KAMPALA – The Uganda government working with development partners has launched a new ambitious project to help reduce the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining across the country.
The project, officials told reporters will support more than 4500 miners including vulnerable Ugandan women at 11 mining sites in the country and in the process reduce mercury use by 15 tonnes over five years.
Ruth Nakabirwa, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development presided over the project launch dubbed planetGOLD Uganda.
“This is good news that planetGOLD Uganda is being launched to see more than 4000 being helped. If you save 4500 artisanal miners, each of them must have 10 family members, and helping them is crucial. Artisanal miners have to be assisted and when you do this, you will be supporting their family members,” Nankabirwa said.
“Tell them what you would like them to do, since it is for their survival. The planet is now fighting back and will not accept to die anyhow. We need to do sustainable exploitation of resources that God gave us. We have the legal frameworks to support this project and we can partner even in enforcement. We should not leave things on paper,” the minister said emphasizing the need to support the artisanal and small-scale minors with alternatives in this move to eliminate the use of mercury while carrying out gold mining.
“Whenever you bring a policy shift, you must make sure you have created an alternative because enforcement becomes very difficult. These miners will be determined to use whatever method. We have seen what other countries have done; we have been told the cost of this equipment and are affordable.”
The planetGOLD Uganda project is part of the global planetGOLD programme currently implemented in 23 countries. The project works together with local communities to reduce the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining—the world’s largest source of anthropogenic emissions of mercury pollution— while improving the health and lives of local mining communities.
In Uganda, the project works in 11 mining sites of Nyabiremura, Rushaga, Katenga, Kayonza, Kabaga Hills, Buhere, Tiira, Sama, Cheptakol, Kapiyosa, and Nakabat found in seven districts of Buhweju, Amudat, Moroto, Busia, Namayingo, Kassanda, and Kisoro.
Lynn Gitu, the project head PlanetGold that the project seeks to reduce the use of mercury by supporting the formalization of the artisanal gold mining sector and increasing access to finance.
“This will lead to the adoption of mercury-free technologies and allow access to more responsible and traceable gold supply chains. While the project is focused on reducing mercury use, it also seeks to address gender equality, women’s empowerment, access to finance, legalization and formalization of the sector, and access to international markets,” she said.
“We want to support artisanal and small-scale miners in the gold sector of the county to come together and cooperate in legal entities like cooperatives, associations, companies limited by shares and partnership but also see that they have together, they can access finance to increase production and do their work cleaner by getting rid of mercury use and use better equipment,” Gitu said.
“The alternative solutions to the use of mercury in gold mining are tools and equipment already tried and tested in many countries around the world and available through the free market economy. They can be able to acquire them for use in artisanal and small-scale mining of gold.
She said at the end of the five years, the project hopes to create a positive story about small-scale and artisanal miners in Uganda.
“We want to change the way people look at small-scale and artisanal gold miners in Uganda.
