Artisanal Gold Council Menu
en English▼
X
ar العربيةzh-CN 简体中文zh-TW 繁體中文en Englishtl Filipinofr Françaishi हिन्दीid Bahasa Indonesialo ພາສາລາວmn Монголmy ဗမာစာno Norsk bokmålps پښتوfa فارسیpt Portuguêsru Русскийes Españolsw Kiswahili
DONATE
COVID-19 PORTAL
COVID-19 CALL TO ACTION
Artisanal Gold Council
DONATE
COVID-19 PORTAL
COVID-19 CALL TO ACTION
  • Home
  • What We Do
    • Our Approach
    • Our Services
  • Who We Are
    • Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Partners
    • Careers
  • Our Work
    • Asia
    • South America
    • Africa
    • Global
    • planetGOLD
  • Investments
    • Responsible Artisanal Gold ETF
  • Tools
    • Gold Price Calculator
    • Training Materials
    • Videos
    • Useful Links
  • Library
    • Country Studies
    • Presentations
    • Related Literature
  • News
    • AGC in the Press
    • Events
    • FAQ
    • Videos
  • Blog
    • Blog Subscription
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • en English▼
    X
    ar العربيةzh-CN 简体中文zh-TW 繁體中文en Englishtl Filipinofr Françaishi हिन्दीid Bahasa Indonesialo ພາສາລາວmn Монголmy ဗမာစာno Norsk bokmålps پښتوfa فارسیpt Portuguêsru Русскийes Españolsw Kiswahili
  • Search
  • Home
  • What We Do
    • Our Approach
    • Our Services
  • Who We Are
    • Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Partners
    • Careers
  • Our Work
    • Asia
    • South America
    • Africa
    • Global
    • planetGOLD
  • Investments
    • Responsible Artisanal Gold ETF
  • Tools
    • Gold Price Calculator
    • Training Materials
    • Videos
    • Useful Links
  • Library
    • Country Studies
    • Presentations
    • Related Literature
      • Recent publication on assessing mercury exposure
      • What does a national public health strategy for ASGM look like?
      • The Minamata Convention on Mercury: A Beginner’s Guide
      • A Simple Public Health Strategy for ASGM
      • The Effect of Changing Gold Prices on Artisanal Mining
      • Mercury Recycling in Artisanal Gold Mining: The Good and the Bad
      • Historical and Modern Government Responses to Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining
      • Concentration of Gold Ores – a Key to Reducing Mercury Use in Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining
      • Is Borax the Miracle Chemical that Will Replace Mercury in Artisanal Gold Mining?
      • Health and Artisanal Gold Mining
      • Fifty thousand gold shops in the world’s artisanal gold supply chain
      • World Artisanal Gold Production
      • Silver Causes Huge Increase in Mercury Use in Artisanal Gold Mining
      • Price of mercury rising faster than gold
      • 60 Minutes Upcoming Conflict Gold Piece
  • News
    • AGC in the Press
    • Events
    • FAQ
    • Videos
  • Blog
    • Blog Subscription
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • en English▼
    X
    ar العربيةzh-CN 简体中文zh-TW 繁體中文en Englishtl Filipinofr Françaishi हिन्दीid Bahasa Indonesialo ພາສາລາວmn Монголmy ဗမာစာno Norsk bokmålps پښتوfa فارسیpt Portuguêsru Русскийes Españolsw Kiswahili
  • Search

Price of mercury rising faster than gold

Posted 14th November 2010 by Kevin Telmer

The price of mercury has has hit a new high of $1,850/flask (76lbs) or $53.67/kg and the gold:mercury price ratio has dropped to 840 – see www.mercurywatch.org

Some part of the mercury price increase is likely due to increased demand from Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM), which is booming, along with the price in gold, and is now the world’s largest demand for mercury. The forthcoming export bans by the EU (2011) and the US (2013), representing a future supply squeeze, may also be contributing to the price rise. The increase in the mercury price over the last year (almost tripling from $650/flask to $1,850/flask) has actually outpaced the rise in gold prices making the relative cost of using mercury to extract gold higher. The gold:mercury price ratio is an indicator of the relative cost of using mercury to extract gold.

Overall, the price increase makes mercury more expensive for uses, legal or illegal, and will, to some degree, be an incentive for increased conservation and recycling or switching to non-mercury alternatives. However, a higher price may also stimulate increased trade and production (legal and illegal) while significant demand exists. For marginalized Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining communities, an increased price will likely lead to increased conservation, recycling and alternatives where feasible, but can also have negative effects on their income and on the nature of their business relationships (more blackmarket, less ethical) – undesirable outcomes. For these communities a positive path forward is to minimize mercury demand (use) through access to better practices, policies, governance, and alternatives. Although there are some efforts to do this underway, they are few.

It is interesting to consider what the price of mercury in the future will signify. Perhaps, ultimately, it will be an indicator of successful global management of mercury. If the demand for mercury is successfully reduced, the price, illegal trade, production, and emissions will all diminish.

As well, It may be that for much of the world, reducing demand for mercury (and hence price) is a necessary prerequisite for effective collection and disposal of mercury already in circulation, mercury that will be recovered from contaminated sites and wastes such as mine tailings, and for preventing new virgin mercury production. If demand and price continue to rise, mercury that should be going to disposal sites may often be sold for use instead. The simultaneous ratcheting down of both supply and demand is therefore a requirement for successful management.

Live Gold Price

Subscribe

For updates on the impacts of Covid-19 on artisanal and small-scale gold mining communities and to join the conversation, subscribe to AGC’s blog.


extra news title

Latest Posts

Latest News

The planetGOLD Mongolia project commenced its trainings program on better mining practices for artisanal miners, at the project’s targeted sites

Jan 5, 2022

The extractive sector is an important driver of economic development in Mongolia, having contributed to almost 24% of the GDP in 2019. Artisanal and…

Read More

Visualizing a future with formalized artisanal and small scale mining; The Historic Gold Town of Paracale

Dec 20, 2021

Paracale, a municipality in the province of Camarines Norte, Philippines, is a place where gold is in such abundance that the town’s name itself…

Read More

extra twitter title

Latest Tweets

Latest Tweets

14 hours ago
planetGOLD Mongolia's Twitter avatar
planetGOLD Mongolia
@planetGOLD_MN

📢 Бичил уурхайчдын жендэр, хүний эрхийн мэдлэг, ойлголтыг гүнзгийрүүлэх сургалт амжилттай зохион байгуулагдаж дуусл… t.co/qhTjf5qYtS

Retweeted by ArtisanalGoldCouncil
  • Reply
  • Retweet 1
  • Like 2
2 days ago
ArtisanalGoldCouncil's Twitter avatar
ArtisanalGoldCouncil
@artisanal_gold

🔎The Big Question - how do you get #artisanalgold, responsibly produced, and competitively delivered into the marke… t.co/0BD2WMOzJy

  • Reply
  • Retweet 1
  • Like 2

All of the documents and data presented by the AGC on this website are subject to copyright. © Copyright 2022

Custom WordPress site by Quadra Street Designs