Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Published in:
The Editors Review of Evidence and Perspectives on Sustainable Global Value Chains Read chapter Read first chapter

2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

29. Responsible Gold Mining at the Artisanal and Small-Scale Level: A Case Study of Ghana

Authors : Kenneth Bedu-Addo, Dmitry Palekhov, David J. Smyth, Michael Schmidt

Published in: Sustainable Global Value Chains

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

This chapter aims to discuss the social, health and environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Ghana in the context of sustainability vis-à-vis voluntary sustainability standards (VSS). Mining has played a crucial role in the development of human civilisation; in part by providing precious metals such as gold and silver, which are coveted by many cultures. Such was the value placed upon them that they were used as a universal currency for almost three millennia, stimulating global trade growth (Hruschka and Echavarría 2011).

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
previous chapter Responsible Mining: Challenges, Perspectives and Approaches
next chapter Industry Initiatives Towards Environmental Sustainability in the Automobile Value Chains
Footnotes
1
For details on the UNIDO’s Mercury Programme and the Global Mercury Project, see UNIDO (2013) and https://​www.​unido.​org/​mercury/​about-us, last accessed 31 January 2019.
 
2
AKOBEN is not an acronym, rather a reference to Ghanaian cultural symbolism.
 
3
General Assembly resolution 1803 (XVII) of 14 December 1962, “Permanent sovereignty over natural resources”, U.N. GAOR, 17th sess., Supp. no. 17, p. 15, U.N. Doc. A/5217 (1962).
 
4
Minerals and Mining Law, 1986 (PNDC Law 153) provided the general legislative framework for mining in Ghana; it established the royalty and corporate tax rates in the mining industry. The 1994 and 2005 amendments focused on revising the corporate tax and royalty rates and limiting the duration for mining lease (Mensah et al. 2015).
 
5
Small-Scale Gold Mining Law, 1989 (PNDC Law 218) regulated the registration and licensing of small-scale gold miners as well as the establishment of support centres (District Small-Scale Gold Mining Centres) by the Minerals Commission for the purpose of monitoring, supervising and advising small-scale gold mining operations.
 
6
Mercury Law, 1989 (PNDC Law 217) legalised the purchase of mercury from authorised sellers for purposes of gold production.
 
7
Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation Law, 1989 (PNDC Law 219) provided official marketing paths for small-scale gold and diamond miners and promoted trade in precious metals, diamonds, and jewellery in and outside Ghana (Mensah et al. 2015).
 
8
Environmental Assessment Regulation, 1999 (LI 1652) provides the necessary specific and complete legal backing for EIA system in Ghana.
 
9
A contraction of the phrase ‘gather them and sell’ used in reference to illegal, unlicensed and informal artisanal and small-scale mining.
 
10
Governing legislation for Ghana’s minerals sector.
 
11
The main policy goal of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme is to provide opportunity for every school-age child in Ghana to receive quality basic education.
 
Literature
Armah FA, Obiri S, Yawson DO, Pappoe ANM, Akoto B (2010) Mining and heavy metal pollution: assessment of aquatic environments in Tarkwa (Ghana) using multivariate statistical analysis. J Environ Stat 1(4):1–13
Aryee BNA, Ntibery BK, Atorkui E (2003) Trends in the small-scale mining of precious minerals in Ghana: a perspective on its environmental impact. J Clean Prod 11(2):131–140CrossRef
Bebbington A, Abdulai A-G, Bebbington DH, Hinfelaar M, Sanborn CA (2018) Governing extractive industries: politics, histories, ideas. Oxford University Press, New YorkCrossRef
Betancourt O, Narváez A, Roulet M (2005) Small-scale gold mining in the Puyango River Basin, Southern Ecuador: a study of environmental impacts and human exposures. EcoHealth 2(4):323–332CrossRef
Bose-O’Reilly S, Lettmeier B, Gothe RM, Beinhoff C, Siebert U, Drasch G (2008) Mercury as a serious health hazard for children in gold mining areas. Environ Res 107(1):89–97CrossRef
Broad R (2014) Responsible mining: moving from a buzzword to real responsibility. Extr Ind Soc 1(1):4–6
Browne W, Franks DM, Kendall G (2011) The foundations for responsible mining in Cambodia – suggested approaches. Policy Brief, June 2011. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Phnom Penh
Dashwood HS (2014) Sustainable development and industry self-regulation: developments in the global mining sector. Bus Soc 53(4):551–582CrossRef
Essumang DK, Dodoo DK, Obiri S, Yaney JY (2007) Arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagititolium) and Watercocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) in Tarkwa a mining community. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 79(4):377–379CrossRef
Goodland R (2012) Responsible mining: the key to profitable resource development. Sustainability 4(9):2099–2126CrossRef
Hilson G (2002) Small-scale mining in Africa: tackling pressing environmental problems with improved strategy. J Environ Dev 11(2):149–174CrossRef
Hilson G, Banchirigah SM (2009) Are alternative livelihood projects alleviating poverty in mining communities? Experiences from Ghana. J Dev Stud 45(2):172–196CrossRef
Hilson G, Garforth C (2013) ‘Everyone now is concentrating on the mining’: drivers and implications of rural economic transition in the eastern region of Ghana. J Dev Stud 49(3):348–364CrossRef
Hinton JJ (2006) Communities and small-scale mining: an integrated review for development planning. Communities and Small-Scale Mining (CASM) Initiative, Mining Department, World Bank Group, Washington, D.C.
Hinton JJ, Veiga MM, Veiga ATC (2003) Clean artisanal gold mining: a utopian approach? J Clean Prod 11(2):99–115CrossRef
Hruschka F, Echavarría C (2011) Rock-solid chances for responsible artisanal mining. ARM Series on Responsible ASM, No. 3. Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), Medellín, Colombia
Kessler R (2013) The Minamata Convention on Mercury: a first step toward protecting future generations. Environ Health Perspect 121(10):304–309CrossRef
Lahiri-Dutt K (2004) Informality in mineral resource management in Asia: raising questions relating to community economies and sustainable development. Nat Res Forum 28(2):123–132CrossRef
Limbong D, Kumampung J, Ayhuan D, Arai T, Miyazaki N (2005) Mercury pollution related to artisanal gold mining in North Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 75(5):989–996CrossRef
Luís AT, Teixeira P, Almeida SFP, Matos JX, da Silva EF (2011) Environmental impact of mining activities in the Lousal area (Portugal): chemical and diatom characterization of metal-contaminated stream sediments and surface water of Corona stream. Sci Total Environ 409(20):4312–4325CrossRef
Marrugo-Negrete J, Benitez LN, Olivero-Verbel J (2008) Distribution of mercury in several environmental compartments in an aquatic ecosystem impacted by gold mining in Northern Colombia. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 55(2):305–316CrossRef
Mensah AK, Mahiri IO, Owusu O, Mireku OD, Wireko I, Kissi EA (2015) Environmental impacts of mining: a study of mining communities in Ghana. Appl Ecol Environ Sci 3(3):81–94
Miserendino RA, Bergquist BA, Adler SE, Guimarães JRD, Lees PSJ, Niquen W, Velasquez-López PC, Veiga MM (2013) Challenges to measuring, monitoring, and addressing the cumulative impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Ecuador. Resour Policy 38(4):713–722CrossRef
Oppong SOB, Voegborlo RB, Agorku SE, Adimado AA (2010) Total mercury in fish, sediments and soil from the River Pra Basin, Southwestern Ghana. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 85(3):324–329CrossRef
Pataranawat P, Parkpian P, Polprasert C, Delaune RD, Jugsujinda A (2007) Mercury emission and distribution: potential environmental risks at a small-scale gold mining operation, Phichit Province, Thailand. J Environ Sci Health A 42(8):1081–1093CrossRef
Santos-Francés F, García-Sánchez A, Alonso-Rojo P, Contreras F, Adams M (2011) Distribution and mobility of mercury in soils of a gold mining region, Cuyuni river basin, Venezuela. J Environ Manage 92(4):1268–1276CrossRef
Tarras-Wahlberg NH, Flachier A, Fredriksson G, Lane S, Lundberg B, Sangfors O (2000) Environmental impact of small-scale and artisanal gold mining in southern Ecuador: implications for the setting of environmental standards and for the management of small-scale mining operations. AMBIO: J Hum Environ 29(8):484–491CrossRef
Tian L, Guo HF, Gao A, Lu XT, Li QY (2009) Effects of mercury released from gold extraction by amalgamation on renal function and environment in Shanxi, China. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 83(1):71–74CrossRef
Tomiyasu T, Kono Y, Kodamatani H, Hidayati N, Rahajoe JS (2013) The distribution of mercury around the small-scale gold mining area along the Cikaniki river, Bogor, Indonesia. Environ Res 125:12–19CrossRef
UNEP – United Nations Environmental Programme (2013) Global Mercury Assessment 2013: sources, emissions, releases and environmental transport. UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, Chemicals Branch, Geneva. http://​hdl.​handle.​net/​20.​500.​11822/​7984. Accessed 31 Jan 2019
Webbink D, Hubers F, Harms J (2013) The Face of Ghana’s Gold: Baseline Study. Unpublished Draft, July 2013. Erasmus Centre for Strategic Philantropy, Rotterdam
Metadata
Title
Responsible Gold Mining at the Artisanal and Small-Scale Level: A Case Study of Ghana
Authors
Kenneth Bedu-Addo
Dmitry Palekhov
David J. Smyth
Michael Schmidt
Copyright Year
2019
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Book
Sustainable Global Value Chains

Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14876-2

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-14877-9

Copyright Year: 2019

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14877-9_29