Mercury ban shakes gold miners

Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
SMALL-scale gold miners are shaken after the Government banned the use of mercury in line with the Minamata Convention.

The ratification of the convention by Zimbabwe last week will also result in the ban on the manufacture, import and export of products that use mercury.

The Government ratified the convention through a motion that was moved in the National Assembly by Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister, Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu.

The Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF), the umbrella body for small-scale miners, has said it will engage relevant authorities over mercury use ban. The bulk of small-scale mining operations, which contribute nearly 60 percent of gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers and Refiners, rely on mercury in processing the yellow metal.

ZMF chief executive officer, Mr Wellington Takavarasha, said their members were not opposed to the ban on mercury use but want clarity on the alternative.

“We want clarification on whether the ratification implies a total ban or a gradual process where the miners need to be imparted with knowledge on the dangers of using mercury,” he said in an interview.

“If the ratification implies a total ban, then as ZMF and other stakeholders that have been in the national action response plan team conducting campaigns on the Minamata Convention, are surprised by the announcement because we were still involved in discussions around mercury use ban.

“The Minamata Convention on mercury use also allows for the gradual ban on mercury use,” said Mr Takavarasha.

The Minamata Convention on mercury was adopted at the 5th Session of the Inter-Governmental Committee in Geneva, Switzerland on January 19, 2013.

The convention is a global treaty whose objective is to protect human health and environment from the adverse effects of mercury. Zimbabwe is the 116th country to ratify the Treaty in the world and 51st in Africa.

“While mercury use in mining endangers the environment, the alternatives to mercury use ban so far are not palatable to local artisanal and small-scale miners’ operations given the level of output by the miners,” said Mr Takavarasha.

Mercury is a toxic substance that can circulate globally through the oceans and the atmosphere for years or even decades, and can cause significant harm to human health and the environment. – @okazunga.