Accepted Manuscript

Reducing Mercury Pollution by Training Peruvian Artisanal Gold Miners

Marcello M. Veiga, Gustavo Angeloci, Wilmern Ñiquen, Consultant, Jacopo Saccatore

PII: S0959-6526(15)00092-X
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.01.087
Reference: JCLP 5165

To appear in: Journal of Cleaner Production

Received Date: 27 June 2014

Revised Date: 26 January 2015
Accepted Date: 27 January 2015

Please cite this article as: Veiga MM, Angeloci G, Ñiquen W, Saccatore J, Reducing Mercury Pollution
by Training Peruvian Artisanal Gold Miners, Journal of Cleaner Production (2015), doi: 10.1016/
j.jclepro.2015.01.087.

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to
our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo
copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please
note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all
legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

1 Reducing Mercury Pollution by Training Peruvian Artisanal Gold Miners

2 Marcello M. Veiga1, Gustavo Angeloci1, Wilmern Ñiquen2, Jacopo Saccatore3
3 1. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, Canada
4 2. Consultant, UBC-US Department of State project
5 3. Department of Mining & Petroleum Engineering, University of São Paulo, Brazil
6 Abstract

PT
7 In 2010, in the Piura region, north of Peru, 10,000 artisanal miners and more that 160
8 processing plants were dispersed in 158,000 ha applying extremely primitive techniques to
9 extract gold using 5 to 10 t of mercury to amalgamate the whole ore. The US Department of State
10 and the University of British Columbia established a project to train miners from 2010 to 2013 on

RI
11 mining and processing methods. A demonstration plant in Portovelo, Ecuador was used to train
12 46 Peruvian, 50 Colombian and 115 Ecuadorian small miners and processors on methods to
13 reduce and eliminate mercury increasing gold recovery by gravity concentration, flotation and

SC
14 cyanidation. Miners had the opportunity to learn unit operations of mining engineering and they
15 realized that their rudimentary processes were very inefficient to extract and recover gold from
16 complex sulphide ores. Ore buyers in the Piura region provide a better deal for the miners who

U
17 are currently selling their ores for 50% of the gold content analyzed by local chemical labs. By
18 selling to ore buyers, miners have in their hands, at the end of one day, more money than if they
19
20
21
AN
had amalgamated the ores. Due to this fact and through education, mercury levels in the region
were reduced at least by 50% from the 2010 levels. A pre-feasibility study of a small processing
plant operating with gravity concentration, flotation and cyanidation of the concentrates revealed
22 that with Au grade equal or above 10 g/t, even with 50% of gold recovery and at USD 1,300/oz
M
23 of Au, a 10 t/day plant is still profitable.
24 1. Introduction
D

25 Worldwide around 16 million artisanal gold miners produce between 380 and 450 t (metric
26 tonnes) of gold annually in at least 70 countries (Seccatore et al., 2014). Artisanal gold mining
TE

27 (AGM) is not always small in spite of the large incidence of micro-miners processing 20 kg of
28 ore per day and recovering 0.1 to 0.5 g of gold. However, worldwide, there are many artisanal
EP

29 operations processing as much as 5000 tpd (metric tonnes per day) of ore and extracting 0.5 to 3
30 kg of Au per day (Veiga et al, 2014a). The term “artisanal” should refer to the use of rudimentary
C

31 techniques in mining and processing and not to the size of the operation. There is a common
32 perception from the general public that all artisanal miners are small (panners) and illegal (Veiga,
AC

33 1997). The number of artisanal gold miners in rural areas of developing countries has been
34 increasing due to the harsh living conditions and high gold price. Governments are usually not
35 prepared to train the miners or are present to enforce environmental and mining laws (Hilson,
36 2002, Banchirigah, 2006, Hilson and Vieira, 2007,).
37 Mercury contamination of the land, aquatic life and community members is an issue often
38 raised in the literature (Akagi et al., 2000; van Straaten, 2000; Drasch et al., 2001; Hilson and
39 Pardie, 2006, Hilson and Vieira, 2007, Böse-O’Reilly et al., 2008; Guimarães et al., 2011; Guiza,
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

40 and Aristizabal, 2013). AGM are currently the largest mercury consumers in the world with 1400
41 t/a (metric tonnes per year, UNEP, 2013). Monitoring of mercury pollution has been the main
42 focus of the environmental projects on AGM but unfortunately very few solutions have been
43 implemented or even suggested (Hinton et al., 2003; Hilson, 2006; Hilson et al., 2007). Miners
44 are not impressed with results of health and environmental monitoring programs and this

PT
45 approach is not persuasive for them to make changes in their rudimentary polluting methods.
46 Capacity building and demonstration of cleaner techniques must be the focus of the interventions.
47 Miners only pay attention to cleaner processes if they obtain increased gold production. This

RI
48 must be accompanied by financial mechanisms that allow them to implement proposed changes
49 in their procedures (Veiga et al., 1995, Hilson, 2011, Veiga and Hinton, 2002).

SC
50 South America is considered the largest world production region by AGM with population of
51 1.56 million miners producing between 190 and 252 t/a of gold. Peru and Colombia are the

U
52 leading South American artisanal gold producers with near 40 t/a each country (La Republica,
53
54
AN
2013b, Guiza, 2013, Seccatore et al., 2014).
In Peru, the mining sector produced 150 t of gold in 2013 (USGS, 2014). According to La
55 Republica (2013a), there are 21 million ha of mining concessions in the country and artisanal
M
56 mining (illegal or not) is present in 16% of these concessions. The number of artisanal miners is
57 not well-known in Peru. A representative of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Peru estimates
D

58 that about 175,000 artisanal gold miners are active in the country (ProActivo, 2009). Grillo
TE

59 (2012) mentioned that 50,000 out of 450,000 artisanal miners in Peru registered to go through the
60 formalization process. After the deadline of April 19th, 2014 established by the Government for
61 the legalization of the artisanal miners in the country, only 1% could pass through the intricate
EP

62 bureaucratic system of formalization (El Comercio, 2014). On May 8, 2014, 20,000 artisanal
63 miners demonstrated on the streets of Lima to protest against the government laws and the
C

64 procedures to formalize artisanal miners (PressTV, 2014).

65 The economy of the Department of Piura in northern Peru if based on agriculture. The region
AC

66 is the largest mango, lime and algarrobo producer in Peru (Mendoza, 2007). In 2002,
67 Tambogrande, a municipality of the Department of Piura held a referendum about the public
68 acceptance of the Canadian Manhattan Minerals company project that proposed a 10,000 t/day
69 copper and gold mine. As the ore deposit was located in the core of the town, 50% of the
70 population should be re-settled. About 93% of the resident registered voters expressed their
71 opposition to the mining project due to possible environmental contamination. In 2005, after
72 losing USD 60 million, the company left Peru (La Republica, 2005). Currently and ironically,
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

73 Tambogrande has thousands of artisanal gold miners discharging mercury and cyanide into the
74 local streams (La Republica, 2007). Piura has been experiencing a gold rush since 1998 following
75 on discovery of gold by farmers in their land. The farmers have been subsequently shifting their
76 livelihoods from agriculture to mining.
77 This article reports the issues and positive results of the project “Reducing Mercury Use and

PT
78 Release in Andean Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining” sponsored by the US Department of
79 State in the Department of Piura. The activities of this project conducted by University of British
80 Columbia started in December 2010 and ended in December 2013. The goal of this small project

RI
81 was to demonstrate to miners how to reduce or even eliminate mercury use in gold mining
82 operations.

SC
83 2. Artisanal Gold Mining in Piura
84 The Department of Piura, at the northwestern corner of Peru, adjacent to the Andes, is

U
85 characterized as very arid area with a typical vegetation of “bosques secos” (dry forest) which are
86
87
AN
skinny, short and contorted trees. The Department of Piura is the second most densely populated
Department in the country with almost 1.8 million inhabitants in an area of 36,403.5 km2 (2.8%
88 of the country’s total surface) (Torres, 1998). In 2009, 39.6% of the population in the Department
M
89 of Piura was living below the national poverty line and in 2010 this increased to 42.5% (La Voz
90 del Desierto, 2011). The Department of Piura has 8 Provinces (Fig. 1). Ayabaca Province near
D

91 Ecuador, where a large contingent of artisanal miners is concentrated, has 5230 km2 and poverty
TE

92 levels reach 78% of the population with 45% of the inhabitants living in extreme poverty (Piura
93 Empreende, 2009).
94 Mining zones in the Department of Piura are 400 m above sea level located in a semi-
EP

95 desertic region. In general the annual precipitation is very low but with large variability due to El
96 Niño. The annual average maximum and minimum temperature (1963-2014) was 32.3 °C and
C

97 17.1°C, respectively. The annual average of accumulated precipitation in the same period ranged
AC

98 from 2560 mm in 1983 to 2.03 mm in 1996 (TuTiempo.net, 2014). Electricity for the mines is
99 another critical problem in the region. Despite the existence of power lines crossing the roads, the
100 lines do not service the mining sites or even the mining community villages. Currently the only
101 option for the local artisanal miners is the use of small diesel power generators.
102 The local geology is characterized by plutonic rocks mostly with granodiorite to tonalite
103 composition from the Cretaceous-Tertiary. The gold is associated with hydrothermal quartz veins
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

104 of 0.1 to 1 m and sometimes associated with veins of barite mineralized to Pb, Zn, Cu.
105 (Rodriguez-Morante et al., 2010).
106 In the Department of Piura, according to the regional mining authority, there are 132
107 artisanal gold mining sites and 10,000 artisanal miners dispersed in 158,000 ha. About 70% of
108 the mining activities are around the town of Suyo. The region produces 1 t of gold annually,

PT
109 according to local authorities and leaders of the Mining Associations. The main mining sites in
110 Piura are: Cachaco, Cachaquito, Chivatos, Cuchi-Corral, Lanconces, Morocho, Paimas, Pampa
111 Larga, San Sebastian, Sapillica, Servilleta, and Suyo. Local farmers lost interest in agriculture or

RI
112 farming choosing mining as a better opportunity to make their living. However, some miners are
113 planning to return to agriculture with the revenues from mining, even tough they need high

SC
114 investment to get water for irrigation from the top of the mountains.
115 Most artisanal miners in Piura are illegal as they do not have the mineral titles. Miners claim

U
116 that the owners of the titles are “speculators” as they do not live in the region and the
117
118
AN
farmers/miners are those who discovered the gold in their lands. The land ownership has
followed for centuries a system of “communal land”. A local committee of elders defines how
119 much land temporarily a dweller will need based on the land use description (e.g. farming goats).
M
120 In the region, the community members believe that the underground rights should follow the
121 same system. The owners of the mineral titles have never received any payment from the
D

122 exploitation of the gold and, according to the local miners, they do not make any effort to
TE

123 negotiate the titles. In this case the miners have created a strong security scheme to avoid any
124 stranger entering their operations. Miners are very well organized in associations and few of them
125 have legal mineral titles, like the Association of Miners of Chirinos in Cuchi-Corral. Working in
EP

126 legal or illegal sites, miners pay the Associations about USD 1 per each bag of 30-40 kg of
127 material mined. It seems that the formalization process is hard to be resolved in a conflict
C

128 situation between miners and owners of the mineral titles.

AC

129 3. Mining Methods in Piura

130 Artisanal miners extract underground ore manually, using rudimentary methods. One mine is
131 usually 30 m distant from the next one. The underground shafts are 40 to 50 m deep and a few of
132 them have reached 70 m. According to the locals, those miners who have the deepest mines are
133 extracting ores with the highest gold grades, around 60 g Au/t.
134 Miners work in teams with 3 to 6 members sharing the results. Usually there are 2 women in
135 a group of 6 partners. Many women have the function of administrating the mining activities but
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

136 some are independent, known locally as the “payaqueras”, who collect waste-rock and process it
137 manually by panning and amalgamation, usually making 1 g of gold per week.
138 The miners exploit auriferous quartz veins parallel to the clay-shale formation. The veins
139 have a main dip direction towards the South (between 180o and 185o N), and they dip variably
140 between about 45o near the surface, and about 70o deeper underneath. The width varies between

PT
141 approximately 60 cm for the main vein (veta) to approximately 30 cm for the so-called “lateral
142 veins” (vetillas). The lateral extensions of the veins are usually unknown since until now no
143 geological prospections have been performed. The auriferous veins consist of porous and heavily

RI
144 altered quartz. Near the surface, the main alteration of the sulphides generated hydrous ferric
145 oxides, which is a hint for the miners of the presence of gold. Deeper, gold begins to be

SC
146 associated with fresh sulphides.
147 The average gold grade in the veins varies between 0.3 oz/t (9.3 g/t) and 0.8 oz/t (24.9 g/t),

U
148 but the mining dilution lowers the grade of the run-of-mine (ROM), since a vein of
149
150
AN
approximately 60 cm in width is exploited with tunnels 1.5 m wide.
For the development of the mine, no planning method is applied. The shape, bedding and
151 dimension of the ore body are totally unknown, since neither exploratory drilling nor extended
M
152 geological surveying has ever been performed. The decision-making process where to excavate is
153 based on the positioning and qualitative evaluation of the bedding of the vein outcrops.
D

154 Auriferous grades are eventually evaluated through commissioned laboratory analyses or by
TE

155 panning and the veins are mined according to the grades. When a vein is encountered in an
156 outcrop, a tunnel is usually excavated to follow it. Later, main shafts and other lateral tunnels are
157 opened from the surface to provide ventilation and to cross the vein. Shafts are also used to apply
EP

158 a “room and pillar” mining method, parallel to the vein bedding. For the development of this
159 method, shafts are excavated from the tunnel wall in sub-vertical direction (always from bottom
C

160 to top), following the bedding of the vein. A lateral excavation finally isolates the pillars. Pillars
161 are eventually blasted to recover the ore. Before removing each pillar, the walls are reinforced
AC

162 with timber poles to support the ground pressure. Collapses are frequent.
163 The cutoff grade usually considered is 8 g/t Au. Nevertheless, this is not applied as a
164 planning parameter, but as a quality indicator of the ROM product. Material with lower grade
165 than the cutoff is stocked around the mine, until an occasional buyer purchases it at a lower price.
166 The ROM production of a mine is typically 100 to 150 t/month.
167 The ignition of the blasting process is performed manually, hole by hole, at great risk. The
168 result of such a blast is a very poor profiling, resulting in a volume blasted much lower than the
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

169 geometrical one obtained by the theoretical cross section of the drilled face. A high amount of
170 unstable blocks remains at the ceiling. After the blast, scaling is performed with a smaller drill,
171 giving the tunnel smoother walls.
172 The material is hauled by wagons and then by a bucket in an inclined shaft to the surface. No
173 system of forced ventilation has been observed in the mines. Shafts and lateral tunnels are opened

PT
174 from time to time to take advantage of natural ventilation. The operation of the mines is
175 interrupted many times when the underground conditions of air and temperature are below an
176 acceptable level of safety due to poor ventilation.

RI
177 4. Processing Methods

SC
178 Artisanal miners excavate for one week and according to the type and amount of ore mined,
179 they decide for one of the 4 options to extract gold: 1) rent “chanchas”, 2) rent “quimbaletes” 3)
180 sell to local cyanidation plants or 4) sell the ore to a processing company that takes the ore to

U
181 other regions outside Piura (Fig. 2). In the two first options (Table 1) the whole ore is
182
183
AN
amalgamated which is the worst scenario for an efficient gold amalgamation and mercury losses
can be as high as 80% of the initial Hg introduced in the system (Angeloci, 2013).
184 Miners rent for a nominal fee (around USD 11/bag of 30-40 kg) the “chanchas” and
M
185 “quimbaletes” from private individuals or Associations of Miners. The payment can also be in
186 the form of tailings that contain residual gold. The “quimbalete” (Fig. 3) is basically a giant
D

187 mortar consisting of large granite stone, rounded on one side that fits to a rounded concave
TE

188 granite basin in which the ore is placed with some water. A long piece of wood is lashed to the
189 “quimbalete” stone and two workers see-saw the stone over 2 hours for every 30-40 kg of ore.
190 They add some detergent to clean the surface of gold from any grease and 500 grams of mercury.
EP

191 This usually produces about 0.5 to 3 grams of gold per cycle. “Chanchas” are small ball mills for
192 whole ore amalgamation (Fig. 4). They have electric motors operated by diesel generators to
C

193 process 200 to 400 kg of ore in 3 hours with a load of 40-50% of the volume of steel balls or
AC

194 round stones and 1-2 kg of mercury. Around Suyo, there are 41 “chanchas” and 50
195 “quimbaletes”. There is a consensus among miners that they make more gold using
196 “quimbaletes” than using “chanchas”, but there is no proof for this as the miners never tried to
197 amalgamate equivalent samples. Some technical reasons for this can be:
198 1) It was observed that the grinding speed of the “chanchas” was too fast (above the critical
199 speed = 42.29/D½, where D is the internal diameter of the mill in meters) and therefore
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

200 inefficient for grinding ores with subsequent poor liberation of the gold particles to be
201 amalgamated.
202 2) Mercury loses coalescence when it is pulverized in the “chanchas” and it is lost with
203 tailings, reducing the amalgamation efficiency.
204 The imports of mercury to Peru have been reported by the Ministry of Industry and

PT
205 Commerce of Peru (Table 2). A large portion of this mercury is used in mining. Data from UN
206 Comtrade Database, International Trade Statistics are slightly different showing that Peru in 2012
207 imported 160.4 t of mercury (67% from Mexico and 33% from US). In 2011, Peru also exported

RI
208 22.9 t of mercury to US and 30.6 tonnes to Netherlands from Yanacocha mine. In 2011 Peru
209 imported around 1,400 t of sodium cyanide.

SC
210 Miners can also sell their ores, in particular the oxidized ones, to local cyanidation plants.
211 There are approximately 46 cyanidation plants in the San Sebastian area alone, which is the main

U
212 region using cyanidation to process oxidized ores. Each plant has 3 percolation ponds with
213
214
AN
capacity of 15 t each. Miners from San Sebastian estimate that 600 t/month of ore is processed
locally by cyanidation. This local plants also buy Hg-contaminated tailings from the “chanchas”
215 or “quibaletes” to extract residual gold. This actually causes serious environmental problems,
M
216 once mercury cyanide soluble complexes are formed and part is discharged with tailings (Veiga
217 et al., 2014a). About 4 t of ore or tailing is ground in “chanchas” (without mercury) and
D

218 agglomerated in a cement mixer with 12 kg of cement, 1 kg of quicklime, 500 L of water and 3 to
TE

219 4 kg of sodium cyanide. The pelletized material proceeds to a stack and cures for 4 days covered
220 with plastic before being added to the 15 to 20-t percolation tanks for 10 to 14 days (Fig.5).
221 Cyanide is imported from Korea, Germany, and USA. About 0.5 to 1.2 kg of NaCN are
EP

222 consumed per t of material processed but some ores are rich in oxidized copper minerals and the
223 cyanide consumption can increase to around 5 kg/t of ore. In average this community buys 11 t/a
C

224 of sodium cyanide.

225 Miners assumed that their gold recovery by cyanidation is around 80 to 90 % but they did
AC

226 not indicate the basis for this evaluation. Cyanide is not destroyed and large heaps of tailings are
227 seen around the processing plants. Due to the high solar radiation on the site, miners believe that
228 natural degradation is enough to destroy all cyanide, but this destroys only the free and part of
229 some WAD (Weak Acid Dissociable) cyanide complexes (Marsden and House, 2006).
230 Miners use 2 to 4 kg of zinc (dust or shaving) per t of material processed to precipitate gold
231 from the cyanide solutions. As the precipitation is not conducted under vacuum, the effluent
232 solution must contain from 5 to 10% of the leached gold still in solution (Velasquez et al., 2011).
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

233 Zinc is leached with hydrochloric acid using approximately 1 L of acid per kg of gold produced.
234 The solution is released to the environment. Some miners evaporate the zinc at around 900o C in
235 a gas furnace spreading zinc and mercury vapours all over the site. Some processors are operating
236 with activated charcoal to recover gold from the cyanide solution, and send the loaded charcoal to
237 Lima to be eluted, because they do not know the technique to remove gold from the charcoal.

PT
238 5. Miners Are Selling Their Ores to Companies
239 As the oxidized ore, which is porous and easy to leach, is becoming scarce, miners are

RI
240 having problems extract gold by amalgamation and also by cyanidation from primary ores with
241 complex mineralogy. The sulphide-rich material can reach grades as high as hundreds of gAu/t.

SC
242 Frequently the gold recovery is less than 10% either by amalgamation or cyanidation. As an
243 option, approximately 80% of the miners of the mining regions in Piura are selling their primary
244 ores to one of the three companies that take them to be processed in Nazca or Arequipa, Southern

U
245 Peru (1100 km from the mines) either by fine grinding followed by cyanidation or concentrating
246
247
AN
copper minerals with gold by flotation followed by smelting. The main reasons miners are selling
the ore to these companies are:
248 1) miners lack knowledge about techniques to process complex primary sulphide ores;
M
249 2) miners lack resources to acquire processing equipment (in particular ball mills);
250 3) companies pay immediately for the gold content in the ores.
D

251 The companies that are buying primary ores in the region sample the truck load brought by
TE

252 the miners, pulverize it and analyze the material. They give half of the sample to the miners to
253 analyze elsewhere. Companies pay 50% of the value of gold in the ore. This can fluctuate
254 depending on the grade. This process takes usually one day. These companies also buy Hg-
EP

255 contaminated tailings. Several miners are making USD 8,000 to 10,000/month selling their ores
256 to the companies.
C

257 6. Mercury Losses

AC

258 An assessment conducted with miners from San Sebastian reveals the reduction of mercury
259 use due to the sales of primary ore to the companies. The following factors were responsible for
260 the reduction of Hg consumption in Piura:
261 1) mercury became expensive (in 2005 Hg cost USD 35/kg; currently it costs from USD
262 285 to 357/kg);
263 2) retorts started to be used after training;
264 3) miners were trained in Portovelo, Ecuador;
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

265 4) in the absence of oxidized ore, miners make more money selling primary sulphide ores to
266 the companies.
267 The amount of mercury lost in the Piura region was estimated based on assessment from
268 other sites in Colombia (Cordy et al., 2011) and Ecuador (Velasquez et al, 2010) using similar
269 processes. When “chanchas” and “quimbaletes” are used, mercury losses can be 5 to 10 times the

PT
270 amount of gold produced. In this case the amount of mercury lost in the Department of Piura in
271 2010 was between 5 and 10 t/a, assuming that artisanal miners were producing roughly 1 t of
272 gold annually. For the reasons above, it was estimated through the assessment with the miners

RI
273 that, in average, the loss of mercury was reduced by around 50% from the levels of 2010.

SC
274 7. Training Miners
275 The initial idea was to implement in Piura one demonstration plant but the poor access to the
276 mines was a hard hurdle for a temporary project. Another problem was the illegal nature of the

U
277 mining activities. Then, the project team decided to bring the artisanal miners to the town of
278
279
AN
Portovelo in Ecuador, two hours by car from the Department of Piura border. The project rented a
processing plant in Portovelo, with capacity of processing 10 t of ore/day to demonstrate to
280 miners new types of mercury-free processing techniques. The plant (Fig. 6) (value of USD
M
281 250,000) consisted of a ball mill, a bank of mechanical cells of flotation and cyanidation tanks.
282 Some improvements were done. A small Icon centrifuge (USD 7,000) was introduced at the
D

283 discharge of the ball mill and a small column flotation (USD 20,000) was developed with a
TE

284 Brazilian company (DPSMS) to treat the tailings from the gravity concentration. The mass
285 generated by a centrifuge is usually 0.1% of the initial mass of the ore, thus the concentration
286 process reduces substantially the use of mercury, if miners amalgamate only concentrates.
EP

287 However, centrifuges are not totally efficient for fine gold and a further concentration step is
288 needed. Flotation is the main process to complement the gold concentration process and the mass
C

289 of the concentrate is usually 10% of the mass of ore. The methods demonstrated to the miners
AC

290 were able to recover more than 85% of the gold from sulphide ores similar to those mined in
291 Piura.
292 Portovelo has about 40 processing plants using flotation. The main benefit is that under the
293 same flotation conditions that concentrate gold, copper minerals such as chalcopyrite and bornite
294 are also concentrated. Environmentally this is an ideal situation since neither mercury nor
295 cyanide is used. Eventually, gravity and flotation concentrates can be leached with a simple
296 process of intensive cyanidation developed by Veiga et al. (2009).
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

297 The training of Peruvian miners in Portovelo consisted of a series of classes delivered by the
298 project team and demonstration of the techniques used in the local plants. The concepts
299 transferred to the miners included: technologies and systems design, mineralogy, mine design and
300 mining techniques, health and safety in mines and processing, unit operations in mineral
301 processing and metallurgy, mercury-free technologies, environmental problems in mining,

PT
302 mercury toxicity, methods to mitigate pollution (e.g. cyanide destruction), tailing management,
303 policy and regulations in mining, etc.
304 Around 46 miners (and processors) from Piura were trained in Portovelo. The training was

RI
305 conducted in the form of theoretical classes (Fig. 7) and the miners had the opportunity to visit
306 underground mines to observe gold-bearing quartz veins and to understand the main aspects of

SC
307 safety, haulage systems, drilling and blasting. The entire cycle of gold extraction without mercury
308 was explained and demonstrated to the miners in the small plant. When visiting the organized

U
309 mining companies in Portovelo, the Peruvian miners observed how the mining and processing
310
311
AN
procedures can be controlled by chemical and mineralogical analyses even in small-scale
production. In a number of interviews with miners it was unanimous the opinion that education is
312 a fundamental point for them to implement cleaner methods in their operations in Piura. They
M
313 also learned that a small clean operation cannot be made with only a few dollars but it needs
314 hundreds of thousands dollars. The importance of a cooperative and association to obtain
D

315 investments was also discussed. The main hurdle is the legalization of the mineral titles. This
TE

316 seems to be possible if the Government mediates a negotiation between miners and the owners of
317 mineral titles in Piura.
318 The training also included demonstration of commercial and home-made retorts to condense
EP

319 mercury when amalgams are distilled. In Piura the project team manufactured 10 kitchen-bowl
320 retorts to demonstrate and distribute to the miners and community members. These consist of a
C

321 stainless steel bowl cut in the bottom to accommodate a small stainless steel sauce bowl that
322 receives the amalgam. The sauce bowl is then covered with a glass bowl and sealed with wet
AC

323 sand allowing inspection of the retorting process by the miners. The burning process can be done
324 with a gas torch or in a bonfire. These retorts cost less than USD 20 each and can reduce more
325 than 95% the exposure of the miners to mercury vapours when the amalgam is burned (Veiga et
326 al, 2006; Veiga, 2010).
327 In Piura, at one of the mines, a training course was conducted by the project team to about 15
328 artisanal miners, on safe handling of explosives and the general safety practices in underground
329 mining (Fig. 8). Many suggestions for improvement of the mines were discussed with the local
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

330 miners. The topics of the course, the technical level of the speech and the communication form
331 was adapted to encourage audience receptivity. Topics were kept as practical as possible and the
332 communication was informal and friendly. The topics of the course were: a) explosives handling
333 which included practical demonstration of safe explosives storage and handling, connection of
334 blasting caps, safe priming of cartridges, charging of the holes, safe ignition, blast evaluation,

PT
335 basic concepts of deterioration of explosives, safe destruction of deteriorated explosives; b)
336 underground ventilation including toxicity of blasting fumes, ventilation time after the blast, risks
337 due to insufficient ventilation and best practices; c) scaling and falling rocks including risks of

RI
338 falling rocks and scaling methods; d) operational safety including perception of safety,
339 consequences of feeling unsafe and importance of advising colleagues about unsafe conditions.

SC
340 8. Spin-off Effect of the Training
341 Miners from Colombia and Ecuador were also trained in the Portovelo demonstration plant.

U
342 In total 50 individuals from the Department of Antioquia, Colombia came to Portovelo to be
343
344
AN
trained, in which the large majority were owner of mines and/or processing plants. In Ecuador,
the Colombian miners had a chance to discuss organization aspects with the Cooperative of
345 Miners, visited plants, mines and analytical labs. As a result of the visits and the training of
M
346 miners from Colombia, 39 small plants were installed in Antioquia following the systems and
347 designs observed in Portovelo (Fig. 9). The spin-off effect of the project was outstanding and at
D

348 the end of 2013, it was observed that mercury entering the processing plants was reduced in
TE

349 average 43% and the mercury losses reduced 63% from the 2010 levels which were 73 to 110 t/a.
350 It is estimated that between 46 and 70 tonnes/a of mercury are no longer being lost to the
351 environment in 5 municipalities in Antioquia (Garcia et al., 2015).
EP

352 About 115 miners and authorities from local, regional and federal Government of Ecuador,
353 Miners’ Association, mining supply companies, and ommunity members were also trained. They
C

354 had a chance to visit the project demonstration plant to learn about new techniques to concentrate
AC

355 gold and copper minerals. The practical demonstartions also included a discussion about costs of
356 each type of equipment. The presentation attracted the audience attention and resulted in fruitful
357 discussions about the need of a local permanent training centre in Portovelo.

358 9. Pre-feasibility Study of Small Gold Plants

359 The project team elaborated a pre-feasibility study of small plants processing 10, 25, 50 and 100
360 t/day of ore with gold grades of 3 and 10 g Au/t, using different levels of gold recovery (50, 70
361 and 85%) and different gold prices (USD 1300, 1500 and 1700/oz) (Table 3). The capital cost
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

362 (CAPEX) and operating cost (OPEX) (Table 4) of the plant were obtained using Peruvian
363 suppliers and local labor. The study considered crushing and grinding, classification, gravity
364 concentration, flotation, cyanidation, elution, electro-winning, smelting, cyanide destruction,
365 water reclamation and some support ancillaries. The economic analysis included cash flow for 10
366 years and respective economic indicators such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Net Present

PT
367 Value (NPV). It is noticed that the investment for these plants lies between USD 9,000 and
368 23,000 per t of ore processed per day with higher values for smaller plants.
369 After lab tests and mineralogical studies an appropriate processing plant can be designed

RI
370 based on the characteristics of the ore. Considering a general approach, if the gold grade of the
371 ore is equal or above 10 g/t, even using the most pessimistic studied conditions and variables

SC
372 (50% of gold recovery and at USD 1,300/oz of price), a 10 t/day plant is still profitable, showing
373 112% of IRR and USD 1,040,190 of NPV. However, if the ore has a gold grade of 3 g/t and the

U
374 process recovers only 50%, the plant is not feasible even for gold price of USD 1700/oz and 100
375
376
AN
t/day production. For gold price of USD 1300/oz, and 3 g Au/t, the smallest plant size that
minimizes risk of negative economic results is 25 t/day plant. But in this case it is necessary to
377 build a plant that ensures a minimum gold recovery of 85%, which is not quite difficult in an
M
378 industrial plant

379 10. Performance Indicators and Conclusion

D

380 The project had very positive results in demonstrating cleaner production methods to 211
TE

381 artisanal miners from Piura, Peru as well as from Portovelo, Ecuador and Antioquia, Colombia.
382 Some indicators were selected based on baseline established in the project and the main
383 assumption that education is the main driver to reduce mercury use. The main indicators retare
EP

384 listed in Table 5.

385 The complex mineralogy of the sulphide ore, the low gold recoveries (sometimes lower than
C

386 10%) with whole ore amalgamation or rudimentary cyanidation together with the demonstration
AC

387 of clean modern gravity-flotation-cyanidation plants, convinced the miners that the payment of
388 50% for the gold in the ore, offered by the ore-buying companies in Piura, is a much better deal
389 than amalgamation or cyanidation by percolation. The two main drawbacks in this approach are,
390 firstly that miners need to be legalized and secondly these companies have to transport the ore for
391 1100 km to their cyanidation plants, so, to be cost-effective, they want ores with high grades
392 (above 8 g Au/t).
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

393 The presentation of the pre-feasibility study encouraged miners to think about the
394 establishment of a small clean communal processing plant in Piura. The investment for a plant
395 processing 10 t of ore /day is around USD 230,000. The main challenge is the lack of water and
396 electricity lines near the mines. A gold plant usually withdraws 0.25 to 0.4 m3/tonne of ore being
397 processed (Gunson et al, 2012). The amount of water recycled in a gold processing plant varies

PT
398 enormously depending on the type of ore and amount of clay. The processing plant should be
399 located near a local river or a pipeline should be built to bring water to the mines. This can range
400 from 20 to 100 km in Piura since the mines are spread all over the region.

RI
401 Based on interviews and field assessment, it was estimated by the project team and the
402 Miners’ Association of San Sebastian that miners were using in 2010 around 5 to 10 t of mercury

SC
403 in the region and this was reduced by, at least, 50% at the end of 2013.
404 The project team was strongly committed to show miners that the main process to reduce

U
405 mercury pollution is the adoption of concentration methods using gravity separation and flotation
406
407
AN
followed by cyanidation of the concentrates or selling the concentrates to copper smelters. An
Icon centrifuge was acquired and installed to demonstrate the efficiency of this concentration
408 process when compared with rough sluice boxes or “quimbaletes”. A new affordable column
M
409 flotation designed for small-scale mining was developed with the Brazilian company DPSMS and
410 installed in the project demonstration plant. Two larger column flotation cells were also installed
D

411 in a commercial plant in Portovelo and became part of the training for artisanal miners from Peru
TE

412 and other Andean regions.

413 The project demonstrated to miners and community members the advantages of using retorts
414 to condense mercury evaporated from amalgams. The project trainers stressed the negative health
EP

415 impacts for miners and their neighbors when amalgam is burned in an open pan with a propane
416 torch (method currently used in most Andean countries).
C

417 The project developed a business plan for a training centre for artisanal miners that will serve
418 the North of Peru and South of Ecuador. This Centre (ITCAM – International Training Centre of
AC

419 Artisanal Miners) is now being built by the Government of Ecuador in Portovelo. This idea is
420 spreading to other countries such as Colombia, Guyana, Uganda and Indonesia as the
421 Governments are recognizing that education of artisanal miners is the best way to reduce mercury
422 and cyanide pollution and create a better environment for the formalization of the miners.
423 Acknowledegements
424 This project was sponsored by US Department of State and the authors of this paper express their
425 great gratitude to the Grant Officer Representative, Dr. Jane Dennison for her constant
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

426 contributions to the project. This project would not be possible without the work of the following
427 individuals, acknowledged by alphabetical order: Rebecca Adler- Miserendino, Johns Hopkins
428 University; João Paulo Catanoce, UBC Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering;
429 Patricio Colon Velasquez-Lopez, INIGEMM – Ecuadorian Institute of Geology, Mining and
430 Metallurgy; Paul Cordy, UBC; Claudio Garcia, UBC, Oseas Garcia, UNIDO Colombia Mercury

PT
431 Project, Robert Kaplan, UBC, Alexandre Passos, University of São Paulo (USP), Dept of Mining
432 and Petroleum Engineering; Mauricio Prestes, DPSMS, Brazil; Giorgio de Tomi, USP; Wilbelber
433 Vegas, Association of Artisanal Miners of San Sebastian, Piura, Peru. The authors from

RI
434 University of British Columbia also acknowledge the financial support from NSERC Discovery
435 Grant #217089

SC
436 References
437 Akagi H., Castillo E.S., Cortes-Maramba N., Francisco-Rivera A.T., Timbang T.D., 2000. Health assessment for
438 mercury exposure among schoolchildren residing near a gold processing and refining plant in Apokon, Tagum,

U
439 Davao del Norte, Philippines. Sci. Total Environ. 39 (1-3), 31–43.
440 Angeloci G., 2013. Myths and Realities in Artisanal Gold Mining Mercury Contamination. MASc thesis.
441
442
AN
Department of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, p. 180. Retrieved from
https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/44361/ubc_2013_spring_angelocisantos_gustavo.pdf?sequence¼3
443 (Accessed May 6, 2014).
444
M
Banchirigah S.M., 2006. How have reforms fuelled the expansion of artisanal mining? Evidence from sub-Saharan
445 Africa. Resources Policy, 31(3), 165–171
446 Böse-O’Reilly, S., Lettmeie, B., Matteucci-Gothe, R., Beinhoff, C., Siebert, U., Drasch, G., 2008. Mercury as a
447 serious health hazard for children in gold mining areas. Environ. Res. 107 (1), 89–97
D

448 Cordy P., Veiga M.M., Salih,I., Al-Saadi,S., Console,S.; Garcia,O.; Mesa,L.A.; Velásquez-López,P.C., Roeser,M.
449 (2011). Mercury Contamination from Artisanal Gold Mining in Antioquia, Colombia: the World's Highest Per
TE

450 Capita Mercury Pollution. The Science of the Total Environment, v. 410, p.154–160
451 Drasch G., Böse-O’Reilly S., Beinhoff C., Roidera G., Maydla S., 2001. The Mt. Diwata study on the Philippines
452 1999 – assessing mercury intoxication of the population by small scale gold mining. Sci. Total Environ. 267 (1–
453 3), 151–168.
EP

454 El Comercio, 2014. Menos del 1% de mineros se formalizaron desde el 2012. http://elcomercio.pe/peru/pais/menos-
455 1-mineros-se-formalizaron-desde-2012-noticia-1725453 (Accessed May 8. 2014)
456 García O., Veiga M.M., Cordy P., Suescún O.E., Molina J.M., Roeser M. (2015). Artisanal Gold Mining in
C

457 Antioquia, Colombia: A Successful Case of Mercury Reduction. In Press J. Cleaner Production.
458 Grillo E, 2012. Fracasa ‘formalización’ de mineros artesanales.
AC

459 http://www.expreso.com.pe/noticia/2012/11/24/fracasa-formalizacion-de-mineros-artesanales (Accessed May 8.

460 2014).
461 Guimarães J.R.D., Betancourt O., Miranda M.R., Barriga R., Cueva E., Betancourt S., 2011. Long-range effect of
462 cyanide on mercury methylation in a gold mining area in southern Ecuador. Sci. Total Environ. 409, 5026–5033.
463 Guiza L., 2013. La pequeña minería en Colombia: una actividad no tan pequeña. Dyna, 80(181), 109-117.
464 Guiza L., Aristizabal, J.D., 2013. Mercury and gold mining in Colombia: a failed state. Univ. Sci. 18 (1), 33–49.
465 Gunson A.J., Klein B., Veiga M., Dunbar S., 2012. Reducing Mine Water Requirements. J. Cleaner Production, v.
466 21, p.71-82.Hilson, G., 2002. Small-scale mining and its socioeconomic impact in developing countries. Nat.
467 Res. Forum 26 (1), 3–13
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

468 Hilson G., 2006. Abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining industry: restructuring the policy
469 and research agendas. Sci. Total Environ. 362 (1-3), 1–14.
470 Hilson G., 2011. Can microcredit services alleviate hardship in African small-scale mining communities? World
471 Dev. 39 (7), 1191–1203.
472 Hilson G., Hilson C.J., Pardie S., 2007. Improving awareness of mercury pollution in small-scale gold mining
473 communities: Challenges and ways forward in rural Ghana. Environmental Research 103, 275–287
474 Hilson G., Pardie S., 2006. Mercury: an agent of poverty in Ghana’s small scale gold-mining sector? Resources
475 Policy 31, 106-116.

PT
476 Hilson G., Vieira R., 2007. Challenges with minimising mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining sector:
477 experiences from the Guianas. Int. J. Environ. Health Res. 17 (6), 429–441.
478 Hinton J.J., Veiga M.M., Veiga A.T., 2003. Clean Artisanal Mining, a Utopian Approach? Journal of Cleaner

RI
479 Production v. 11, p. 99–115
480 La Republica, 2013a. Minería informal sería foco de conflictos sociales en 2014, según informe.
481 http://www.larepublica.pe/12-12-2013/mineria-informal-seria-foco-de-conflictos-sociales-en-2014-segun-

SC
482 informe (Accessed May 6, 2014).
483 La Republica, 2013b. La minería informal tiene el 20% de la producción de oro del Perú.
484 http://www.larepublica.pe/26-08-2013/la-mineria-informal-tiene-el-20-de-la-produccion-de-oro-del-peru
485 (Accessed May 6, 2014).

U
486 La Republica, 2007. La minería informal amenaza al valle piurano de Tambogrande. http://www.larepublica.pe/26-
487 02-2007/la-mineria-informal-amenaza-al-valle-piurano-de-tambogrande (Accessed May 6, 2014).
488
489
AN
La Republica, 2005. Minera Manhattan desiste de explotar Tambogrande y anuncia retiro del Perú.
http://www.larepublica.pe/09-02-2005/minera-manhattan-desiste-de-explotar-tambogrande-y-anuncia-retiro-del-
490 peru (Accessed May 6, 2014).
M
491 La Voz del Desierto (2011). Piura es una de las regiones del Perú en donde la pobreza ha aumentado.
492 http://www.radiocutivalu.org/index.php/noticias/regional/3090-piura-es-una-de-las-regiones-del-peru-en-donde-
493 la-pobreza-ha-aumentado (Accessed May 6, 2014).
D

494 Marsden J., House D., 2006. The Chemistry of Gold Extraction. Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration
495 Inc., Littleton, CO, pp. 650.
TE

496 Mendoza R., 2007. Actividades económicas de la región Piura (Perú).

497 http://www.monografias.com/trabajos46/economia-piura/economia-piura2.shtml#bibl (Accessed May 6, 2014)
498 Piura Empreende, 2009. Region Piura con Indice de Pobreza de 45%
499 http://piuraemprende.blogspot.com/2009/02/region-piura-con-indice-de-pobreza-de.html (Accessed on May 6,
EP

500 2014)
501 Press TV, 2014. Peru police clash with gold miners http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/03/27/356180/peru-police-
502 clash-with-gold-miners/ (Accessed May 8, 2014).
503
C

ProActivo, 2009. Pequeña minería y artesanal: Trabajo de subsistencia que sostiene a empresas “formales”.
504 http://proactivo.com.pe/pequena-mineria-y-artesanal-trabajo-de-subsistencia-que-sostiene-a-empresas-
505 %E2%80%9Cformales%E2%80%9D/ (Accessed on May 6, 2014)
AC

506 Rodríguez-Morante I, Villarreal E., Valencia M.M., Loaiza E., Galloso A. (2010). Geología de Yacimientos
507 Auríferos del Distrito de Suyo - Piura – Perú.
508 http://bibliotecavirtual.ingemmet.gob.pe:84/xmlui/handle/123456789/44 (Accessed on Jan 24, 2015)
509 Seccatore J., Veiga M.M., Origliasso C., Marin T., Tomi G.D., 2014. An estimation of the artisanal small-scale
510 production of gold in the world. Science of the Total Environment 496, 662–667
511 Swain E.B., Jakus P.M., Rice G., Lupi F., Maxson P.A., Pacyna J.M., Penn A., Spiegel S.J., Veiga M.M., 2007.
512 Socioeconomic consequences of mercury use and pollution. Ambio 36 (1), 45–61.
513 Torres J., 1998. Desertification in Piura. http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/00974/wueste3.pdf. (Accessed on May 5,
514 2014)
515 TuTiempo.net, 2014. Clima en Piura. http://www.tutiempo.net/clima/Piura/844010.htm. (Accessed May 6, 2014).
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

516 UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme, 2013. Global Mercury Assessment 2013: Sources, Emissions,
517 Releases and Environmental Transport. Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE), Geneva, pp.
518 44. http:// www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/GlobalMercuryAssessment2013.pdf. (Accessed May 7, 2014).
519 USGS – U.S. Geological Survey, 2014. Gold. Mineral Commodity Summaries, p.66-67.
520 http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/gold/mcs-2014-gold.pdf (Accessed May 6, 2014).
521 van Straaten, P., 2000. Human exposure of mercury due to small-scale gold mining in Northern Tanzania. Sci. Total
522 Environ. 259, 45–53.
523 Velasquez P.C.; Veiga M.M.; Hall K., 2010. Mercury Balance in Amalgamation in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold

PT
524 Mining: Finding Ways to Reduce Environmental Pollution in Portovelo-Zaruma, Ecuador. J. Cleaner Production,
525 v. 18., n.3, p.226–232.
526 Velasquez P.C., Veiga M.M., Klein B., Shandro J., Hall K., 2011. Cyanidation of Mercury-rich Tailings in Artisanal
527

RI
and Small-scale Gold Mining: Identifying Strategies to Manage Environmental Risks in Southern Ecuador.
528 Journal of Cleaner Production, v.19, p.1125-1133.
529 Veiga, M.M., 1997. Introducing New Technologies for Abatement of Global Mercury Pollution in Latin America.
530 UNIDO/UBC/CETEM/CNPq, Rio de Janeiro, pp. 94.

SC
531 Veiga MM, 2010. Retorts: Many options and many barriers. IW-GEF:Learn, International Waters Learning
532 Exchange & Resource Network. http://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/1223/newsletters/retorts-many-options-and-many-
533 barriers-author-marcello-veiga-2005/view (Accessed May 6, 2014).

U
534 Veiga,M.M.; Angeloci-Santos,G.; Meech,J.A.,.2014a. Review of Barriers to Reduce Mercury Use in Artisanal Gold
535 Mining. Extractive Industries and Society 1(2), 351–361.
536
537
AN
Veiga M.M., Angeloci G.; Hitch M.; Velasquez-López P.C., 2014b. Processing Centers in Artisanal Gold Mining.
Journal of Cleaner Production 64, 535-544
538 Veiga M.M., Hinton J.J. (2002). Abandoned Artisanal Gold Mines in the Amazon: A Legacy of Mercury Pollution.
539 Natural Resources Forum. 26(1), 15-26.
M
540 Veiga M.M., Meech J.A., Hypolito R., 1995. Educational measures to address Hg pollution from gold mining
541 activities in the Amazon. Ambio 24 (4), 216–220.
D

542 Veiga M.M., Metcalf S., Baker R.F., Klein B., Davis G., Bamber A., Siegel S., Singo P., 2006. Manual for Training
543 Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners. UNIDO, Vienna, Austria, pp. 152.
544 http://www.communitymining.org/attachments/221_training%20manual%20for%20miners%20GMP%20Marcel
TE

545 o%20Veiga.pdf?phpMyAdmin=cde87b62947d46938306c1d6ab7a0420 (Accessed May 6, 2014).

546 Veiga M.M., Nunes D., Klein B., Shandro J.A., Velasquez P.C., Sousa R.N., 2009. Mill leaching: a viable substitute
547 for mercury amalgamation in the artisanal gold mining sector? J. Cleaner Production, 17, 1373–1381.
EP

548
C
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

549 Table 1 – Main differences between “quimbalete” and “chancha” in amalgamation of the
550 whole ore in Piura
kg of ore % of Hg
Type of Cycle Type of Type of grams of
processed lost
equipment time (h) ore operation Hg added
per cycle (estimated)
Au rich
Quimbalete 30 to 40 2 manual 500 20-40
(>15 g/t)

PT
Au poor motor- 1000 to
Chancha 200 to 400 3 40-80
(<15g/t) driven 2000
551

RI
U SC
AN
M
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

552 Table 2. Peru Imports of Mercury. Source: SUNAT, COMEXPERU

kg
Country
2011 2012
MEXICO 47,858 98,970
USA 43,480 12,075

PT
SPAIN 39,915 -
NETHERLANDS 29,705 -
4,968 -

RI
SWITZERLAND

KYRGYSTAN 2,346 -

SC
ITALY 7,458 -
Total 175,729 111,045

553 Note : Data kindly provided by Dr Miguel Santillana, Univ. San Martin de Porres

U
554
AN
M
D
TE
CEP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

555 Table 3 - IRR and NPV for Different Conditions and Variables of Small Gold Plants
Gold Price Gold Recovery %
USD/gram Production Au Grade
50% 70% 85%
or Rate (t/day) (g/t)
(USD/oz) IRR NPV, USD IRR NPV, USD IRR NPV, USD
3 NR -587,885 NR -219,640 13% -24,149
10
10 112% 1,040,190 189% 1,909,038 246% 2,560,674

PT
3 NR -1,293,846 NR -373,234 23% 115,494
25
$41.86/g 10 162% 2,776,341 272% 4,948,462 355% 6,577,552
($1300/oz)
3 NR -2,395,306 NR -554,081 32% 423,373
50

RI
10 213% 5,745,068 359% 10,089,309 469% 13,347,490
3 NR -4,499,009 NR -816,560 44% 1,138,348
100

SC
10 281% 11,781,739 474% 20,470,221 619% 26,986,583
3 NR -446,225 5% -80,813 31% 144,426
10
10 141% 1,370,730 230% 2,371,794 296% 3,122,592
3 NR -939,696 14% -26,166 47% 536,932

U
25
$48.23/g 10 204% 3,602,691 331% 6,105,352 427% 7,982,348
($1500/oz)
50
3
10
NR
269%
AN -1,687,006
7,397,769
21%
437%
140,053
12,403,090
62%
563%
1,266,250
16,157,081
3 NR -3,082,409 31% 571,708 83% 2,824,103
100
M
10 355% 15,087,140 577% 25,097,782 743% 32,605,764
3 NR -303,230 22% 59,321 47% 314,590
10
10 171% 1,704,384 271% 2,838,909 346% 3,689,803
D

3 NR -582,210 35% 324,170 69% 962,340

25
$54.66/g 10 246% 4,436,825 391% 7,273,139 499% 9,400,375
TE

($1700/oz)
3 NR -972,034 47% 840,725 91% 2,117,067
50
10 325% 9,066,036 516% 14,738,664 659% 18,993,136
3 NR -1,652,466 64% 1,973,053 121% 4,525,736
100
EP

10 429% 18,423,675 680% 29,768,931 869% 38,277,874

556 NOTE: IRR = Internal Rate of Return, NR = No Return obtained, NPV = Net Present Value
557
C

558
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

559 Table 4 - Capital and Operational Costs for different plant sizes
Production Rate, t/d CAPEX, USD OPEX, USD/annum
10 229,250 260,940
25 397,259 652,350
50 602,131 1,304,700
100 912,661 2,609,400
560

PT
RI
U SC
AN
M
D
TE
EP
C
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

561 Table 5 – Performance indicators of the project

Indicator Result of the project Remarks
Estimated by the Miners’
Reduction of mercury losses in
~50% (5 to 10 t Hg Association and by field
Piura after the project
eliminated) observations. Main action: miners
implementation
are selling their ores to companies
These were owners of mines or
Number of artisanal miners From Peru = 46
processing centres + artisanal

PT
trained in the demonstration From Colombia = 50
miners trained in blasting and
plan in Ecuador From Ecuador = 115
safety
Trainers from UBC, Peru,
Number of trainers trained 6
Colombia and Ecuador

RI
Number of community members About 20% of the attendees in
132
in awareness campaigns in Piura Piura were women
Number of retorts manufactured All retorts were manufactured

SC
10
in Piura locally using salad bowls
Concentration equipment
Column flotation and Icon
developed and/or introduced to 2
centrifuge
the Peruvian artisanal miners

U
39 plants in Colombia
and 2 in Ecuador The demonstration plant inspired
Spin-off effects AN
implemented using the
recommended
many miners to apply similar
technology
technology
562
M
563
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

564
565
566
567
568
569

PT
570
571

RI
572
573

SC
574
575

U
576
577 Fig. 1 - Map of the Department of Piura indicating area of high concentration of artisanal
578
AN
gold miners. Source: http://jubileeworship.com/peru/where-is-piura/
579
M
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

sell
Outside Companies Ore Mined
Hg
sell

Hg Quimbalete Local Companies Chancha Hg

amalgam amalgam
Hg Hg
Burning Grinding & Burning

PT
vapour vapour
Agglomeration

Au Au

RI
Cyanidation
solution
Precipitation

SC
Cyanide
with Zinc solution
Au with excess Zn + Hg

U
Zinc
Zn + Hg
Evaporation
vapours

580
AN Au

581 Fig. 2 - Diagram of the gold processes used by the artisanal miners in Piura
M
582
583
D

584
TE

585
586
587
EP

588
589
C

590
AC

591
592
593
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

594
595
596
597
598

PT
599
600
601

RI
602
603

SC
604
605

U
606
607
608
AN
609
M
610
611
D

612 Fig. 3 – Grinding and amalgamating the whole ore with “quimbalete”
613
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

614
615
616
617
618
619

PT
620
621

RI
622
623

SC
624 Fig.4 – “Chancha” to grind and amalgamate the whole ore. This uses 400 kg of steel balls
625 and 1 kg of mercury to grind and amalgamate 250 kg of gold ore. When grinding sulphide ores,
626 800 g of mercury is lost with tailings.

U
627
AN
M
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635

PT
636
637
638

RI
639
640
641

SC
642
643
644
645

U
646
647 Fig. 5 – Local companies have percolation tanks to extract gold from oxidized ores and Hg-
648
649
AN
contaminated tailings with cyanide
M
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657

PT
658
659
660

RI
661
662
663

SC
664
665
666
667

U
668
669
670
671
AN
672
673
M
674 Fig. 6 – Eng. Niquen training the Peruvian miners in the project demonstration plant in Portovelo,
675 Ecuador
676
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684

PT
685
686
687

RI
688
689
690

SC
691
692
693
694

U
695
696
697
698
AN
699
700 Fig. 7 – Theoretical classes for the Peruvian miners on mining and mineral processing
M
701
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709

PT
710
711
712

RI
713
714
715

SC
716
717
718
719

U
720
721
722
723
AN
Fig. 8 - Eng. Seccatore teaching blasting for artisanal miners in Piura
M
D
TE
C EP
AC
 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731

PT
732
733
734

RI
735
736
737

SC
738
739
740 Fig. 9 – Flotation cell to concentrate gold and copper minerals installed in Colombia

U
AN
M
D
TE
C EP
AC