Latest Posts

Recognizing Women’s Contributions and Challenges in Philippine Small-Scale Mining

By Jacklyn Belo-Enricoso - National Gender Specialist, planetGOLD Philippines - March 17, 2021

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) provides livelihoods for rural communities and facilitates local development, and importantly ASGM can offer opportunities for women. However, in order to generate and capture these opportunities, it must be recognized that women often face limited income opportunities and have limited access to government […]

Strengthening Local Government in Mongolia via the Minamata Convention on Mercury

By Namuun Tsegmid and Tegan Holmes - March 15, 2021

Over the last 30 years, Mongolia has moved from a centrally planned economy to a market driven economy. This shift, and the reliance on natural resources like gold, are providing a much needed economic stimulus for the country as a whole. However, there are disparities in the mining […]

Fatal Landslide at Artisanal Gold Mine Site in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia Highlights the Need for Formalization of the Sector

By AGC HQ - February 25, 2021

Updated: 26 February 2021 The evacuation process of miners buried by landslides at the illegal mining site in Burangan Village, Ampibabo District, Parigi Moutong Regency, Central Sulawesi, Thursday morning, February 25, 2021. ANTARA / HO / Aslan Laeho At present, 23 artisanal gold miners have been buried in a landslide […]

The Resiliency of the Philippine Small-Scale Mining Communities: Bayanihan Amidst Super Typhoons and a Pandemic

By Michelle Manza, National Project Manager Assistant, planetGOLD Philippines - December 29, 2020

Three weeks. Three typhoons. Extensive flooding. Destructive landslides. Thousands of people huddled in evacuation centers amidst the pandemic with 434,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases (as of writing). Such is the case of the Philippines since the last week of October when Typhoon Molave (local name Quinta), Super Typhoon Goni […]

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining boosts rural programs and infrastructure development in the Philippines: The case of Buenavista, Quezon

By Shyne Catedral, National Communications Assistant, planetGOLD Philippines and Anupama Ariyaratne, Communications Officer, Artisanal Gold Council - November 12, 2020

Gold mining in the Philippines is a major contributor to economic development and it occurs in two main forms: large-scale, and artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). In 2018, the Philippines generated 36.8 metric tons of gold, worth about US $1.5 billion at world prices. According to the Central Bank […]

Challenges and opportunities for women at artisanal gold mining sites in Burkina Faso

By Aimée Florentine Kaboré, Communication Specialist, planetGOLD Burkina Faso and Anupama Ariyaratne, Communications Officer, Artisanal Gold Council - October 15, 2020

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining often uses rudimentary technology, requires physically demanding dangerous labour and is routinely undertaken by marginalized communities in an informal setting. In Burkina Faso, approximately 20-30% of those working on mine sites are women, where they carry out various tasks such as crushing ore, collecting water, […]

Introducing clean and efficient mercury free gold processing to South West Burkina Faso

By Aimée Florentine Kaboré Communication Specialist, planetGOLD Burkina Faso - September 24, 2020

Burkina Faso has an artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector that directly employs over 430,000 people and indirectly supports six times as many people via the secondary economy created by the sector. The economic support provided by ASGM and the skills diversification that it provides agrarian workers and rural […]

The village of Tunkhel is leading the development of a more responsible artisanal gold mining sector in Mongolia

By Namuun Tsegmid, Communications Assistant, AGC, planetGOLD Mongolia - August 7, 2020

Tunkhel is a village located in the Selenge province, 150 km north of Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar with a population of approximately 3,042 people. Tunkhel was established by loggers working in the timber industry back in the 1960s and is surrounded by a thick forest which makes up 80% of the […]

AGC in the NYT (Artisanal Gold Council in the New York Times)

By Shawn Blore - June 29, 2020

The Artisanal Gold Council made the New York Times on Friday in a Thomson Reuters story that highlighted two of the initiatives the AGC set in motion to help artisanal miners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Published June 26 by Johannesburg-based mining correspondent Helen Reid and picked up by newspapers […]

Flawed Newspaper Article causes Perth Mint to Suspend All ASM Gold

By Shawn Blore - June 16, 2020

A June 11 article in the Australian Financial Review that incorrectly labelled artisanal gold from Papua New Guinea as conflict gold has caused the Perth Mint to temporarily suspend all purchases of ASM gold. According to a statement released in the name of the chair of Gold Corporation, Sam Walsh, […]