A June 2015 study done for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Guianas has voiced concern about mercury pollution from Small-Scale Gold
Mining (SSGM) in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana and has called for a
commitment to ban the gold purifying metal and to stringently monitor
its trade.
Entitled ` Small-Scale Gold Mining Related Mercury Contamination in the Guianas: A Review’, the study by Legg ED, Ouboter PE and Wright MAP focused on mercury trade; the presence of mercury in the air, freshwater, soil and marine environments; entry into the food chain and exposure of the human population. It collated data from a range of studies on these areas. Mercury builds up in the food chain and can lead to acute poisoning and death.
What was evident from the review was that studies done in Guyana were outdated, in some cases going back to the 1990s. However the report cited more recent data for French Guiana in particular and Suriname which it said should lead to concerns in Guyana about mercury pollution.
One of the key recommendations made in the report was the banning of mercury in the mining sector, possibly through the Minamata Convention. Guyana signed the Convention in Japan in October 2013 but the previous government had stated that the phasing out of mercury would take at least a decade.
[...]
Despite its small size, the report said that Guyana ranked 22nd in the world for the import of mercury between 2002 and 2006 though the authors acknowledged that the figures have shortcomings. It however said that official importation of mercury has outstripped mining demand here by at least a factor of two every year between 2008 and 2013 and peaking at 5.4 times the requirement in 2011. Over the period, it said, mercury imports totalled 504 tonnes, an excess of approximately 355 tonnes. It also said that the ratio of mercury used in gold output rose from 1.5:1 to 3:1. It said that the likely explanation for the excess in mercury imports and the hike in the mercury to gold ratio would be clandestine production of gold which might be smuggled out of the country and the smuggling of mercury to Suriname and French Guiana.
Source : stabroeknews.com
Entitled ` Small-Scale Gold Mining Related Mercury Contamination in the Guianas: A Review’, the study by Legg ED, Ouboter PE and Wright MAP focused on mercury trade; the presence of mercury in the air, freshwater, soil and marine environments; entry into the food chain and exposure of the human population. It collated data from a range of studies on these areas. Mercury builds up in the food chain and can lead to acute poisoning and death.
What was evident from the review was that studies done in Guyana were outdated, in some cases going back to the 1990s. However the report cited more recent data for French Guiana in particular and Suriname which it said should lead to concerns in Guyana about mercury pollution.
One of the key recommendations made in the report was the banning of mercury in the mining sector, possibly through the Minamata Convention. Guyana signed the Convention in Japan in October 2013 but the previous government had stated that the phasing out of mercury would take at least a decade.
[...]
Despite its small size, the report said that Guyana ranked 22nd in the world for the import of mercury between 2002 and 2006 though the authors acknowledged that the figures have shortcomings. It however said that official importation of mercury has outstripped mining demand here by at least a factor of two every year between 2008 and 2013 and peaking at 5.4 times the requirement in 2011. Over the period, it said, mercury imports totalled 504 tonnes, an excess of approximately 355 tonnes. It also said that the ratio of mercury used in gold output rose from 1.5:1 to 3:1. It said that the likely explanation for the excess in mercury imports and the hike in the mercury to gold ratio would be clandestine production of gold which might be smuggled out of the country and the smuggling of mercury to Suriname and French Guiana.
Source : stabroeknews.com