GOLD-ISMIA is Global Environment Facilities - Global Opportunities For Long-Term Development (GOLD) Integrated Sound Management of Mercury in Indonesia’s Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) – part of the global planetGOLD programme. Worldwide ASGM is the largest global source of anthropogenic mercury releases into the environment (35%). Mercury can travel long distances, contributing to global mercury pollution and contaminating the world’s ecosystems and fisheries. Exposure to mercury may cause serious health problems, and it is a particular threat to the development of the child in utero and early in life. Phasing-out mercury from the ASGM sector is therefore of the utmost importance, however ASGM is a very important source of jobs and livelihoods. ASGM accounts for about 17-20% of the world’s annual gold production with 15 million people directly participating in ASGM activities and another 100 million depending on ASGM for their livelihoods. The objective of the project is to reduce/eliminate mercury releases from the Indonesian Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) sector by (i) Strengthening institutions and the policy/regulatory framework for mercury-free ASGM; (ii) Increasing the access of mining communities to finance to enable the procurement of mercury-free processing technologies; (iii) Increasing the capacity of mining communities for mercury-free ASGM through the provision of technical assistance, technology transfer and support for formalization; and, (iv) raising awareness and disseminating best practices and lessons-learned on mercury phase-out in the ASGM sector. The project will support 6 ASGM communities (Yogyakarta, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Gorontalo, Sulawesi Utara, Maluku Utara and Riau) in Indonesia to reduce mercury use by at least 5 metric tonnes/year starting in year three (3) of the project, which over the life-span of the project will result in a mercury release reduction of at least 15 tonnes.

Development Challenge

The project will support national and regional government capacity building to regulate and provide improved extension services to the ASGM sector, help miners to organize, formalize, and process ore more efficiently and responsibly, link machinery manufacturers, equipment distribution networks, and financial networks to miners in a way that promotes innovative financing of mercury free technologies, and support the establishment of routes to market for mercury-free gold to increase the income of ASGM miners.

Strategy

Central government agencies will work closely with 6 (six) selected priority project sites for the project to assist. The agencies will support ASGM communities in the selected districts in formalization, increasing their access to finance, training on best practices in ASGM, establishing high efficiency and mercury-free gold processing plants, and facilitating the trade of mercury-free gold to better paying markets. In parallel, the enabling environment for ASGM will be improved by strengthening national, provincial and district policy and regulatory frameworks for ASGM and increasing the capacity of institutions and the private sector that provide services (including financial) to ASGM miners. The enabling environment will not only benefit miners located in the project’s priority sites but also other ASGM miners in Indonesia.

Project Management

The project will be under the leadership of both Ministry of Environment and Forestry and National Agency for Technology Assessment and Application (KLHK and BPPT). The National Project Director (NPD) is the Director of Hazardous and Toxic Substances Management (KLHK) and the Deputy National Project Director (DNPD) is the Director of Mineral Resources Development Center (BPPT). They are supported by a Project Management Unit (PMU) consisting of National Project Manager (NPM), Chief Technical Advisor (CTA), Project Associate (PA), Technical Working Group Coordinators (TWGCs), Technical Associates (TA), Field Assistants (FA),