a
residual 4% of Hg and other impurities (Fig. 4F), according to the
cooperative COOGARIMA (Cooperativa de Garimpeiros do Rio
Madeira, cooperative of artisanal miners of the Rio Madeira, located
in Porto Velho, Rondo ^ nia).
3. Methodology to assess the Au losses
3.1. System boundaries and Au-balance equation
In order to analyze the Au recovery process, an Au-mass balance
was developed to assess the amount of Au that enters and exits the
system, from the excavation phase to the final produced Au. The
mass balance equation of the process is as follows:
Auin  Aulost1  Aulost2 ¼ Auproduced
where: Auin is the Au introduced in the system, Aulost1 is the Au lost
in grids from Waste1, Aulost2 is the Au lost in the rejected material
from Waste2, Auproduced is the final Au produced. To assess the
parameters of the Au-mass balance, a preliminary analysis was
required to quantify the solid fraction of the jets entering the sys-
tem and leaving it in Waste 1 and 2. This is done with Equation (2).
Auin ¼ F*t*GAu
where: F is the flow of the solid fraction [t/h], t is the time of the
process [t] and GAu is the Au grade[g/t].
3.2. Sampling conditions
Difficulties in assessing the flow rate of the solid fraction (due to
the lack of safe conditions during sampling from the main pipe)
373
made it impossible to determine precisely the first Au-mass bal-
ance parameters. It was possible, however, to sample and deter-
mine the Au grade of Waste 1 and 2. Samples of the rejected
material were collected, separated from the liquid component,
homogenized and quartered up to obtain the sample to analyze by
fire assay. The sampling procedure was accomplished on six
dredges for eight recovery processes.
4. Methodology to assess the role of Hg
4.1. System boundaries and Hg-balance equation
The Hg-mass balance was performed to determine the losses of
Hg in the Au recovery process. This balance assesses the Hg intro-
duced into the amalgamation system and the portion recovered at
the end of the process. Based on the analysis of the incoming and
outgoing masses, the mass balance equation of the amalgamation
process was developed (3).
(1) Hgin ¼ Hgriver þ Hgevaporated þ Hgrecovered þ Hggold (3)
where: Hgin is the Hg introduced in the system, Hgriver is the Hg in
transference with the river (either recovered or introduced), Hge-
vaporated is the Hg evaporated in the whole process, Hgrecovered is the
Hg recovered during the process, Hggold is Hg trapped with Au in the
produced impure gold.
The sign of Hgriver determines whether the Hg is recovered from
(2) or introduced into the river: if Hgriver > 0 then Hgriver ¼ Hglost, that is
Hg released to the river; if Hgriver < 0 then Hgriver ¼ Hggained that is
Hg recovered from the river. The variable Hgevaporated can be broken
down to its components: it is the sum of the Hg evaporated due to
the losses in the furnace (Hgev1), and the Hg evaporated during the
burning with a blowtorch (Hgev2). Also the variable Hgrecovered can
be broken down to its components: it is the sum of the surplus of
Hg squeezed from the piece of fabric (Hgsqueezed) and the Hg
recovered from the retort (Hgretort).
374 M. Balzino et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377

Table 1
Methods for measuring Hg emissions.

Evaluation Procedure

Hg entering the system (Hgin) Hg was weighed before being introduced into the amalgamation process.
Hg squeezed off from the amalgam (Hgsqueezed) Hg was weighed after squeezing the amalgam.
Weight of the amalgam (Wamalgam) Amalgam was weighed before burning to eliminate the Hg.
Hg recovered with the retort (Hgretort) Hg was collected in the retort and weighed after burning.
Weight of the gold (WAu) Au was weighed after burning with propane torch.

Table 2
Formulas for measuring Hg emissions.

Evaluation Procedure

Hg evaporated during the burning phases (Hgevaporated)

Hgevaporated ¼ Wamalgam ½g  Hgretort ½g  WAu ½g (4)

Hg recovered during the amalgamation process (Hgrecovered)

Hgrecovered ½g ¼ HgSqueezed ½g þ Hgretort ½g (5)

Hg recovered from the river (Hggained)

Hgriver < 0/Hgriver ¼ Hggained (6)

a
Hg impurities in the gold (Hggold)
4% of Wgold (7)

Percentage of Hg recovered with respect to that introduced (Recovery of Hg)

Recovery of Hg ¼ Hgrecovered=Hgin (8)

a
From interviews with the members of the COOGARIMA cooperative.

4.2. Materials and methods
The approach used to quantify the involved Hg wasted was to
weigh it with precision balances before and after each unit opera-
tion involved in the amalgamation process. The procedure was
followed at six dredges during eight amalgamation processes by
weighing the Hg introduced into the system (Hgin), the Hg squeezed
(Hgsqueezed), the amalgam before and after the furnace, the Hg
recovered by the retort (Hgretort) and the Au produced. The proce-
dure is described in Table 1. It was integrated based on interviews
with the miners and the operators of COOGARIMA for the correct
interpretation of the process phases.
Inverse equations were obtained to calculate the missing pa-
rameters based on the Hg-mass balance equation. These equations
are shown in Table 2.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Au losses
According to The Global Au Mine & Deposit ranking (Natural
Resource Holdings, 2013), the average grade of all producing
mines in the world was 1.01 g/t in 2013. This means that the gar-
impeiros are rejecting material with an Au grade comparable to that
of industrial Au mines around the world. This consideration high-
lights the inefficiency of the Au recovery process aboard these
dredges.
5.2. More Hg recovered than released into the environment
In reference to previous studies, it was expected to get high
levels of Hg released into the environment (Shandro et al., 2009;
Spiegel and Veiga, 2010; Veiga, 1997a,b, 2009; Veiga et al., 2006;
Velasquez-Lo pez et al., 2010). Negative values of Hgriver represent
Hg recovered from the river (Hggained) and not released into it,
resulting in a recovery of Hg greater than 100%. These results prove
that, during each Au recovery process, a considerable amount of Hg
is recovered from the environment as well (27.8%). Even if some Hg

The average Au grades of the rejected material, Waste1 and 2,

are shown in Table 3. The highest Au concentrations occurred in
Waste1due to a probable lack of liberation of Au particles trapped in
coarser sediments. The carpets technique shows better efficiency
on the finer material, resulting in lower losses of Au.

Table 3
Au grade in the rejected material.

Au grade Waste1 [ppm] Au grade Waste2 [ppm]

P1 0.15 0.49
P2 0.27 0.08
P3 7.83 0.10
P4 0.88 1.17
P5 2.68 0.41
P6 1.68 0.07
Fig. 5. Hggained and Hgevaporated.
 M. Balzino et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377 375

Table 4 Table 5
Average Hg distribution in amalgamation processes. Percentage of Hg dispersed in the atmosphere.

Hg distribution Material Estimation method Amalgamation process % Hgevaporated compared

with the initial Hg
Hgin [g] 382.6 ± 187.1 Weighing
Hgsqueezed [g] 322.6 ± 140.6 Weighing A1 2.3
Wamalgam [g] 249.6 ± 113.0 Weighing A2 2.8
Hgretort[g] 150.8 ± 68.8 Weighing A3 1.8
WAu [g] 101.3 ± 44.3 Weighing A4 27.3
Hggold [g] 4.8 ± 1.8 Eq. (7) A5 3.1
Hgevaporated 52.9 ± 5.7 Eq. (4) A6 1.3
Hgrecovered[g] 540.1 ± 153.5 Eq. (5) A7 1.6
Hgriver[g] 118 ± 71.4 Eq. (3) A8 1.8
Hggained[g] 118.8 ± 71.4 Eq. (6)
Recovery Hg 120% Eq. (8)

Note: Arithmetic mean ± standard deviation, n ¼ 7. result from 1988 shows that the emissions of Hg have dramatically
decreased in the last 26 years.

is released during the process in the form of vapors 5.4. Hg losses

(Hgevaporated ¼ 1.9e3.6%), the total balance shows that the operation
is actually capturing more Hg that is already present in the river.
This result is contrary to the common perception of a polluting
AGM. Looking at the recovery processes as a whole, it “cleans up”
more than it pollutes, and AGM should be seen as a potential
stakeholder in the process of rehabilitation of the area by
reclaiming the bottom of the river. Comparing the values of Hggained
and Hgevaporated (Fig. 5), it is shown that sometimes the proportion
between them can be ten times as high. The results obtained are
reported in Table 4.
The relation between Hgin and Hgrecovered (Fig. 6) was analyzed
in order to confirm these results. The amount of Hg recovered
during the amalgamation process is systematically higher than the
amount introduced at the beginning. The excess in recovery is
indeed Hg coming from the bottom of the river.
5.3. HgeAu ratio
The relationship between the Hg and Au produced was calcu-
lated in order to compare the proportion of Hg released into the
environment (that in this study is equivalent to Hgevaporated) in
relation to the amount of Au produced during the whole amal-
gamation process (Lacerda, 2003a,b). This value is called the
emission factor (EF) or Hg:Au ratio and is quite variable, depending
on the site, techniques and devices used (Lacerda and Pfeiffer,
1992). EF usually ranges from 1 to 5, and in particular in between
1 and 1.5 in the Amazon (Lacerda, 2003a,b). Pfeiffer and Lacerda
(1988) found a mean EF of 1.3 in mining sites located in the
Madeira River. The average EF measured during this study ranges
from 0.1 to 0.2. The reduction of 78.5% with respect to the previous
Despite these results, the analyzed Au recovery processes are
really far from the concept of a clean production. It still exists a
release of Hg in the environment in the form of vapors that are
dangerous for the workers. This source of pollution is represented
by the Hgevaporated as the sum of Hg losses from the furnace and the
Hg dispersed during the burning phase in open air with the pro-
pane torch. The second constituent is often the main cause, but in
some processes the employment of handmade and overused re-
torts can cause a high level of Hg to be released from the furnace
with the retort. This problem is more evident in some cases where
the level of Hg evaporated is higher than the average. This is the
case of amalgamation process 4, which is excluded from the sta-
tistical analysis because it is an outlier (A4 in Table 5) caused by
process deviations. During the field work it was noticed that the
furnace employed was outdated, dilapidated and in its proximity
there was a strong odor. The retorting efficiency depends on the
type of connections or clamps used (UNEP, 2008) and in that case
were of a low quality. Well-made retorts, like the majority of the
analyzed cases, if properly used, can collect and recycle a high
amount of Hg used during the process (Maponga and Ngorima,
2003; Jønsson et al., 2013). This occurrence suggests that inap-
propriate devices result in reduced recovery efficiency and there-
fore higher losses.
5.5. The Hg in the river
Madeira River is one of the rivers most contaminated by Hg in
the Amazon basin (Silveira et al., 1998). The amount of Hg is linked
mainly to the mining activities and reached its highest values
during the years of the maximum Au production (the 1980s, Bastos
and Lacerda, 2004). High levels of Hg, according to Lechler et al.
(2000), can also be attributed to natural sources. However, deter-
mining the origin of Hg in the river goes beyond the aim of this
paper. The scope of this work was to evaluate the exchange of Hg
that mining activities have with the environment. The values of
Hggained could then be correlated with thigh deposited at the bot-
tom of Madeira River that it is dredged during the excavation phase
and enters the Au recovery process. Hg has a high specific weight
and during the sorting phase is captured by the carpets until
reaching the amalgamation process. Indeed, observing the sedi-
ments coming from the bottom of the river, the presence of Hg was
always visible to the naked eye (Fig. 7).

6. Conclusions

In this paper it is shown that AGM is still an important source of

Fig. 6. Hgin and Hgrecovered. income in the Madeira River. An inefficient Au recovery method
376 M. Balzino et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377
Fig. 7. Hg in a sample collected from the bottom of the river.
seems to be the cause of Au losses during the sorting phases. The
high Au grade in Waste1 (2.3 ppm) demonstrates that the coarser
material contains fine unliberated particles of Au. Moreover, the Au
grade of average industrial mines in the world is comparable to that
rejected during the recovery process. The profits of the operation as
a whole, and therefore its economical sustainability, are strongly
compromised by its lack of efficiency.
Focusing on the amalgamation process, it was observed that the
current AGM activity in the Madeira River, albeit continuing to
employ Hg for amalgam, shows signs of awareness, as retorts
appear to be widespread and commonly employed, helping to
mitigate the environmental emissions. The rate of Hg released is far
lower than the amount involved in the past (with a decrease of
78.5%) (Pfeiffer and Lacerda, 1988).
The mass balance allowed to demonstrate that each process
recovers a large amount of Hg from the river. In the eight processes
analyzed, a total 3.6 kg of Hg were introduced during the amal-
gamation and 4.7 kg of Hg were collected at the end of the pro-
cesses and only 0.4 kg were lost into the atmosphere as vapors,
with an emission factor (Hg:Au ratio) from 0.1 to 0.2. These results
show that, for the analyzed cases, 131% of Hg was recovered with
respect to the amount introduced. This is a positive environmental
role played by the AGM operation, and at the same time shows that
a large amount of Hg is deposited on the river bottom.
Despite this improvement, the activity of garimpeiros cannot be
defined as clean production as it continues to use Hg and is
dangerous for the environment and humans. Measures to eliminate
the practice of whole ore amalgamation should be encouraged
through the introduction of more efficient and Hg-free technolo-
gies, as described in Veiga (2009), and implement local training
programs, as described in Sousa and Veiga (2009) and Veiga et al.
(2015). At the same time, a reclamation plan of the bottom of
Madeira River should be integrated with this program, in order take
advantage of the ongoing AGM operations to help rehabilitate the
entire area.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks go to the COOGARIMA for their help during field
~o (Research
work. A special acknowledgment goes to NAP.Mineraça
Center for Responsible Mining of the University of Sa~o Paulo,
Brazil), FAPESP (Foundation for Support to the Research of the State
~o Paulo, Brazil) and CNPq (National Council for Technological
of Sa
and Scientific Development, Brazil) for their support of the research
effort.
References
Almeida, M., Lacerda, L.D., Saldanha, G., Bastos, W., 2009. Variaço ~es nas concen-
traço~es de mercúrio em solos da reserva garimpeira do alto Rio Madeira.
Geochim. Bras. 23 (1), 139e150.
Bastos, W., 2004. Ocorre ^ncia ambiental do mercúrio e sua presenca em populaco ~ es
ribeirinhas do baixo Rio Madeira- Amazo ^nia.
Bastos, W.R., Gomes, J.P.O., Oliveira, R.C., Almeida, R., Nascimento, E.L., Bernardi,
Lacerda, L.D., Silveirs, E.G., Pfeiffer, W.C., 2006. Mercury in the environment and
riverside population in the Madeira River basin, Amazon, Brazil. Sci. Total En-
viron. 334e351.
Bastos, W., Lacerda, L., 2004. A contaminacao por mercurio na bacia do Rio Madeira:
uma breve revicao.
Bastos, W., Rebelo, M., Fonseca, M., Almeida, R., Olaf Malm, O., 2008. A description
of mercury in fishes from the Madeira River basin, Amazon, Brazil. Acta Amaz.
38 (3).
Cremers, L., Kolen, J., De Theije, M., 2013. Small-scale Gold Mining in the Amazon
the Cases of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Suriname. CEDLA, Amsterdam.
Diaz, Elmer, 2000. Mercury pollution at gold mining sites in the Amazon envi-
ronment. Principles of Environment Toxicology.
EHP, 2014. Mercury exposure and health impacts among individuals in the artisanal
and small-scale gold mining community: a comprehensive review. Environ.
Health Perspect.
Hacon, S., Barrocas, P.R., Vasconcellos, A.C.S.D., Barcellos, C., Wasserman, J.C.,
Campos, R.C., Ribeiro, C., Azevedo-Carloni, F.B., Jul. 2008. An overview of mer-
cury contamination research in the Amazon basin with an emphasis on Brazil.
Cad. Saúde Pública 24 (7). Rio de Janeiro. http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?
pid¼S0102-311X2008000700003&script¼sci_arttext.
Hentschel, Hruschka, Priester, 2003. Artisanal and Small-scale Mining: Challenges
and Opportunities. IIED, WBCSD.
Hester, R., Harrison, R., 1994. Mining and its Environmental Impact. Royal Society of
Chemistry.
Hinton, J., Veiga, M., Veiga, A., 2003. Clean artisanal gold mining: a utopian
approach? J. Clean. Prod. 11 (2), 99e115.
Holdings, N. R, 2013. Global Gold Mine and Deposit Ranking.
Jønsson, J., Charles, E., Kalvig, P., 2013. Toxic mercury versus appropriate technol-
ogy: artisanal gold miners. Resour. Policy 60e67.
Lacerda, L.D., 2003a. Updating global Hg emissions from small-scale gold mining
and assessing its environmental impacts. Environ. Geol. 3, 308e314.
Lacerda, L., 2003b. Updating global Hg emissions from small-scale gold mining and
assessing its environmental impacts. Environ. Geol. 308e314.
Lacerda, L., Pfeiffer, W., 1992. Mercury from gold mining in the amazon
environment-An overview. Quìmica nova 15 (2), 155e160.
Lechler, Mille, Lacerda, Vinson, Bonz, 2000. Elevated mercury concentrations in
soils, sediments, water, and fish of the Madeira River basin, Brazilian Amazon: a
function of natural enrichments? Sci. Total Environ.
Linhares, D., da Silva, J., Lima, T. d., Almeida, R., B, W.R., 2009. Mercúrio em differ-
entes tipos de solos marginais do baixo Rio Madeira-Amazo ^ nia ocidental.
Geochim. Bras. 117e130.
Maponga, O., Ngorima, C.F., 2003. Overcoming environmental problems in the gold
panning sector. J. Clean. Prod. 147e157.
Mylchreest, P., 2007. Gold War.
Pfeiffer, W., Lacerda, L., 1988. Mercury inputs into the Amazon region. Brazil. En-
viron. Technol. Lett. 9, 325e330.
Seccatore, J., M, T., De Tomi, G., Veiga, M., 2013. A practical approach for the
management of resources and reserve in small-scale mining. J. Clean. Prod. 1e6.
Seccatore, J., Veiga, M., Origliasso, C., Marin, T., De Tomi, G., 2014. An estimation of
the artisanal small-scale production of gold in the world. Sci. Total Environ.
Shandro, J., Veiga, M., Chouinard, R., 2009. Reducing mercury pollution from arti-
sanal gold mining in Munhena, Mozambique. J. Clean. Prod. 17 (5), 525e532.
Silveira, E.G., Salvioni Gali, P.A., Barbosa, R.V., Braga, I.C., 1998. O mercúrio nos
garimpos de ouro do Rio Madeira/RO. Rev. Educ. Cult. meio ambiente.
Sousa, R.N., Veiga, M.M., 2009. Using performance indicators to evaluate an envi-
ronmental education program in artisanal gold mining communities in the
brazilian amazon. AMBIO: A J. Hum. Environ. 38 (1), 40e46.
Spiegel, S., Veiga, M., 2010. International guidelines on mercury management in
small-scale gold mining. J. Clean. Prod. 18 (4), 375e385.
UNDP, United Nations Development, 2011. Small-scale gold mining in the trans-
boundary areas of Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana. Social and Environ-
mental Issues.
UNEP, 2008. Module 3 Mercury Use in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining.
UNEP, 2013. Global Mercury Assessment 2013. Available at: http://www.unep.org/
PDF/PressReleases/GlobalMercuryAssessment2013.pdf. Last visit on 27/04/
2015.
Veiga, M.M., 1997a. Introducing New Technologies for Abatement of Global Mercury
Pollution in Latin America. UNIDO/UBC/CETEM/CNP.
Veiga, M.M., Hinton, J.J., 2002. Abandoned artisanal gold mines in the brazilian
amazon: a legacy of mercury pollution. Nat. Resour. Forum 13e24.
 M. Balzino et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 102 (2015) 370e377 377

Veiga, M., 1997b. Mercury in Artisanal Gold Mining in Latin America: Facts, Fan-
tasies and Solutions. UNIDO.
Veiga, M.N., 2009. Mill leaching: a viable substitute for mercury amalgamation in
the artisanal gold mining sector? J. Clean. Prod. 17 (15), 13.
Veiga, M.M., Angeloci, G., Niquen, W., Seccatore, J., 2015. Reducing mercury
pollution by training Peruvian artisanal gold miners. J. Clean. Prod. 94,
268e277.
Veiga, M., A, G., Hitch, M., Velasquez-Lopez, P., 2013. Processing centres in artisanal
gold mining. J. Clean. Prod. 1e10.
Veiga, M., Maxson, P.A., H, L.D., 2006. Origin and consumption of mercury in small-
scale gold mining. J. Clean. Prod. 14 (3e4), 436e447.
squez-Lo
Vela pez, P.C., Veiga, M., Hall, K., 2010. Mercury balance in amalgamation in
artisanal and small-scale gold mining: identifying strategies for reducing
environmental pollution in Portovelo-Zaruma, Ecuador. J. Clean. Prod. 226e232.