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UN data live from

Mercury Released from ASGM (tonnes/a)
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Welcome to MercuryWatch Beta Site - April 2010
Mercury Watch is dedicated to collecting, analysing, and publically serving information about mercury released to the environment.   

Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) has become the world’s largest 'direct use' emitter of mercury to the environment. In spite of this, an adequate global database of the distribution of ASGM and mercury-use does not exist. This information is needed by governments, agencies, and stakeholders to focus resources and make decisions regarding mitigation and remediation. With over 10 million small scale gold miners operating in over 70 countries worldwide, a global strategy is required. To facilitate a strategy, a reliable database, grounded in field work, is required.

This website represents the beginning of such a database. Its aims are to be served publically and used: (a) as an open document for discussions with the ASGM community; (b) to encourage input from stakeholders; and (c) as an education and awareness vehicle. Currently, the site includes data from field campaigns, government and mining company reports, and work done by NGO's. The Global ASGM database is based on a recent publication written for UNEP (see Research Paper in header). The publication also provides an introduction and comprehensive overview to the current global situation of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining.

The database can be queried to provide basic information by country such as largest ASGM mercury emissions, largest mercury exporter, number of mercury cell chlor-alkalai plants etc. Over 2010, the website will be upgraded to incorporate stake-holder input, improved estimates, and multilingual support.

MercuryWatch call for partners:

The breadth of society that interacts with Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) is much broader than is generally recognized. This, along with the global growth in ASGM underway makes it a significant  issue for governments and society. This requires that they work harder towards making the sector safer, socio-economically sustainable and less detrimental to the environment. MercuryWatch is committed to these goals and is seeking partnerships to help.

Experiment with the maps.