Small-scale mining

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Small-scale mining in Africa

As small-scale mining refers to the extraction of mineral raw materials with simple, non-industrial methods. In 2012 around 15 million people worked in ASM worldwide. Small-scale mining, in which the mining work is only done manually, is also known as artisanal mining .

Basics

In order to be able to use a deposit with large mining machines for mining, it must have a corresponding minimum size. Whether the deposit according to mineable is depends on many factors. Due to their small size, many deposits are unsuitable for industrial mining using heavy mining equipment and long-term mining processes . These deposits, if they contain mineral resources of higher value, are exploited in small-scale mining. Preference is given to precious metals , non-ferrous metals , steel refiners such as chromium or nickel and refractory metals such as. B. tantalum, niobium or tungsten, mined in small-scale mining. Depending on the thickness of the surface layer, the mineral resources are extracted either in opencast mining or in near-surface underground mining.

Tools and machines

The level of mechanization in small businesses is low; simple mining hand tools such as B. Pickaxes used. If machines are used, they are bought second-hand for cost reasons. This often leads to production losses due to the high downtimes. The processing of the ores also shows different degrees of mechanization. These range from simple manual work (such as crushing the ore with a mortar ) to medieval methods such as stamp mills , washing troughs and pusher ovens to modern machines such as impact roll crushers .

Small-scale mining used to be

During the Spanish colonial era, small-scale mining was practiced in almost all Latin American countries. In many places this mining goes back to the pre-Columbian epochs. In Europe, iron ore was mined in Mollkauten as early as the 5th century BC , later in Pingen, and from the 10th century on, hard coal was mined in small pütts by means of coal digging . After the Second World War , so-called emergency mining was practiced in many cases, in which small-scale mining used the simplest, primitive means on the edge of the well-known hard coal mine to dismantle remaining pillars that were actually not worth extracting . In the middle of the 19th century, copper slate seams with a thickness of three to 10 centimeters were mined in Duckelbau in Germany .

ASM today

ASM exists today in almost every country in Latin America. Here, small-scale mining has a share of six to eight percent of gold production. ASM's share of global gold production is around 25%. In 2004, around 15 to 20 percent of the mineral raw materials required worldwide were mined in small-scale mining. In addition to the 15 million people who are directly employed in ASM, it is projected that another 85 million people are employed in secondary operations of ASM. In total, around 100 million people are economically dependent on artisanal mining.

Raw materials such as cobalt , lithium , nickel , manganese and graphite are required for batteries in electric cars . 60% of world cobalt production comes from the Congo , of which around 15–20% is obtained in small-scale mining.

Ecological damage

Small-scale mining has increased environmental pollution. In gold mining, as in industrial gold mining, mercury is used to amalgamate the gold-containing concentrates. According to estimates, several hundred tons of mercury are consumed annually in small-scale mining. The mercury gets into the soil and water through the treatment processes, when the amalgam burns, the mercury also gets into the atmosphere and is distributed over large parts of the region. In addition, small-scale mining leads to erosion and silting up of the rivers, which will seriously affect the affected areas in the long term. Due to the pollution and poisoning of the rivers, they can no longer be used as drinking water reservoirs and the fish population is severely impaired. When silver is extracted in small-scale mining, large amounts of lead are produced during silver processing. The lead contaminates the air and soil in the affected regions. Especially in countries with low environmental standards such as B. Peru this is particularly serious.

Training and occupational safety

Small-scale mining often employs untrained or poorly trained miners . Well-trained miners cannot be found for these activities. This is often due to poor pay and low security standards in small businesses. As early as the middle to the end of the 19th century it was difficult to get well-trained miners for coal mining. Had such a Hauer in small-scale mining a lower earnings as a delivery man in a large mine . When working with the chemicals used, the miners do not wear protective equipment, as there is usually no money available for protective measures. In some cases, the workers do not wear protective helmets or safety shoes. Work suits are also often not available.

Measures to secure environmental and social standards

Transparent and certified supply chains (CTC - Certified Trading Chains) are essential to ensure environmental and social standards and compliance with the duty of care in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines on Human Rights Due Diligence in ASM . A prerequisite for this that is often not given is that the cooperatives and small businesses must be provided with economically attractive zones ( French Zone d'Exploitation Artisanale (ZEA) ; English Artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) ) so that they can operate legally at all.

According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI , a boycott of ASM would not improve the situation of the people involved; a better way would be to expand the Certified Trading Chains initiatives of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) . These support small-scale mining cooperatives and local authorities in order to achieve minimum standards and to set up control mechanisms. According to this, strong state institutions in the mining countries are the most important factor for improving environmental and social standards. The raw material processing companies are also demanding mandatory conditions in these regions in order to combat the grievances.

gallery

  • Small-scale mining (wolframite) in Maniema

  • Small-scale mining (wolframite) in Maniema

  • Artisanal (gold) mining in Dodoma, Tanzania

  • Hard coal mining in Indonesia around 1900

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Hermann Wotruba: Small-scale mining and its environmental impacts - from traditional methods to adapted technology . RWTH Aachen Online (last accessed on October 22, 2012).
  2. ↑ a b Elisabeth Grießl: Development of a methodology for evaluating alternative courses of action in international small-scale mining. Dissertation at the Faculty of Geosciences, Geotechnics and Mining of the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg 2014.
  3. ↑ Ernst-Ulrich Reuther: Introduction to mining. 1st edition, Verlag Glückauf GmbH, Essen, 1982, ISBN 3-7739-0390-1 .
  4. ↑ Alexander Aust: The natural resources of South America. Student thesis, 1st edition, Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-638-95525-6 .
  5. ^ A b c Jürgen Vasters: The promotion of small-scale mining in Chile by the Nacional de Mineria (ENAMI). (PDF; 327 kB) (No longer available online.) In: bergbau 12/2006. Ring Deutscher Bergingenieure , December 2006, pp. 542–548 , archived from the original on March 2, 2014 ; Retrieved April 25, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rdb-ev.de
  6. ↑ a b H. Wotruba: Technical alternative to gold amalgamation in small-scale mining. RWTH Aachen Online (last accessed on August 10, 2015).
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Stössel & Lars B. Steffens: Miner's cow and raspberry spar: The Siegerland mining industry. The explanatory book , Verlag amadeusmedien, November 2004, ISBN 3-9808936-7-7 .
  8. ^ Joachim Huske: The coal mining in the Ruhr area from its beginnings to the year 2000. 2nd edition, Regio-Verlag Peter Voß, Werne, 2001, ISBN 3-929158-12-4 .
  9. ^ Clausthal University of Technology: Kupferschiefer (last accessed on October 22, 2012).
  10. ^ A b c Jörg Eggimann: Questionable raw materials in the jewelry industry . Online (last accessed on October 22, 2012; PDF; 249 kB)
  11. ↑ Federal Institute for Geosciences and Raw Materials. Importance and problems of global ASM . Online (last accessed on October 22, 2012; PDF; 777 kB).
  12. ↑ a b Axel Thielmann, Martin Wietschel, Simon Funke, Anna Grimm, Tim Hettesheimer, Sabine Langkau, Antonia Loibl, Cornelius Moll, Christoph Neef, Patrick Plötz, Luisa Sievers, Luis Tercero Espinoza, Jakob Edler: Batteries for electric cars: fact check and need for action . Ed .: Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI. Stober, Karlsruhe January 2020, p. 12, 13 ( fraunhofer.de [PDF; accessed on March 5, 2020]).
  13. ↑ DNR special issue 2008: Shiny shops. Gold mining in Guyana has devastating consequences for the indigenous population . Online (last accessed on October 22, 2012; PDF; 122 kB).
  14. ↑ Norbert Deutsch: Lignite mining and the labor movement. Collegium Carolinum, printing Novotny jun. Söcking, Munich Vienna Oldenbourg 1982, ISBN 3-486-51061-4 .
  15. ↑ Cornelia Reichert: The bloody mineral. FAS Wissen, Online (last accessed on October 22, 2012; PDF; 523 kB).
  16. ↑ OECD Guidelines for Compliance with Due Diligence to Promote Responsible Supply Chains for Minerals from Conflict and High Risk Areas 2015 Online (PDF; 785 kB)
  17. ↑ Federal Institute for Geosciences and Raw Materials: Analysis of the artisanal copper-cobalt sector in the provinces of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . 2019, ISBN 978-3-943566-67-3 , pp. 49–62 ( bund.de [PDF; 5.0 MB ; accessed on January 26, 2020]).

Web links

Commons : ASM  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Volker Steinbach: Sustainable Resource Policy - Global and National Challenges and Opportunities . Ed .: Federal Institute for Geosciences and Raw Materials. Hanover 2010 ( pdf, 1.72 MB [accessed on January 25, 2016]).