The Resolution of the Government of Mongolia No 317, dated 14 August 2019 Submitted to the Secretariat of Minamata Convention: June 2020 THE NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR REDUCING MERCURY POLLUTION CAUSED BY ARTISANAL AND SMALL- SCALE GOLD MINING IN MONGOLIA 2019-2023 CONTENTS TABLES iii FIGURES iii ABBREVIATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT vi FOREWORD vii I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 II. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 2 III. NATIONAL OVERVIEW OF ARTISANAL SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING 5 3.1. Previous Experiences in Addressing ASGM.................................................................5 Scoping of research, projects and programmes 5 Studies on mercury use in ASGM 6 International projects in ASGM 6 3.2. Geographical Distribution of ASGM……………………………………..........…………….7 3.3. Mining and Processing Information…………………………….…............……………….... 8 Gold mining and processing technology 8 Worst practices and mercury use 13 3.4. Baseline Estimate of the Amount of Mercury Used in ASGM………………………….14 3.5. Legal and Regulatory Status………………………………………………………………16 Policies, laws and regulations related to formalisaton of ASGM 16 Miners’ feedback on enforcement of the Regulation 18 Central and local government organisations in charge of ASGM 19 3.6. Leadership and Organization of ASGM at National and Local Levels………..………...20 The National Federation of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (NFASM) 20 Leadership and organisation of ASGM 20 3.7. Mercury Trade and Demand……………………………………………………..…………22 Illegal mercury trade 22 Gold supply chain in ASGM 23 3.8. Economic Aspects of ASGM……………………………………………………….…………24 Contribution of ASGM to national economy 24 Economic contribution of ASGM to local economy 25 Income distribution among ASG miners 26 3.9. Demographic and Social Information……………………………………………………..27 Demographic information of ASG miners 27 Employment and gender issues 28 Child labor 28 Social welfare and protection 29 i Crime, accidents and injuries 29 Access to information and knowledge 30 3.10. Environmental Information……………………………………………………………… 31 Mercury contaminated areas 31 Impacts of ASGM on environment 32 Waste management 32 3.11. Health Information…………………………………………………………………….…..32 Occupational health issues 32 Health issues caused by mercury use in ASGM 33 3.12. Towards Decision Making Process…………………………………………………..34 IV. NATIONAL OBJECTIVES AND REDUCTION TARGETS 34 4.1. Problem Statements………………………………………………………………………..34 4.2. Goal…………………………………………………………………………………………..35 4.3. National Objectives and Reduction Targets………………………………..……………..35 V. IMPLEMENTATON STRATEGY 36 5.1. Strategies……………………………………………………………………………………36 5.2. Workplan……………………………………………….…………………………………….40 5.3. Steps for Implementation……………………………………………………………….…….58 VI. EVALUATON MECHANISM …. …. 58 6.1. Implementation Mechanism……………………….………………………………………….58 6.2. Evaluation Mechanism……………………………………………..………………….…….59 6.3. Indicators for Measuring Progress……………………………………………………..…..59 REFERENCES 64 ANNEXES 66 ANNEX 1. TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE WORKING GROUP 66 MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND TOURISM OF MONGOLIA 66 RESOLUTION OF MINISTRY 66 ANNEX 2. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM SOCIO-ECONOMIC, LEGAL AND HEALTH RELATED SURVEYS AND MERCURY 68 ANNEX 3. BUDGET FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NAP 71 ii TABLES Table 1 Number of placer and hard rock gold deposits and identified reserves, 2006-2017, tons 7 Table 2 Location, number of gold processing plants and equipment description, selected soums 13 Table 3 Estimation of likelihood of mercury use .................................................................. 15 Table 4 Ministries and agencies that have direct and indirect responsibilities for enforcement of ASGM related polices and regulations ........................................... 19 Table 5 Illegal attempts to import, transport and sell mercury in Mongolia .......................... 23 Table 6 Responses of survey participants on engagement of children in ASGM ................. 29 Table 7 Signs and symptoms of illnesses by miners .......................................................... 33 Table 8 Workplan for Implementation of NAP ..................................................................... 40 Table 9 Indicators for measuring progress of NAP implementation ..................................... 60 FIGURES Figure 1 Location of ASGM sites, types of ores, by aimags, soums and capital ………….…..8 Figure 2 Shaft sinking and ore extraction on a placer gold mine ........................................... 9 Figure 3 Shaft sinking and dry processing at artisanal placer gold mine ............................. 10 Figure 4 Process workflow at the processing workshops at hard rock mine site ................. 11 Figure 5 Ore processing at the milling workshop ................................................................. 12 Figure 6 Amount of mercury used in ASGM, (kg/Hg), by soums ......................................... 16 Figure 7 Management of ASGM partnerships and cooperatives ......................................... 21 Figure 8 Cooperation among stakeholders in ASGM sector ................................................ 22 Figure 9 Illegal mercury transportation in Mongolia ............................................................. 23 Figure 10 Amount of gold purchased by Bank of Mongolia, 2006-2017, tons ...................... 25 Figure 11 Mongolia’s gold export and prices ....................................................................... 25 Figure 12 Responses of survey participants on ASGM impacts on livelihood ..................... 26 Figure 13 The sample size, by location ............................................................................... 27 Figure 14 Survey sample size, by gender ........................................................................... 28 Figure 15 Accidents in the artisanal and small-scale mining ............................................... 30 iii ABBREVIATION ASG miners Artisanal and small scale gold miners ASGM Artisanal and small scale gold mining ASM Artisanal and small scale mining BoM Bank of Mongolia ESEC-2 Engaging Stakeholders in Environmental Conservation-2 Project FRM Frugal rehabilitation methodology ILO International Labour Organisation GASHI General Authoirty for Social and Health Insurances GASI General Agency for Specialized Inspection GCA General Customs Authority GEF Global Environmental Facility JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency ASM Agency for Standardization and Metrology NEMA National Emergency Management Agency MECSS Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports MET Ministry of Environment and Tourism MMHI Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry MJIA Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs MLSP Ministry of Labour and Social Protection MNT Mongolian tugrugs (currency) MoH Ministry of Health MRPA Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia NAP National Action Plan NCPH National Center for Public Health NFASM National Federation of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining NGO Non-governmental organisation NSO National Statistics Office OECD Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development OHS Occupational Health and Safety SAM Sustainable Artisanal Mining SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SGH State Great Hural STD Sexually Transmitted Diseases UNEP UN Environment UNFPA UN Population Fund UNIDO UN Industrial Development Organisation iv UNITAR UN Institute of Training and Research USEPA US Environmental Protection Agency WB The World Bank WHO World Health Organisation v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This National Action Plan for Reducing Mercury Pollution Caused by Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining in Mongolia was prepared by the project team in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia through the technical assistance of the UN Environment and Global Environment Facility (GEF) provided within the framework of the project “Development of National Action Plan for Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining”. Copyright © 2019 UN Environment Minamata Convention on Mercury. All rights reserved. An electronic retrievable copy (PDF file) of this NAP may be obtained for no cost from UN Environment Minamata Convention on Mercury www.mercuryconvention.org Cover Photo: Mongolia, NAP Project. 2018. Baseline Socio-Economic Survey on ASGM vi FOREWORD Mongolia ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury in 2015 and has obtained the technical assistance and financial support from UN Environment to develop the National Action Plan (NAP) for Reducing Mercury Pollution Caused by Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM). The National Action Plan is a comprehensive and multi-dimensional programme requiring the Government’s commtiment, inter-ministerial coordination, and collaboration of diverse stakeholders and financing to fulfill Mongolia’s obligations under Minamata Convention as well as achieving environmentally sound and safe ASGM operations. NAP proposes 13 strategies and over 69 measures centered around four objectives which aim to eliminate the worst practices and harmful technologies, accelerate ASGM sector formalisation, protect health of artisanal and small-scale miners, particularly women and children and prevent exposure to mercury and increase access to information. The National Action Plan has synergies with the Green Development Policy and supports its objective to ensure ecosystem’s carrying capacity and reduce environmental pollution and degradation. The NAP contributes to the implementation of Sustainable Development Vision of Mongolia, the Government Action Plan 2016-2020, State Minerals Policy 2014-2025