Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708

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Resources, Conservation & Recycling

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Full length article

Mercury mitigation and unintended consequences in artisanal and

small-scale gold mining
Shoki Kosai a, *, Kenichi Nakajima b, c, Eiji Yamasue d
a
Global Innovation Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University, Noji-Higashi 1-1-1, Kusatsu-shi, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan
b
Global Resource Sustainability Research Section, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506, Japan
c
Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Science and Engineering Ritsumeikan University, Noji-Higashi 1-1-1, Kusatsu-shi, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The increased research attention on estimating the global mercury use and emissions in artisanal and small-scale
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining gold mining (ASGM) has improved awareness of the problems associated with ASGM. However, little attention
Mercury amalgamation has been paid to the specific effects of particular intervention strategies to mitigate global mercury use and
Intervention strategy
emissions in accordance with the Minamata Convention on Mercury. In this study, we examine the effect of each
Minamata convention on mercury
Cyanidation
type of intervention (concentrate amalgamation, use of a retort, and the cyanidation technique). The results show
that, despite the massive reduction in mercury emissions associated with the implementation of the retort and
cyanidation technique, these interventions created new critical issues. As unintended outcome of these in­
terventions, there has been a significant increase in the quantity of global mercury which needs to be properly
and permanently managed as a waste (< 1740 Mg in 2050) and also in global hydrogen cyanide emissions (<
46,700 Mg in 2050). The findings of this study indicate that, when taking these measures alone, efforts to
mitigate mercury use and emissions in accordance with the Minamata Convention on Mercury generate different
risks which, in effect, jeopardize sustainability in ASGM. Comprehensive mercury mitigation strategies which
also consider these unintended consequences should be included in the action plans adopted by policymakers at
the national level.

Mercury has been used in ASGM for over a century, but concern
about the devastating health effects associated with mercury use in
Abbreviations
ASGM came remarkably late (Driscoll, et al., 2013). To this day, it re­
ASGM Artisanal and small-scale gold mining
mains common practice for miners to use a mercury amalgamation
CA Concentrate amalgamation
method to extract gold in ASGM (Smith, 2019). After rocks or sediment
EF Emission factor
with gold are collected and crushed to free the gold particles, mercury is
GMA Global mercury assessment
added to the ore and binds with gold particles to form an amalgamation
MCM Minamata Convention on Mercury
of mercury and gold. The amalgam is then burned, evaporating the
WOA Whole ore amalgamation
mercury and leaving sponge gold. These mercury vapors emitted to the
air expose people living and intact forests around the work space to the
1. Introduction
multitude of serious health and biodiversity risks associated with mer­
cury (Cossa, et al., 2021; Schwartz, et al., 2021; Taux, et al., 2022;
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is defined as “gold
Gerson, et al., 2022).
mining conducted by individual miners or small enterprises with limited
Global attention turned to the devastating effects of mercury
capital investment and production”, by the United Nations (United
poisoning in the late twentieth century with the media attention pro­
Nations Environment Programme, 2017). Although individual ASGM
vided to the survivors of mercury poisoning due to the massive mercury
activity is small-scale, it is of considerable importance to the local and
spill off the coast of Minamata in Japan in the 1950s (Bank, 2020). As a
global economy (Esdaile & Chalker, 2018).

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kosai@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp (S. Kosai).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106708
Received 3 December 2021; Received in revised form 26 April 2022; Accepted 6 October 2022
Available online 13 October 2022
0921-3449/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
S. Kosai et al.
natural progression from the heightened awareness of the global health
issues associated with mercury, the Minamata Convention on Mercury
(MCM) was ratified on the 15th of August, 2017 (United Nations Envi­
ronment Programme, 2017). The objective of the MCM is to protect
human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions of
mercury, with a particular focus on reducing emissions associated with
ASGM (Selin, et al., 2018). Article 7 and Annex C of the MCM outline the
implications and problematic activities specific to ASGM. At the third
meeting of the parties of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata
Convention on Mercury in 2019 (the COP3), a framework for evaluating
the effectiveness of the strategies was also developed (United Nations
Environment Programme, 2020). According to this framework, activ­
ities associated with ASGM should be primarily evaluated from two
perspectives: estimates of mercury use and emissions in ASGM and the
uptake of intervention strategies to reduce global mercury use and
emissions from ASGM.
Mercury use and emissions in ASGM are estimated in terms of the
total amount of mercury used in ASGM annually, in tonnes per year, and
are based on sparse datasets for a limited number of places where ASGM
is commonplace. Despite the lack of availability of reliable and
comprehensive data, there has been a marked increase in studies esti­
mating global mercury use and emissions from ASGM relevant to Article
7 in the MCM (Seccatore, et al., 2014; Streets, et al., 2019; Telmer &
Veiga, 2009; Muntean, et al., 2014; Streets, et al., 2017). It has been
widely acknowledged that ASGM has been the biggest contributor to
global mercury emissions in recent years (38% in 2015 according to
AMAP/UN Environment (AMAP/UN Environment, 2019)). While it has
been estimated that product-level efforts to reduce the use of mercury
has resulted in a 30% reduction in global anthropogenic mercury over
the last few decades (Zhang, et al., 2016), it has been reported that the
increase in mercury use in ASGM has continued unabated, resulting in a
marked increase in mercury emissions from ASGM (Horowitz, et al.,
2014).
The effectiveness of the intervention strategies to reduce global
mercury use and emissions from ASGM is based on the extent to which
those engaged in ASGM have adopted control measures to reduce mer­
cury use, based on Article 8 of the MCM (United Nations Environment
Programme, 2020). Among the various possible interventions, the UNEP
has recommended these three primary strategies (United Nations Envi­
ronment Programme, 2006): eliminating whole-ore amalgamation
(WOA) by introducing concentrate amalgamation (CA), a
mass-reduction technique, (hereafter referred to as the CA technique),
eliminating amalgam burning without the use of a retort, a
mercury-recovery technique, (hereafter referred to as “retort use”), and
using cyanide, a mercury-free technique, to extract gold (hereafter
referred to as “cyanide technique”). Although there are some studies
working on the development of other mercury-free techniques in ASGM,
such as sluice boxes, centrifuges and magnets (Drace, et al., 2012;
Jønsson, et al., 2013), the cyanide technique has moved ahead of these
other techniques (Davies, 2014). In practice, the replacement of gold
extraction technique from amalgamation to cyanidation has recently
been reported in several ASGM sites (Massaro & de Theije, 2018; Gon­
çalves, et al., 2017). Thus, this study also follows the promising three
intervention strategies recommended by the UNEP (United Nations
Environment Programme, 2006).
While there has been considerable research interest in estimating
mercury use and emissions, the same cannot be said for assessing the
effectiveness and impacts of these strategies. To the best of the author’s
knowledge, a total of three studies have been focused on potential
changes in the global mercury emissions based on ASGM practices
(Rafaj, et al., 2013; Streets, et al., 2009; Pacyna, et al., 2016). In their
work on the potential impact of climate change on global mercury use,
Rafaj et al., (Rafaj, et al., 2013) and Streets et al., (Streets, et al., 2009)
considered the mercury emissions from ASGM, but did not consider the
impact of intervention strategies to mitigate mercury use. The study by
Pacyna et al. (Pacyna, et al., 2016) appears to be the only analysis of the
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Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708
potential impact of mercury reduction efforts, but this study does not
include an analysis of the impacts, intended or otherwise, of the
different types of intervention strategies.
Regardless of the potential of each of the strategies to contribute to a
reduction in global mercury use and emissions from ASGM in the future
(Fritz, et al., 2016; Veiga, et al., 2014; Saim, 2021), the unintended
consequences of intervention strategies designed to reduce mercury use
in ASGM must be quantitatively analyzed. While the intended purpose of
these strategies is simply to reduce mercury use and emissions, each of
the strategies is associated with other problems, and therefore each must
be considered in isolation in order to understand the importance of
offsetting the risk of creating disasters when making an effort to offset
another disaster. While a comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of
each intervention strategy in meeting the objectives of the MCM in
ASGM is required, the impact and unintended consequences of those
strategies must also be closely analyzed. Although unintended conse­
quences have been discussed in a contextual manner (e.g., re-generation
of environmental and health issues caused by retorted mercury (Hinton,
et al., 2003), and the generation of different health issues by imple­
mentation of cyanide technique under improper cyanide management
(Knoblauch, et al., 2020; Verbrugge, et al., 2021)), the number of
quantitative analyses on potential impacts of each interventional strat­
egy on a global scale is very limited. In this way, points of concern can be
identified for each intervention strategy adopted in the effort to reduce
mercury use in ASGM, making it possible to determine what further
action is required, if any.
Therefore, in this study, the effectiveness and the unintended con­
sequences of each intervention strategy on the mitigation of global
mercury use and emissions are quantitatively investigated in accordance
with the MCM. Then, the requirement for further actions for each
intervention strategy is discussed in the contexts of the need to achieve
sustainability in ASGM and to improve the potential to meet the stated
objectives of the MCM.
2. Materials and methods
According to AMAP/UN Environment (AMAP/UN Environment,
2019), the degree in which intervention strategies are implemented in
ASGM sites is negligibly low. The projection approach is required to
evaluate the effectiveness of intervention strategy on the mitigation of
global mercury use and emissions.
The process of estimating the effectiveness and the unintended
consequences of each intervention strategy on the future mitigation of
global mercury use and emissions is presented in this Section.
2.1. Mercury use and emission model
This model was developed based on data for the anthropogenic
global mercury use and emissions in the ASGM activity of 80 countries in
2015, as reported in the Global Mercury Assessment 2018 by AMAP/UN
Environment (AMAP/UN Environment, 2019) (hereafter named GMA
2018).
The future amount of mercury use in the ASGM countries considering
interventional measures is calculated using the following equation Eqn
1:
Xa = ma ua X2015 (1)
where Xa is the mercury use in year a, ma is an ASGM activity rate, ua is a
use factor, and X2015 is the mercury use in 2015 given in GMA 2018.
The future amount of mercury emissions in the ASGM countries
considering interventional measures are calculated in the following
equation Eqn 2:
Ya = ea Xa (2)
where Ya is the mercury emission in one year a, and ea is the emission
S. Kosai et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708

factor. estimated from GMA 2018 as the basis, m2015 is equivalent to 1 through
The use factor (ua ) and the emission factor (ea ) vary depending on the the normalization technique. For more detail, see Supplementary In­
characteristics and the adoption rate of the intervention strategy (CA formation 2.
technique, retort use, and cyanidation technique). The characteristics
and the calculation process of the use factor and emission factor for 2.3. Scenarios for adoption rate
intervention strategies can be seen in Supplementary Information 1. The
use factor and the emission factor for each intervention strategy are It is a challenge to depict the future pathway of the adoption rate (ra )
summarized in Table 1. for each intervention strategy in each ASGM country from 2015 to 2050.
Some preconditions and supporting equations in the model need to In order to establish several patterns considering different adoption
be noted. rates, this study proposes four scenarios in terms of the adoption of
The GMA 2018 estimated the emission factor of CA and WOA to be interventional measures: the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, the ul­
0.75 and 0.2, respectively. The emission factor is determined by the timate scenario, the high scenario, and the low scenario.
following equation Eqn 3: In the BAU scenario, the current situation presented in the GMA 2018
continues unchanged until 2050 without any adoption of interventional
e2015 = 0.75c2015 + 0.2(1 − c2015 ) (3)
measures. In this case, ra in the whole assessed duration in each ASGM
The Hg:Au ratio in the case of CA (sCA ) is considered to be 1.3:1, country is equivalent to 0%. In the ultimate scenario, a 100 % adoption
while Hg:Au in the case of WOA (sWOA ) is considered to be 5:1 (Persaud rate (ra ) is achieved for each interventional measure in the whole
& Telmer, 2015). The recovery rate (reduction rate of mercury emis­ assessed duration in each ASGM country to show the maximum reduc­
sions) can be achieved by at least 90% with the use of retorts (Hinton, tion of mercury use and emissions. The high scenario and the low sce­
et al., 2003; Garcia, et al., 2015; Shandro, et al., 2009). nario are developed by referring to the previous goal set in 2006 by
To determine the mercury use and mercury emissions for each United Nations Environment Programme (United Nations Environment
intervention strategy, the ASGM activity rate (ma ) and the adoption rate Programme, 2006).
(ra ) are key factors. Both are presented in the following sections. Notably, the transition in the adoption rate of intervention strategies
under the high scenario and the low scenario varies depending on the
ASGM countries. This study categorized the ASGM countries into four
2.2. Projection of ASGM activity rate categories based on the status on the ratification and signatories of the
MCM, as of as of 10th of April, 2021.
The ASGM activity level is described in the form of the gold pro­ The detailed explanation of each scenario and each category of
duction in the ASGM. The projection of gold production in the ASGM ASGM countries and determination process of adoption rate in each
activity is executed by adopting the calculated gold production in 2015 category of ASGM countries can be seen in the Supplementary Infor­
and the ASGM activity level. The gold production in the ASGM activity mation 3. The increasing rate of the adoption of the CA technique under
in year a is estimated by the following equation Eqn 4 and 5: the high and low scenarios is summarized in Table 2. Since the share of
Za = ma Z2015 (4) CA and WOA varies depending on the ASGM in the GMA 2018, the
increasing adoption rate is presented. In the assessment, when the share
( )
c2015 1 − c2015 of CA reaches 100%, it will no longer change in the following years. The
Z a = ma + X2015 (5)
sCA sWOA adoption rate of retort and cyanidation technique under the high and
low scenarios is summarized in Table 3.
where Za represents the amount of gold production in year a, and Z2015
represents the amount of gold production in 2015. 3. Results
The ASGM activity rate (ma ) was determined based on the historical
trend in this study. The historical trend in the global gold production in 3.1. Global mercury use and emissions
the ASGM activity from 2010 to 2019 was used in Gold Focus 2020 by
Metals Focus (Metals Focus, 2020). The historical trend in Africa, Cen­ Global mercury use and emissions from 2015 to 2050 in the ASGM
tral & South America, Asia, and Oceania obtained from the Gold Focus activity were estimated for three intervention strategies and four sce­
2020 was applied to the future gold production up to 2050 in the cor­ narios (Business As Usual (BAU), ultimate, high, and low). The projected
responding ASGM countries. Using the gold production in 2015 global mercury use is shown in Fig. 1(a), and the projected global
mercury emissions are shown in Fig. 1(b). More detailed projections are
Table 1 available at a country level in Supplementary Information 4.
Use factor and emission factor by interventional measure (CA technique, retort In the case of global mercury use, under the BAU scenario, the
use, and cyanidation technique): ua is the use factor in year a, ea is the emission decreasing trend in ASGM gold production in Asia contributes to a
factor in one year a, e2015 is the emission factor in 2015, c2015 is the rate of reduction in the global mercury use in the coming decade, before it
mercury use in CA to total mercury applied, ra is the adoption rate in year a, sCA begins to increase again due to the increasing trends in gold production
is the Hg:Au ratio in the case of CA, and sWOA is the Hg:Au ratio in the case of in Africa. The global use of mercury in ASGM in 2050 (2700 Mg) is
WOA.
projected to be 1.3 times higher than that in 2015 (2060 Mg).
Interventional Use factor (ua ) Emission The CA technique and the use of retort show the different trend in
measures factor (ea ) mercury use as the intervention strategies of amalgamation. The CA
CA technique e2015 + 0.55ra technique is one of the strategies widely in use to reduce mercury use in
sWOA − sCA ASGM. It is estimated that the amount of global mercury use in the
1+ c2015 −
sCA
ASGM activity with the application of CA technique in 2050 under both
high and low scenarios is reduced by 24% compared with the BAU
)
( sWOA − sCA
(c2015 + ra ) 1 + c2015
sCA scenario in 2050. Meanwhile, due to the characteristics of retort, global
sCA
c2015 + ra +
sWOA − sCA
mercury use is expected to follow the same pathway as the BAU sce­
Retort use 1 (1 − 0.9ra ) nario. The application of the cyanidation technique to replace mercury
e2015 amalgamation significantly contributes to the mitigation of global
Cyanidation 1 − ra e2015 mercury use since cyanidation technique does not use mercury.
technique
In the case of global mercury emissions, a continuous increase is

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S. Kosai et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708

Table 2
Increasing rate of CA technique adoption: as of the 10th of April, 2021: Category A: The countries which ratified, accepted, approved, and accessioned the MCM before
15th of August, 2017; Category B: The countries which ratified, accepted, approved, and accessioned the MCM after 15th of August, 2017; Category C: The countries
which signed the MCM without ratification; and Category D: The countries which neither signed nor ratified the MCM.
ASGM country 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

BAU scenario (%)

Category A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Category B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Category C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Category D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
High scenario (%)
Category A 0 +10 +20 +20 +20 +20 +20 +20
Category B 0 0 +10 +20 +20 +20 +20 +20
Category C 0 0 0 +10 +20 +20 +20 +20
Category D 0 0 0 0 +10 +10 +10 +10
Low scenario (%)
Category A 0 +5 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10
Category B 0 0 +5 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10
Category C 0 0 0 +5 +10 +10 +10 +10
Category D 0 0 0 0 +5 +5 +5 +5
*Ultimate scenario (%)
Category A 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Category B 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Category C 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Category D 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
*
Under the ultimate scenario, it is presented as the adoption rate of CA technique.

Table 3
Adoption rate of retort use and cyanidation technique: as of the 10th of April, 2021: Category A: The countries which ratified, accepted, approved, and accessioned the
MCM before 15th of August, 2017; Category B: The countries which ratified, accepted, approved, and accessioned the MCM after 15th of August, 2017; Category C: The
countries which signed the MCM without ratification; and Category D: The countries which neither signed nor ratified the MCM.
ASGM country 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

BAU scenario (%)

Category A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Category B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Category C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Category D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
High scenario (%)
Category A 0 10 30 50 70 90 100 100
Category B 0 0 10 30 50 70 90 100
Category C 0 0 0 10 30 50 70 90
Category D 0 0 0 0 10 20 30 40
Low scenario (%)
Category A 0 5 15 25 35 45 55 65
Category B 0 0 5 15 25 35 45 55
Category C 0 0 0 5 15 25 35 45
Category D 0 0 0 0 5 10 15 20
Ultimate scenario (%)
Category A 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Category B 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Category C 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Category D 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

expected from 2015 to 2050 under the BAU scenario. This is because the
emissions factor in Africa is higher than that in Asia. The global mercury
emissions from ASGM in 2050 (1550 Mg) are projected to increase by a
factor of 1.85 compared to those in 2015 (838 Mg).
The CA technique and the use of retort show the different trend in
mercury emissions as the intervention strategies of amalgamation. The
CA technique contributes very little to the mitigation of global mercury
emissions. Even under the ultimate scenario, a reduction of a mere 0.3 %
of global mercury emissions from ASGM in 2050 can be expected
compared with the BAU scenario due to the adoption of the CA tech­
nique. This is because the mitigated amount of mercury use is largely
offset by the greater emission factor of concentrate amalgamation (0.75)
than that of whole ore amalgamation (0.2). On the other hand, the use of
retort significantly contributes to reducing the global mercury emissions
from ASGM. Under the high scenario and the low scenario, it is expected
that the global mercury emissions from ASGM in 2050 are mitigated by
73% (609 Mg) and 7% (58.8 Mg) compared with those in 2015, and by
85% (1320 Mg) and 50% (773 Mg) compared with those in 2050 under
the BAU scenario. The higher adoption rate of the retort can be expected
to result in a 30% and 70% mitigation of mercury emissions in 2035 and
2050, respectively, compared with the lower adoption rate. The global
mercury emissions under the ultimate scenario of retort uptake will
slightly increase with time because of the increase in the predicted
ASGM gold production. In 2050, the high scenario is expected to almost
the same as the ultimate scenario.
The application of the cyanidation technique to replace mercury
amalgamation leads to considerable reductions in global mercury
emissions from ASGM. Under the high scenario and the low scenario, it
is expected that the global mercury emissions in 2050 will be mitigated
by 90% (757 Mg) and 17% (145 Mg) compared with those in 2015, and
by 95% (1470 Mg) and 55% (859 Mg) compared with those in 2050
under the BAU scenario. The higher adoption rate of the cyanidation
technique has the potential to achieve a 36% and 88% mitigation of
mercury emissions in 2035 and 2050, respectively, compared with the

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S. Kosai et al. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708

Fig. 1. Global mercury use (a) and emissions (b) in ASGM considering three interventional measures with four scenarios (BAU, ultimate, high, and low): the CA
technique involves the use of a concentrate amalgam instead of whole ore amalgamation, retort use involves the use of a retort when burning the amalgam, and the
cyanidation technique uses cyanide for extracting gold without the use of mercury.

Fig.2. Comparison of (a) global mercury emissions, and (b) normalized global mercury emissions based on 2015 with (Rafaj, et al., 2013) and (Pacyna, et al., 2016).

5
S. Kosai et al.
lower adoption rate. Of course, the global mercury emissions under the
ultimate scenario is zero since it would require that no mercury is used.
In 2050, the high scenario is almost as the same as the ultimate scenario.
The global mercury emissions in ASGM estimated in this study are
compared with the other literature working on the projection of mercury
emissions (Rafaj, et al., 2013; Pacyna, et al., 2016). The comparison of
global mercury emissions and normalized emissions based on 2015 are
given in Fig. 2.
(Rafaj, et al., 2013) did not consider the mercury mitigation efforts in
the projection, which corresponds to the BAU scenario in this study.
They estimated the activity projection based on the relationship be­
tween GDP and population. Compared to this approach, the estimation
approach based on the past experience applied in this study shows larger
mercury emissions. This difference is mainly the result of considering
the significant increase in ASGM gold production in Africa over the
course of the last decade.
(Pacyna, et al., 2016) also conducted an activity projection based on
GDP as seen in the work by (Rafaj, et al., 2013), and they considered the
three different scenarios on mercury mitigation, setting the final goal in
2035. Even though the target goal year, the context of mitigation
strategy, and the projection approach differ between this study and their
study, the expected potentials of mercury emissions at the targeted year
compared with that in 2015 are similar, as seen in Fig 2(b). In addition to
the work by (Pacyna, et al., 2016), this study provides specific infor­
mation about concrete strategies of interventional measures dedicated
to ASGM. That is, the use of retort and the cyanidation technique should
be implemented based on the promising adoption scenario to achieve
the expected goal of mitigation of mercury emissions.
3.2. Unintended consequences
Identifying the effect of intervention strategies on global mercury use
and emissions is important. Another issue worthy of careful consider­
ation is whether or not there are any other aspects of these intervention
strategies in the ASGM which to be considered. This study focuses on the
Fig. 3. Unintended negative consequences created by the implementation of intervention strategies for mitigating mercury use and emissions under four scenarios
(BAU, ultimate, high, and low): (a) Global retorted mercury to be permanently managed due to the use of retort: considering the combined use of concentrate
amalgamation and retort. (b) Global hydrogen cyanide (HCN) emissions from ASGM associated with the cyanidation technique.
6
Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708
two major unintended consequences caused by the implementation of
interventional strategies; i.e., the need for retorted mercury manage­
ment in amalgamation technique and cyanide emissions in cyanidation
technique. In this investigation, the unintended consequences are shown
in Fig. 3.
While the use of the CA technique avoids mercury being channeled to
the tailings, and the use of retort enables the mercury to be collected, the
waste management issue of collected mercury cannot be simply ignored.
Even at ASGM sites which use retort, it has been reported that the
retorted mercury is simply discharged to the environment or kept in the
house, presenting critical health risks which urgently need to be
addressed (Hinton, et al., 2003).
The amount of mercury which needs to be properly and permanently
managed was estimated considering the combination of the CA tech­
nique and retort use (shown in Fig. 3(a)). Under the BAU scenario, it
remains zero since no interventional strategies are implemented,
whereas the implementation of the CA technique and the use of retort
increases the amount of mercury to be managed. While the replacement
of the WOA with CA contributes to a reduction in the amount of mercury
channeled to tailings, the higher emission factor of CA leads to an in­
crease in the amount of mercury collected with the use of retort. The
results indicate that up to 1740 Mg of retorted mercury needs to be
globally managed in 2050 under the high adoption rate of both the CA
technique and retort.
The cyanidation technique is also associated with unwanted and
unintended negative outcomes. In the case of the cyanidation technique,
the sodium cyanide (NaCN) used as an input is converted to hydrogen
cyanide (HCN) in the process, which presents a significant and serious
health risk to the locals (Knoblauch, et al., 2020). It has been estimated
that approximately 40% of cyanide is ultimately emitted to the atmo­
sphere in the process as HCN (National Industrial Chemicals Notification
and Assessment Scheme, 2010), and that the overall average cyanide
consumption is 141 kg NaCN/kg gold (National Industrial Chemicals
Notification and Assessment Scheme, 2010; Mudd, 2007). Based on this
data and our estimation of global gold production, global HCN emissions
S. Kosai et al.
from ASGM for the cyanidation technique have been estimated, and are
shown in Fig. 3(b).
Under the BAU scenario, HCN emissions remain zero since cyani­
dation technique is not implemented, whereas its implementation in­
creases in the amount of HCN emissions. Global HCN emissions are
estimated to reach 46,700 Mg in 2050 with the high adoption rate of this
mercury-free technique. Considering that the global HCN emissions
from large-scale gold mining has been approximately 55,000–91,000
Mg annually in recent decades (Bruger, et al., 2018), and accounts for
3~5% of total HCN emissions (National Industrial Chemicals Notifica­
tion and Assessment Scheme, 2010), the adoption of the cyanidation
technique in ASGM will likely result in a higher share of gold mining in
the total HCN emissions.
4. Discussion
This study is the first to examine the effect of different intervention
strategies on global mercury use and emissions through the projection
approach considering the accompanied issues newly created by the
implementation of these interventions. The model developed in this
study covers some indicators presented in the effectiveness evaluation of
the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
The findings of this study based on Section 3 quantitatively identify
need for the mutual complementation in amalgamation and the extent of
the problems inadvertently created by different intervention strategies,
and clearly show that more effective measures in reducing mercury use
and emissions require more attention with regard to the unintended
consequences. The findings based on the estimates and the further
required actions for each intervention strategy are clarified in Section 4
to achieve sustainability in the ASGM field.
4.1. Mutual complementation in amalgamation
Through the investigation, it was found that the implementation of
interventional strategies is necessary to reduce global mercury use and
emissions, otherwise global mercury use and emissions would continu­
ously increase. Notably, each interventional strategy has a different
characteristic for mitigation of mercury use and emissions, especially
those for amalgamation.
CA technique and the use of a retort have contradicting advantages
and shortcomings, as shown in Fig. 1 in Section 3.1. Although the
application of the CA technique can reduce mercury use in ASGM, it was
found in this study that it has a negligible contribution to the reduction
of mercury emissions. On the other hand, although the use of retort can
reduce mercury emissions in ASGM, it has no contribution to the
reduction of mercury use. The combined use of the CA technique and
retort as a package is required to mutually complement different
shortcomings and to achieve the reduction of mercury use and emissions
in the amalgamation process.
Considering that the intervention strategies need to be both low-cost
and adaptable in ASGM (Esdaile & Chalker, 2018), the implementation
of a homemade retort (US$5–10 (Veiga, 2004)) is the option most likely
to be adopted. There has been some concern that ASGM miners are
reluctant to use retort, partly because the quality of the extracted gold
can be compromised if it is not used properly (Tschakert & Singha, 2007;
Veiga, 1997). Another problem is that the supply of retort to the miners
under the current system cannot be guaranteed. To overcome these
bottlenecks, it is necessary for government and international organiza­
tions to work together to provide education and training, and also to
establish a reliable supply system (Veiga, et al., 2014).
4.2. Unintended consequences
Through the investigation, it was quantitatively determined that the
more effective intervention strategies in the effort to reduce mercury use
and emissions require more attention with regard to the unintended
7
Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708
negative consequences of adopting these well-meaning strategies, as
shown in Fig. 3 in Section 3.2. Making the effort to mitigate mercury use
and emissions in accordance with the MCM inevitably is associated with
different, newly created risks which also jeopardize sustainability in
ASGM. It is highly recommended that the national action plans of the
MCM include an additional set of measures to offset the consequences of
adopting different intervention strategies to reduce mercury use and
emissions having carefully considered the adverse effects caused by
their implementation particular to the ASGM sites in those countries.
Unintended negative consequences in amalgamation and cyanidation
and the need for further action to be taken are discussed.
4.2.1. Need for retorted mercury management
The waste management of collected mercury is essential when using
a retort. The miners, who lack knowledge about the importance of
properly disposing of mercury, simply discharge the retorted mercury to
the environment or keep it in their homes (Hinton, et al., 2003). This
results in mercury-related environmental and health issues. Even if the
implementation of retort reduces mercury emissions during amalgam
burning, the improper treatment of retorted mercury defeats the original
purpose.
To avoid the retorted mercury from simply being discharged to the
environment or kept in the house, a system for the recycling of the
mercury collected with the use of retort is required, and a framework for
managing the retorted mercury needs to be developed.
The reactivation process (e.g., ultrasonic cleaning and simple elec­
trolytic activation) is required to recycle the mercury collected with the
use of retort. The mercury collected when using a retort does not have
the same properties for amalgamation as new mercury since the surface
of the collected mercury has been oxidized (Hinton, et al., 2003; Garcia,
et al., 2015). It has been shown that the reactivation of retorted mercury
can amount to a 25% saving of new mercury input in the following CA
process (Blacksmith Institute, n.d.). We have estimated that the reac­
tivation process results in a 37% reduction in the amount of the mercury
to be managed properly (see Supplementary Information 5). Still, based
on Fig. 3(a) in Section 3.2, it was projected that 490–1100 Mg of retorted
mercury will need to be managed in 2050 even if the combination of
retort and reactivation equipment are widely used.
Besides the need to reactivate the collected mercury, it is also
essential to develop a framework for managing the retorted mercury
when adopting these intervention strategies. The potential to profit
economically by introducing reactivation techniques and reusing the
recovered mercury should be well-known to the artisanal and small-
scale miners. To record the amount of mercury retorted under proper
management, setting a feed-in tariff on gold buyers would be an
incentive for collecting the retorted mercury, and would discourage
miners from disposing of it around the ASGM site. A strategy which
reflects the importance of these matters should be also included in the
national action plan in individual ASGM countries.
4.2.2. Cyanide emissions
The implementation of cyanidation technique unintentionally results
in cyanide emissions despite of the reduction in mercury emissions, and
this cyanide causes a different type of health damages, as presented in
Section 1. The potential amount of cyanide emissions to the air through
the ASGM activity during the period of 2015–2050 was successfully
quantified in this study. The results of this study can be used as a tool to
support the existing studies at the global scale.
It must be noted that, although both mercury and HCN are listed in
Class 1 Designated Chemical Substances of Pollutant Release and
Transfer Register, the health impacts between them cannot be simply
compared. It must be assumed that the different characteristics of
exposure pathways and the different environmental situations at each
ASGM site present a unique scenario which would need to be considered
in isolation to fully understand the potential health risks to the locals.
The anthropogenic emissions of both mercury and cyanide are not
S. Kosai et al.
confined to atmospheric emissions: soil contamination and the
contamination of the drinking water are also serious problems which
should be investigated in depth ASGM sites. These issues, however, are
beyond the scope of this study.
In this study, however, we feel it is important to at least raise the alert
regarding risks associated with the adoption of the cyanidation tech­
nique at ASGM sites. The risks associated with chronic exposure to HCN
at ppm levels have been studied extensively, with a large range of both
mild and serious health consequences particularly for workers exposed
to HCN on a regular basis (National Research Council (US) Subcom­
mittee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels, 2002). While understanding
the health risks to the locals through anthropogenic emissions of mer­
cury and HCN is complex, it cannot be considered wise to blindly rush
towards replacing the estimated 1470 Mg of mercury emissions in 2050,
shown in Fig. 1(b) in Section 3.1, with 46,700 Mg of HCN emissions in
2050, shown in Fig. 3(b) in Section 3.2. While meeting objectives of the
MCM would no doubt be met by doing so, it would actually be a
box-ticking accomplishment, and would represent a failure to under­
stand the actual situation on the ground at ASGM sites.
The adoption of the cyanidation technique in ASGM sites as the
intervention strategy for the mitigation of mercury use and emissions
inevitably will require a set of different intervention strategies to avoid
exposure to hydrogen cyanide. One of the conceivable solutions to this
conundrum is to promote the co-existence of artisanal miners with ore
processing companies (Veiga & Fadina, 2020; CASM/CommDev/ICMM,
2010). The artisanal miners can make more profit by selling the ores
they mine to the processing companies rather than by carrying out the
amalgamation process by themselves (Veiga & Fadina, 2020). Techno­
logical innovations in gold ore processing in large-scale industries would
contribute to the mitigation of both mercury and cyanide emissions. In
particular, international strategies (e.g., International Cyanide Man­
agement Code (International Cyanide Management Institute, 2022)) and
national policies (e.g., Costa Rica and Argentina (Laitos, 2012)) have
been developed to require a large-scale gold mining industry to control
cyanide emissions (Tran, et al., 2019). Meanwhile, such a cyanide
management was not effectively implemented in the ASGM sites (Ver­
brugge, et al., 2021). Thus, the development of a coordinated framework
between large-scale miners and artisanal and small-scale miners is rec­
ommended to ensure a high rate of adoption of the cyanidation tech­
niques without any associated risks to the health of the local miners.
4.3. Uncertainties
Another problem in understanding precisely what is happening in
local communities with ASGM sites is that conducting field studies has
Fig. 4. Uncertain range in global mercury emissions from ASGM (a) in the application of concentration amalgamation (CA) technique with uncertainties of Hg:Au
ratio of Whole-ore amalgamation (WOA) under the high scenario; (b) in the application of retort with uncertainties of data collection in GMA 2018 (b-1) under the
high scenario and (b-2) under the low scenario.
8
Resources, Conservation & Recycling 188 (2023) 106708
proved challenging. It was stated in the GMA 2018 that during field
surveys at ASGM sites, accurately monitoring the emission data is
difficult. For this reason, the high uncertainty involved in estimating the
emissions and the changes in those emissions over time must be
considered a common issue in ASGM studies (Obrist, et al., 2018). The
major uncertainties are the Hg:Au ratio of WOA, that is sWOA in the
model, the data collection of ASGM activity presented in GMA 2018,
that is X2015 in the model, and projection of gold production in ASGM,
that is ma in the model.
The impacts of these uncertainties on mercury emissions were
analyzed. Detailed preconditions and results of the uncertainty analysis
are provided in Supplementary Information 6. The representative fea­
tures of this uncertainty are demonstrated in Fig. 4, considering the
uncertainties in Hg:Au ratio of WOA and the data collection of ASGM
activity presented in GMA 2018.
It must be noted that the existing uncertainties regarding the Hg:Au
ratio of WOA and the data collection in GMA 2018 bring few differences
in the trend of estimated mercury emissions, which means that the
interpretation presented in this investigation is consistent regardless of
such uncertainties. In particular, a higher adoption rate of retort and the
cyanidation technique will contribute to moderating the level of un­
certainty of estimation given in GMA 2018 and of gold production in
ASGM.
Based on the results of the uncertainty analysis, recording the dis­
tribution of retort equipment and the adoption of cyanidation technique
in the ASGM sites is one potentially effective way to moderate the un­
certainty involved in estimating the mercury emissions from ASGM.
Minimizing the extent of the uncertainty is important to provide a
reliable set of data for use in determining the indicators of mercury use
and emissions, as discussed in Article 7 of the MCM (United Nations
Environment Programme, 2020). Employing a system to monitor the
supply of retort to ASGM sites and the collaboration of large-scale gold
miners would amount to significant saving in terms of both cost and time
for field surveys and allow estimates of mercury use and emissions to be
made with lower uncertainty.
A concerted effort to develop poverty reduction policy is also
considered another solution for mitigating mercury use and emissions
while avoiding unintended consequences. Gold production in ASGM
shows a great uncertainty and the unexpected increase in ASGM activity
across the globe result in an extreme increase in mercury emissions (see
Supplementary Information 6). Nowadays, social sustainability issues
are challenging in the ASGM community. According to Betancur-
Corredor et al. (Betancur-Corredor, et al., 2018), the major issues of
social sustainability include poverty, illegality, and violence in the
ASGM communities and informality of gold mining activity. The ASGM
S. Kosai et al.
activity is often seen in impoverished regions in developing countries,
where the engagement in ASGM is only an option for living without any
opportunities of other employment (Hinton, et al., 2003). In most cases,
the ASGM activity is an unlicensed operation without legal authoriza­
tion, categorized in the informal sector (VanBockstael, 2014). Approx­
imately 5 million women and children are involved in such a vulnerable
circumstance of ASGM in terms of social sustainability (United Nations
Environment Programme, 2017). Each ASGM country is now required to
promote an employment creation for measures to fight poverty in their
policies, which would indirectly reduce ASGM activities and mitigate
mercury use and emissions while avoiding unintended consequences.
Author information
Designed research (Shoki Kosai, Kenichi Nakajima, Eiji Yamasue);
Performed research (Shoki Kosai, Kenichi Nakajima, Eiji Yamasue);
Analyzed data (Shoki Kosai, Kenichi Nakajima, Eiji Yamasue); Wrote the
paper (Shoki Kosai, Kenichi Nakajima)
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by research funds from the Environment
Research and Technology Development Fund (SII-6–2:
JPMEERF20S20620).
Supplementary materials
Supplementary material associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106708.
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