Gold Mining in Mongolia
In the two decades that followed the collapse of communism in the early 1990s, Mongolia adopted a highly deregulated market-economy. An unprecedented boom in the international price of mining commodities contributed to a nearly ten-fold increase in Mongolia's GDP per capita, making the country highly dependent on mineral exports. Recent and unfavourable swings in the global demand and the prices of mineral products, however, have caused a profound economic crisis with uncertain social and political implications. In July 2016 I joined a team of European and Asian researchers in a fact-finding mission to the Noyon Uul area, meeting local residents, miners and workers affected by gold mining in one of Mongolia's most beautiful regions.
Collecting the rocks to be crashed in search of gold at an artisanal mining site. Water bodies are commonly diverted as a way to access the mineral. The digging of mines can also spread harmful materials, such as lead, that are located within the soil. The conservation of forests is also a great concern, as many artisanal mining operations take place in and around forests that are home to vast amounts of biodiversity. The swastika in the miner's ring has no ideological connotations, as it refers to a Buddhist symbol common in Mongolia.
The huts of artisanal miners in an isolated corner of the Noyon Uul region. In winter, temperatures in the mountains and deserts of Mongolia can get as low as -40 °C. Despite the harsh working conditions, ASM is continually increasing worldwide. The global number of miners internationally has multiplied by five in the past two decades, from 6 million in 1993 to over 30 million today. For local rural communities, ASM is often perceived as an immediate opportunity to escape poverty.
A female miner of the Noyon Uul region. Between 35-40% of Mongolian artisanal miners are women. Of those that mine alluvial deposits, most women (80%) are between 35–39 years old and nearly 40% of women miners have completed secondary education. This has led some researchers to speculate that the rise in ASM for women may be result of a lack of available skilled jobs in the formal sector, in a context of rapid changes in the Mongolian economy.
A 60-year old artisanal miner. Working conditions are extremely tough and the financial rewards are few, contingent to finding the elusive gold. Artisanal mining can include activities as simple as panning for gold in rivers, to as complex as the development of a network of tunnels and small-scale processing plants. Child labour and a large number of fatal accidents have also been reported in artisanal mines. ASM currently contributes up to 12% or 330 tonnes of the world's annual gold production.
Informal ninja miners in the Noyon Uul region. The nickname refers to the green bowls these miners carry for panning, which would make them to resemble "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". Thousands of families joined the gold rush, scouring sites rejected by large mining companies for quartz or crumbs of gold. Ninjas have the potential to earn between $5 and $10 a day, often more than formal urban workers. But working conditions are extreme and the prospects of high earnings are slim and never guaranteed.
Tattooed miner at an artisanal mining site. Genghis Khan seems to be a very fashionable tattoo in the arms of Mongolian workers.
Tattooed worker at a local gold-processing plant. Gold mining has adverse effects on the local economies, as nomadic herders must move more frequently to find land for their livestock to graze, due to the contamination of water bodies and the reduced amount of grass. This situation, combined with the northward expansion of the Gobi Desert, is causing many nomads to reduce their herds to focus on higher quality livestock, while others are giving up nomadism. This threatens the survival of traditional herding in Mongolia, one of the last horse-based nomadic cultures in the world.
The Noyon Uul region: an area of striking natural beauty and great archaeological importance. This area comprises the burial place of Hun royals dating from the third century B.C., as well as large spaces of natural beauty that are the habitat of rare and endangered animals. Most mining companies in Mongolia use cyanide and mercury to extract gold, which are extremely toxic and pollute the surrounding forests, animals and bodies of water.
International activists meet with the workers of a mercury-free gold-processing plant. Local organisations organised a trip for a large group of environmental and social activists, after the closure of the AEPF11, to know more about the social and environmental impacts of gold mining in Colombia. The trip included visits to mining sites and meetings with local communities, workers and public officials.
The workers' quarters at a local gold-processing plant. Many small-scale miners are former urban workers or traditional nomadic herders who lost their jobs or livelihoods after the fall of communism in Mongolia. In 2001 and 2002, Mongolia faced two harsh winters (known as dzuds), and a third of the country's livestock was lost. Thousands of families took up artisanal and ninja mining.
Lights-off at a local gold-processing plant. Working conditions at the plant we visited seemed to be far from ideal. Over the last decade, the Sustainable Artisanal Mining (SAM) Project, a bilateral cooperation between the Swiss Development Agency and the government of Mongolia, has supported the creation of an enabling regulatory and policy environment in which artisanal miners are able to formalise. More than 7,000 artisanal miners are currently operating in the formal sector.
The owner of mercury-free gold-processing plant, a former artisanal miner. Mining operations in Mongolia are causing local rivers to dry up, transforming once healthy protected zones into completely uninhabitable places. Local communities (mainly composed of nomadic herders) that have been fighting against mining companies often lack legal knowledge and have little experience in campaigning.
Workers at a local gold-processing plant. Artisanal and small scale-mining and processing is becoming an important livelihood alternative for the rural poor in Mongolia and in many other countries of the South. An ASM miner is, in effect, a subsistence miner. They are not officially employed by a mining enterprise, but rather work independently, mining or panning for gold using their own resources. Small-scale mining includes both small companies and individuals.
A high-grade gold nugget, worth approximately $300. From April 2001 to August 2011, spot gold prices more than quintupled in value against the US dollar, hitting a new all-time high of $1,913.50 on 23 August 2011, prompting speculation that the long secular “bear” market had ended and a “bull” market had returned. However, the price then began a slow decline to the $1,200-per-ounce range in late 2014 and 2015.
An international protest at the site of the proposed Centerra Gold's mine in the Noyon Uul region. In 2013, the Canadian government recommended Centerra Gold to engage more effectively with local communities. However, Centerra’s record in the Noyol Uul region and in other areas of Mongolia remains highly controversial, given a lack of communication, allegations of corruption directed at Mandal district authorities, and reports of harassment of community activists by the Mongolian police (photo captured with a smartphone).
"Forbidden access without authorisation", the sign warns. According to a local activist, "the idea of a Centerra’s gold mine came into place when the socialist system collapsed. Nobody was aware of the mining impact then. Mount Noyon feeds eight small rivers in the area and contamination of this water resource will have an impact on the Baikal lake region across countries. There are 360 medicinal herbs at Mount Noyon and in the surrounding territory. The crops, pastures and soil will be affected by mining blasts" (photo captured with a smartphone).
Security guards at the entrance of the Centerra Gold's mining site. In Kyrgyzstan, Centerra Gold is digging for gold at Kumtor, the biggest open-pit mine in Central Asia. The process requires controversial “ice mining” to dig into glaciers and release the precious metal in the rock below. Fears about the environmental impact of the mine and anger over who is benefiting have sparked protests. But opposing the mine is dangerous, according to local activists who say they have been subject to threats, harassment and violence (photo captured with a smartphone).
Tserennadmid Osorbal , a leading social activist from the Noyon Uul region. Mongolia is remarkably rich in minerals, including gold, copper, molybdenum, and fluorite. The country also has extensive coal reserves, rare earth deposits, and gemstone. Resistance to mining takes place across the country. Anti-mining activists in Mongolia are subject to constant intimidation and abuse by company officials, security forces and even repression by the state police (photo captured with a smartphone).