Monitoring of mercury in and around sites of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM)

With generous financial support from Norway and Sweden, the secretariat has facilitated the development of technical documents on monitoring of mercury in and around sites of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) through in-situ and remote sensing methods. The technical documents may support parties in planning and implementing measures pursuant to article 7 of the Convention, and provide additional support to monitoring efforts in the context of evaluating the effectiveness of the Convention.

In the preamble of decision MC-4/4 on artisanal and small-scale gold mining, the COP expressed its appreciation for the development of technical material on monitoring of mercury in and around sites of artisanal and small-scale mining to support implementation of the “Guidance on monitoring mercury and mercury compounds to support the effectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention” as contained in document UNEP/MC/COP.4/INF/12.

To further improve the technical document on “In-situ monitoring of mercury and mercury compounds in and around artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites”, the secretariat is pleased to invite parties and other stakeholders to provide comments on the latest draft version of the technical document (available below). Those wishing to submit comments are invited to use the template below, and to submit it to mea-minamatasecretariat [at] un.org no later than 15 July 2022.

For questions, please contact Manoela Miranda at manoela.miranda [at] un.org

In-situ monitoring of mercury and mercury compounds in and around artisanal and small-scale gold mining sites
(Developed by CINCIA)

Using remote sensing for monitoring mercury in and around ASGM sites
(Developed by University of Geneva, UNEP-GRID)