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-SMALL MINING INTERNATIONAL=

International Agency forSmall-Scale Mining

Agence internationale pour lespetites exploitations miniEues

-

Number 3

Published forthe information ofthe internationalsmall mining community

May 1991

FADEMINFoundation for the Assistance and Development of Small Mining

A New Body to Promote Small-Scale Mining in Bolivia

Introduction

The Bolivian mInIng industry isemerging from a 40-year period ofstagnation. a period when no newdeposits were discovered. and whenmodernization was insignificant. Theprincipal causes of stagnation werethe existence of an out of datemining code. a mistaken tax pol icyand the lack of an adequate plan forsystematic exploration (Arce, 1978).

Several measures are now beingadopted by the Bolivian Government tore-vitalize its ailing miningindustry. These measures include anew mining investment code that aimsto attract foreign and domesticprivate investment. improvement ofthe system for the appl ication andregistration of mining claims andopening of highly prospective.previously restricted areas.

As part of the re-vitalization effortthe Foundation for the Assistance andDevelopment of Small MiningFADEMIN. was created. While theinitiative to establish anorganization whose sole objective isto assist the development of thesmall-scale mining sector comes fromboth government (Ministry of Miningand Metallurgy) and non-governmentbodies (National Chamber of SmallMines). the Foundation itself willoperate as a private. non-governmentorganization.

The Small-Scale Mining Sector inBolivia

The small-scale mining sector has

been an important employer andsignificant contributor to thecountry's export earnings. Due tothe difficulty of collecting accuratestatistics. its contribution to theeconomy is generally underestimated.The sector consists of "MineriaChica". small mines that arecharacterized by a low degree ofcapitalization or mechanization. and"Cooperativas". cooperatives ofminers that work more or lessindependantly on the same claim. Themining cooperatives first appeared inthe 1950s as a result of unemploymentin the mining centres.

Within the Mineria Chica. some 85% ofthe operations, according to oneestimate. are "marginal small mines".for wh ich the operator hashistorically had no access tofinancing facilities. nor assets toact as a guarantee for credit. Thesemines generally operate withoutadequate technical direction andwithout proper mine preparation.Their main objective is to extractore. concentrate it using manualmethods. and sell their concentrateto private traders. medium-scalemining operations. or the BancoMinera (BAMIN - the Mining Bank ofBol ivia). in order to continuemining.

BAMIN was originally set up by theBolivian Government to purchase thesmall miners production. market ore.and to aid the small-scale miningsector through credits and machinery.However. BAMIN proved to be overlybureaucratic and inefficient.Providing credit to approximately 5%

of the miners seeking financialassistance. it was criticiZed asbeing a "l iule" selective in itsdistribution of credits. Some threeyears ago BAMIN was unable topurchase all the small minersproduction offered to it. TodayBAMIN continues to operate. buyingsome concentrates and selling miningequipment. Discussions are currentlyunderway to determine BAMIN's futureand whether it should be privatized,restructured. or permanently closed.

In 1976, aproximately 6 800 small­scale mining operations were sellingto BAMIN. Now it is estimated thatonly 1 000 small scale mines are inoperation. This decline in operatingsmall-scale mines was part of anindustry wide collapse in the early1980s in Bolivia. It was due to thedependence of the Bolivian miningindustry on a few "traditionally"mined minerals. most notably tin. theprice of which dropped significantly,and disastrous government marketingregulations between 1982 and 1985that resulted in an indirect tax of90%+ on mineral exports.

Many of the small miners that are notproducing. still hold on to theirclaims (by paying an annual mineralpatent fee) in hope of a bettereconomic cl imate. better commodityprices and the government'sass istance. The resul tis that asignificant amount of highlyprospective ground is in the hands ofsmall miners who do not have theabi l i ty to proper ly explore orexploit their ground.

~hile they are unable to work theirmines, most of the miners work ininformal business (street trading),the coca industry, other agricultualwork, smuggling, and gold panning inthe Altiplano and Amazon regions ofthe country. Many would beconsidered unemployed.

The current state of decline of theBol ivian mining industry has led tosome major restructuring efforts bythe government and the industry.However, most government actions todate have focussed on the large tomediun scale mining operations.FADEMIN will be the body throughwhich the small-scale mining sectorsneeds are addressed.

The primary objective of FADEMIN isto provide financial and technicalassistance to the small-scale miningsector (Mineria Chica andCooperativas), focussing on the"marginal small miners". It ishoped, that with FADEMIN's assistancemany miners will return to mining,augment mineral production and at thesame time, improve their livingstandards.

At this stage, FADEMIN is just beingorganized and its statutes are in theprocess of being approved. Thefollowing account of FADEMIN'sproposed structure and function comesfrom information supplied by theMinistry of Mining and Metallurgy andthe National Chamber of Small Mines(CNMC) .

Organizational Structure

FADEMIN is to be a private, non­government organization. Strongconcern has been voi ced that if itwere to become a government agency itwould suffer from the same problemsas BAMIN.

First a Board of Directors will beformed with representatives from theMinistry of Mining and Metallurgy,the National Chamber of Small Mines,the Federation of Cooperative Mines,The UNDP and other organizationsproviding funds or other forms ofassistance. It is envisaged thatFADEMIN will be the organizationthrough which all funds aimed ataiding the small-scale mining sectorwill be channelled. Then theexecutive body will be formed withadvisors from various agencies, bothnational and international.

FADEMIN will have four basicdepartments or areas of ac~ivity:

1) financial, seeking and providing

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credit;2) technical, providing technicalservices;3) administrative, administering theoperations of FADEMIN;4) environmental, control and socialass istance conducted th rough or inconjunction with other specializedagencies.

Start up and capital equipment grantswi II be sought from a vari ety ofinternational granting agencies,including the Japanese, German, andCanadian governments; technical andsupervisory assistance from theUNDTCD; offices, local operatingcosts and organizational assistancefrom the Ministry of Mining andMetallurgy and Bolivia's SocialInvestment Fund.

Technical Assistance

Technical services will be providedthrough technical groups located inthe major mining districts. Thetechnical groups will consist of ageologist, mining engineer,metallurgist and administrative/costcontrol advi sor. There may beseveral technical groups perdistrict. The operations of thetechnical groups will be supervisedby a central group of experts fromthe UNDP, who will provide trainingand technical guidance.

The initial task for the technicalgroups will be to make an inventoryof mines; priorities will then be setfor giving assistance. The minesthat are in a position to startproduction or to significantlyincrease production immediately willreceive assistance first.

In the process of mak i ng theinventory, on site recommendationswi II be made to the mine operatorsand requi rements for improvedoperation identified. Theserequirements will mainly be equipment<hand tools, machinery, etc.) orworking capital related. While mostequipment supplied will be manualtools, semi-mechanization will besupported when justified by thedeposit's potential.

A better understanding of the ore­body, a safer working environment,efficient and environmentallyconsiderate mining practices andimproved administrative methods willalso be promoted.

Domestic Suppliers

The tools for the small-scale miners,e.g. wheel barrows, shovels, picks,

manual crushing equipment, shakingtables, screens, punps, etc., willmainly come from domestic suppliers.These suppliers will be givenassistance to improve the quality oftheir equipment and meet increaseddemand.

Machinery Pool

FADEMIN will assist miners to expandproduction by providing the servicesof a machinery pool. The machinerywould be operated through FADEMIN' stechnical department. This wouldallow some mines to expand productionwithout going into debt. Machinerypool services and studies carried outon mining properties would be a costagainst future production, based onreal costs with no profit.

Regional Processing Facilities

In some reg ions, where there is ahigh concentration of mines,processing facilities may beconstructed in order to improvemi II ing recoveries and increase thequality/marketability of the minesproducts.

Investment Promotion andMarketing Assistance

Where resources may be moreprofitably exploited at a largerscale, for example by joining severalclaims, FADEMIN would seek partnerswith the appropriate financialresources to develop a larger scaleoperation.

~hile FADEMIN will not act as abuyer, like BAMIN, it will assist thesmall miners to find the best deal inthe market place for their production(possibly by taking tenders frombuyers) •

Diversification of Small-Scale Mif'ling

FADEMIN's efforts will not besuccessful if they only promote theproduction of traditionally minedminerals like tin, silver, antimony,tungsten, zinc, and lead. Therefore,FADEMIN aims to promote explorationfor and mining of other mineralswhich can be exploited successfullyat a small scale, including non­metallic and industrial minerals.The potential for thisdiversification is significant asBol ivia has large untapped reservesof these non-traditional commodities.

FADC'MIN - continued on page 12

JOHN CARMAN - A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE

Dr. John Carman, the "foundi ngfather" of UN mining and geologicalactivities, a long-time member ofAGIO, and the force behind SMI, diedat home in Toronto on March 19 at theage of 75.

A graduate of what is now MichiganTechnological University, John CarmancClflllleted his training as a miningengineer with a Ph.D. in mineraleconomics from Columbia Universityafter serving five years in the RoyalCanadian Engineers during World WarII. In the 1950s, he worked as amine superintendent, a mineraleconomist with the CanadianGoverrrnent, and an execut ive of auranium mining company. During thisperiod he also undertook assignmentsfor the UN in Bolivia ·and for theColombo Plan in India, and evaluatedmining properties in several othercountries.

In 1958, Dr. Carman became the firstminerals specialist to be employed bythe United Nations Special Fund. Hesurveyed the mi ni ng requ i rements ofmany countries, particularly in SouthAmerica where he was resident inChi Ie and Argentina. He wasres~ible for developing an

r nt global role for th UNthrough the successor to the SpecialFund - the Department of Techni calCooperation for Developinent - whichnow has annual portfolio of about $20million in mining and geological

activities. He played a key part insetting up the UN Revolving Fund forNatural Resources Exploration andbecame its first Technical Manager in1975. Following his retirement fromthe UN at the end of 1976, Dr. Carmancontinued to take on assignments allover the world for the UN, as well asthe World Bank and the InterAmericanDevelopment Bank.

Dr. Carman's contributions to mineraldevelopment programs in the ThirdWorld were recognized and appreciatedby cl ient countries and miningprofessionals everywhere. Aneloquent speaker and imaginative"conceptual" thinker, he had themarvellous gift of being able to cutthrough the "red tape" andorganizational complexities to graspthe essentials of a situation. Healso had a very special ability tocommunicate with people in all walksof life. Who else would understandthe hours of boredom suffered by theoperators of the UN's Secretary­General elevator and without failprovide them with small gifts everyChristmas?

John Carman wrote in a brilliant andunmistakeable style - provocative,cone ise and full of huoour. longhours of pre-dawn commuting and hishighly audible one-finger typing ledto the assemblage and editing of anauthoritative Survey of World IronOre Resources published by the UN in1970. Many of his essays ondeveloping countries were collectedin a book Obstacles to MineralDevelopment: A Pragmatic Viewpubl ished by Pergamon in 1979.Anyone interested in the financial,human and organizational problemsthat face mineral developments in theThird World should read and re-readthis classic analysis and commentary.

Dr. Carman was an outspokenparticipant in the 1972 MontrealGeological Congress sYJl1Xlsiun ongeological aid to developingcount r ies, where the idea of somekind of continuing forun ongeoscience in development was firstmooted. He was rather caustic at theid B thaI a collet ion ofindividuals, such as present there,could make any effect on thedisorganized, ineffjcient anduncooperative state of the technicalassistance business. He was

certainly critical of the idea ofsetting up yet another organisationand bureaucracy.

Yet when AGIO formed a few yearslater to link geologists, mInIngengineers, geophysicists and otherearth scientists in the interests ofdeveloping countries, he was amongthe first to join. later inretirement, his collaboration withMike 1oI0akes resulted in thepubl icat ion of AGIO's popular 1983Guide to Mineral ResourcesDevelopment. In the final years ofhis life, although not in goodheal th, he took on the unrewardingtask of coordi nat ing the book andjournal recycl ing scheme that AGIOsponsors in Canada.

John Carman was particularlyfascinated with the problems andprospects of the small-scale mines,and many of his best writings weredevoted to this topic. He editedwith R.F. Meyer, the proceedings ofthe UN Conference on Small-ScaleMining held in Mexico in 1978. Whenapproached by an AGIO Councillor in1984 on how to make the Associationmore self-sufficient, John quicklysaw an opportunity to utilize AGIO'sunique network of geoscientists to.provide badly needed information tolocal small miners, governments andthe international mining industry.Indeed, his ideas and support werecritical to the recent establishmentof Small Mining International, whichis n w working t r· lize John'svision for the benefit of the smallminers who were so close to hisheart.

Those who knew John Carman will neverforget his wonderful and picturesquetales of geological adventures, ofwanderings in the Altiplano ofBolivia, of scavenging to survive 0­Day landings of World War II and ofthe liberation of Holland, or of hissometimes unrepeatable tales ofstrange people in strange places. Inthe Delegate's Lounge at the UN, inwayside bars in many countries, inthe offices of small miningenterprises around the world, hisstor; S and his visions will echo foryears to come.

- With contributions from P. Fozzard,A.R. Berger, and E.H. Dahlberg, April1991.

SMI-3

Legal Codes and Small - Scale Mining

A Report and Commentary by J. Davidson

Tne North American Context

During the past year, in the UnitedStates and Canada, proposed changesto time-tested, long standing mininglaws have sparked sometimes testy,often heated debate amongprospectors, promoters, miningcompanies and legislators.

For example, the Prospectors andDevelopers Association of Canada wasvirtually accused by a group ofindividUal prospectors and smallexploration companies of betrayingthe trust and interests of the"small" miners in adopting thepos it ion of the "llI8jors" in thei rrepresentations to government vis-a­vis proposed changes to Ontario'sMining Act. Needless to say, theprovincial government was alsocriticiZed. (See my previouscommentary, in the Bulletin, no. 2,for additional details.>

Our ing the pas t year, discuss ionsregarding regulations to support theproposed amerdnents to the Mining Acthave finished and the new regulationshave now been issued. They are dueto cane into force along wi th theamendments (Bill 71, also called theMining ~t Act, 1989) on June3, 1991. The final package(amendments and regulations) is a lotless "oppressive" than ori ginallyanticipated by some. The assessmentwork systl!lll for .ining claims hasbeen converted from a "man-days"basis to an actual dollars spentbasis. Under the old system, it wassufficient to do the equivalent of200 days of assessment work over theinitial five years of a mining claim.C~letion of this worle wouldestablish the right of the prospectorto hold onto the mining claim foranother six years at .inimal cost (nofurther assesSlRnt worle, only amodest arn.aal time extension fee),before bringing the property tolease. NON the prospector, in orderto ..intain title to the claim, willbe obl iged to perform assessment worlethroughout the life of a claim, until

ti a. it i& brought ~o lease.This will increase the cost ofholding a clai. modestly, andnopefully, frOll the government' sperspective, provide an incentiveeitner to bring a claim to lease or

abandon it on a more timely basis.Once a property is brought to lease,no further assessment work wi II berequired, as originally feared.However, the Minister reserves theri ght to refuse to renew a leaseunless reasonable progress has beendemonstrated in bringing the propertyinto production, or the property hasbeen producing continuously for morethan a year. This is particularlyi~rtant, given that the new Actabolishes patenting of mining rightsand lands.

Uni ted States

The United States Senate is currentlydebating S.1126, a bill to revise theGeneral Mining Law of 1872. This 1872law provides the foundation of asystem of mining law, statutes andregulations which have evolved overthe last 120 years. As in Ontario,certain proposed changes, for examplethose concerning the implementationof higher royal ties and fees, havemanaged to antagonize smallexploration and mining cDq)8nies, whoclaim that such changes will threatenthe economic viability of the"smaller" operators, negativelyimpact on their ability to raiseventure capi tal, as well as removeany incentive to prospect for newminerals on unpatented claims. Evenwithout formal revision of the law,some have argued that proposedchanges and additions to theregulations which implement the law,will have the same eff ct oftightening the screws on smallminers. For example, the Bureau ofLand Management (BLM), whichsupervises much of the miningactivity on publ ic lands and has beenresponsible over the years fordeveloping many of the detai led andcClq)rehensive regulations controll ingmining operations on these lands, maysoon require smell mining andexploration operators to postfinancial guarantees when working onBLM land, where none were requi redbefore.

The oftimes negative reactions ofsmall mining interests to "attacks"on estabL ished Le aL frameworles inNorth America can only be understoodin the context of what these "time­tested" laws represent theacceptance and codi f icat ion of whatthe old time miners and prospectors

had "themselves '" developed as aworkable body of law," as T. S. Ary,the current Director of the US Bureauof Mines, recently put it (1991).Consequently the law reflectedcertain basic working principles,namely those of self initiation ofmineral rights, access to land forprospecting, exclusive rights todevelop a discovery, and security oftenure to hold onto a discovery. InNorth America, the law evolved out ofthe early experiences of individualprospector-miners and out of athriving small-scale exploration andmining industry. Part of the recentdiscontent in both Canada and the USwith the existing laws derives fromthe notion that because the lawsreflect the concerns, interests anddesigns of a different and by-gonemining era, the laws have become out­dated and archaic, and are no longerrelevant for today. Almost allopposition to the existing laws,whether justified or not, is seen bythe remaining community of smellminers as attempts to disenfranchiseand ultimately destroy them.

The Developing Country Context

In contradistinction, over the lasttwo years, we have witnessed adramatic reversal of interest andpurpose in a nurber of developingcountries vis-a-vis the role andrights of small miners. In countriesin South America, Africa and Asia,governments have finally recognizedthe cr it i cal importance offormalizing the rights andresponsibilities of small-scaleminers as a distinct group.

In Brazil, the government amended itsown mining code of 1967 with law no.7805/89 in July 1989. While"garimpei ros", Brazil's artisanalminers, were allowed to operate andbe licensed under the 1967 code, thecode was not terribly explicit,permitting llU'licipalities to issuelicenses to interested parties,subject only to general approval ofthe Federal Government. In spite ofthis provision, garimpeiro activitygreatl y expanded 1n 1111 loin ontrollod,unlicensed manner, ultimatelyresulting in encroachment on Indianlands, environnental problems andconfrontation with government

A Legalised Small-Scale ConcessionArea in Ghana

redress,termand

~hen compared to the Brazilian and

any legal instrument torequIrIng instead longinstitutional commitmentsresponses.

Phi l ippines

Existing legislation had allowed forthe alienation of large claim blocks,many of which were held for longperiods without prospection ordevelopment. Claim staking became aprofitable and speculative business,with access to mining concessionsalso high centralized and restricted.Despite its flaws, the existingsys tem was onl y recent 1y recogni zedas being problematic, with theexplosion of small-scale gold miningactivities during the 1980's. As aresul t, today 99% of an estimated400,000 small-scale gold minerscontinue to operate illegally.

In the Philippines, mineral landreform has been the focus of intensediscussion for some time. In 1988,the federal House of Representativesapproved Bill no. 10516, an act tocreate a "people'S mining" program.In May 1990, a revised version(Senate Bill No. 1333), entitled the"Small-Scale Mining Act of 1990," wasintroduced to the Senate and finallyapproved, though it has yet to beimplemented.

the purpose of registering miners,supervising and monitoring mInIngactivities, providing advise andtraining to miners, and documentingactIvIty in the District. The rightsand obligations of licensed minersare also defined with respect tomining practice, landowners, the useof explosives, the purchase ofmercury, income tax and royaltypayments, the sale of gold.Penalties are set down for theillegal sale or purchase of gold, formining without a I icense, and forcontravention of any of theprovi s ions of the Law. Th isLawprovides the backbone of Ghana'sSmall-Scale Gold Mining Projectdescribed in an earlier Bulletin (no.2, pp. 1-3). While this Project hasexperienced much initial success inlicensing miners, establishingDistrict Centres and legal selling ofgold and diamonds, critical problemareas remain to be resolved,including environmental degradationand water pollution problems due tomining, the questionable mercuryhandling and amalgam retortingpractices typically in use even amonglicensed mi ners and buyers, thequality and quantity shortage ofreasonable reserves for small-scaleconcession granting, the persistenceof illegal activity in certain primelarge-scale concession areas. Manyof these problems relate to "field"practice and are beyond the scope of

In May and June 1989, the Ghanagovernment promulgated three laws,the Diamonds (Amendment) Act, theMercury Law, and the Small-Scale GoldMining Law. ~hile Ghanaian artisanalinvolvement in alluvial diamondmining had been permitted since 1972,the original Diamond decree wasamended to provide stiffer penaltiesfor failure to sell to the governmentpurchasing agency or its licensedagents. The Mercury Law restrictsthe import, possession, and resale ofmercury to licensed individuals. TheLaw provides explicit authority tosmall-scale gold miners to purchasemercury from lie nsed d lers inreasonabl equant i ties necessary formining purposes, but the miner is notpermi ned to resell the mercury andis required to observe "good miningpractices" in the use of mercury.Penalties are established forcontravention of the law and failureto follow "good mining practices."

The Small-Scale Gold Mining Lawestabl ishes the condi t ions for theregistration and licensing of miners.Previous to the passage of this Law,the mining of gold by individualGhanaians was forbidden. The new Lawreserves small-scale mining of goldfor the exclusive participation ofGhanaian citizens. Miners may beI inn d .. 1I1dlvlciulIls, I11i1Llgroups, or co-operative societies.The Law aLso empowers the MineralsCommission to establ ish DistrictSmall-Scale Gold Mining Centres for

authorities. (Refer Bulletin, no. 2,pp. 6-9.) The amendment centralizesauthority and control under theDepartmento Nacional da ProducaoMineral (DNPM) and establishesspecific guidelines for garimpeiroactivity in terms of size ofprospect, duration of permit,assessment work, types of depos itsand minerals, mining methods,eligibility for licensing,environmental duties, siteinspections and work organization.

Whether this law will result in the"regularization" of small-scalemining activity remains to be seen,given the large numbers involved,their isolated locations, and thelack of any realistic supportmechanisms. Meanwhi le, at the BomFuturo tin mine, production onceagain has come to a standstill (rt.Bulletin, no. 2, p. 3), this time asthe independent miners' cooperativeand a consortium of Brazi l's fivelargest corporate tin producers argueover who has the legal right to minetin from the world's largestunregulated tin mine.

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Ghana ian laws, the proposed "Sma ll­Scale Mining Act" of the Philippinesprovides the ~st detailed frameworkfor the legalization and support ofsmall-scale .ining. Like theBrazilian law, it is not limited togold mining, but addresses the small­scale exploitation of a variety ofindustrial, precious, and strategicminerals. Here too, as in Brazil andGhana, small-scale mining isrestricted to citizens. However, thePhil ippines' proposal tends to bemore explicit and detailed in avariety of areas. For ex~le,

small-scale mining is explicitlydefined as mining activities which-rely heavily on manual labourwithout the use of explosives orheavy mining equipment." The Act,when irplemented, wiLL establish aSmaLL -Scale Mining Program to becarried out by Provincial/City MiningRegulatory Board(s) under theauspices of the Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources(DENR). It is not clear from thewording of the Act whether there willbe onl y one or a nunber ofProvincial/City Boards, although itwould seem from its givenresponsibilities that a number ofmining province based Boards wouldmake the most sense.

The Board(s) would be responsiblefor: (a) identifying and settingaside areas deemed technically andconmerciall y sui table for small-scalemining subject to guidelinesspecified in the legislation vis-a­vis ancestral lands, park lands,watersheds, active mining areas,private lands, unreserved publ iclands, and areas currently beingworked by small miners; (b)distributing mining contracts, withpreference given to miners residingin the province where the contractarea is located; (c) administering a"Small-Scale Mining Protection Fund"to be used for safety training, minerescue training and equipment, andfor individual assistance to minersinjured in accidents; and (d)formulating and implementing allrules and' regulations related tosmall-scale mining. All miners wouldregister with the Board(s), and beencouraged to organize ascooperatives or other legal entitieswhich would qual ify them for theaward of .ining contracts. Thecomposition of the Board and staffsupport is specified in the Act.

The Act would also allow localgoverrwents to establ ish MineralProcessing Zones, in which theprivate sector would be encouraged toestablish custom mills. Failingthat, the federal Goverrwnent wouldconstruct such' plants upon

SMI-6

recommendation of the Board(s). Themills would be licensed by theBoard(s), and mercury banned in areaswhere the custom milling facilitiesare set up. Assay labs would beestabl ished by the DENR to moni torthe custom mills and service theminers.

The rights and obligations of miningcontract holders are detailed in theAct, along with the rights of priorexisting claim owners and privateIand owners. Miners and processorswould be subject to all existingenvi ronmental, heal th and safetycodes.

The Government's royal ty share, asspecified in the Act, would bededucted at the time of product saleto a licensed custom mill or to theCentral Bank. Government revenueswould be divided in fixed proportionsbetween the National Treasury (30%),Province (15%), City or Municipality(15%), Village (10%), MinersProtection Fund (10%), andReclamation Fund (20%). National andregional coordinating committeeswould also be created, although theirauthority is not specified.Provision is made for the revocationof licenses and contracts, penaltiesfor non-compliance, etc.

Of part icul ar interest is the factthat small-scale miners already inoperation, as of August 1, 1987,could not be "dispossessed, ejected,or removed from said areas."

Senate Bill 1333 is still under finalreview by a Congressional conferencecommittee.

Some Thoughts on the Law and Sma Il­Scale Mining

Whether the country is industrializedor d v loping, a legal framework thateither expl icitly or impl icitlyrecognizes and addresses thepeculiarities of small-scaleexploration and mining activity isfundamental to the rationalization,improvement and success of suchendeavors. Furthermore, in order tooptimize mining development in acountry, the legal context of small­scale mining must be defined whhregard to how the sector is seen tointeract with and/or complement theactivities of intermediate and largerscale mining companies.

In North America, for eXlll1'f)le,updates and revisions of the lawshould proceed with the concerns ofthe remnant small-scale miningcOlll'/U'lity in mind, with hs histo";cand current role clearly. understoodand acknowledged. The demands of

modernization and public relationsshould not requi re that we di spose ofthe baby with the dirty bath water.We should be able to integrate time­tested p";nciples of proven worthwith contemporary economic,environmental and resourceconservationist concerns, while atthe same time providing scope forsmall-scale mining entrepreneurs todo more than just survive.

In many developing countries wheresmall-scale mining exists, formalrecognition of its contributionpotential to the domestic economy andcOlll'/U'lity is yet to be realized. InBrazil, Ghana and the Philippineswhere its impact can no longer beignored, positive steps have been andare now being taken to "regularize"the sector. The regularizationeffort typically starts with thedrafting of a legal code. But a law,no matter how detailed orcomprehensive its statutes andregulations, is'not sufficient in andof itself to bring about the desiredregularization and rational hation.The law is an essential startingpoint, that requires not only apolitical will to set it firmly inplace and to resolve new problems asthey may emerge, but also thewherewithal to provide the supportstructures, personnel and financialresources to ensure its successfulimplementation. None of this is easyor straightforward in places wherepeople are preoccupied with simplykeeping their heads above water,where there is always too much to dobut not enough time, money, orwillpower to do it all.

The simple fact of the matter is thatthe real difficulties only beginafter the laws are drafted andapproved, for then the ways and meansmust be found to make them work.

References

Ary, 1. S., 1991, "Prospects for theMining Law," Minerals Today, January,pp. 6 - 11.

The various mining laws and acts, asnoted.

Ecuador -

Gold Mining in Zamora Province

by Joaquin Garcia Doltz

the environment. Gold recovery withth i s procedure is 55X. The rest ofthe gold is sent to the mine dumpshopefully to be re-treated at a laterdate when a better recovery systembecomes available.

In many cases, the "petrol eros" haveorganized themselves into legallyconstituted associations, societiesand mining cooperatives in order tooperate within the framework of themining laws of the country and to beable to attract national and foreigncapital interested in investing inEcuador's mining sector. An exampleis the "Compania Rio Tinto Zinc Inc."wh i ch has reached an agreement wi ththe mining cooperative "San Luis" tohelp evaluate and exploit theirmining concession. In the area ofCampanillas, the company HIZANAbacked by British capital is workingwith the mining cooperative "Orquideade los Andes". The Nambija sector isnow receiving special treatment fromthe government in an effort tolegalize the "petrol eros" and providethem with legitimate miningconcessions, thereby allowing bothpublic and private involvement toensure better recovery of the goldresource and the other mineralsassociated with it.

A mm,er of publ ic and privateprojects to construct some regionaltreatment plants were recentlyimplemented with the goal ofimproving metal recovery and treatingthe waste depots created during thelast decade. These waste depotsgrading from 10 to 30 gpt have notbeen treated due to the lack ofappropriate technologies available tominers.

From a geological point of view thedepos it of Nambi j a and itsenvironment are in a skarn zoneproduced by the intrusion of agranitic-granodioritic bathol ite incontact with carbonated rocks of the"Santiago" and "Napa" formations.This produced unusual concentrationsof gold, silver, and lead-zincsulphides controlled by big fracturesand faults oriented northeast­southwest.

For more information contactHr. Joaquin Garcia Doltz, Huancavilca4515, Casilla 106809, Guayaquil,ECUADOR.

has made Ecuador the world's 13thlargest gold producers (395 000ounces of gold produced in 1989).

For mining, air compressors, hammers,dynamite, boring equipment are used.The principal milling tool is the"chancadora" wh ich is a hammer mi IIactivated by hydraulic or power unitenergy. The basic gold recoverysystem involves the use of mercuryfor amalgamation in either a manualor mechar,; cal "lay wi th the "alp ofthe "chanchitos" (amalgamationretort/roasters). Afteramalgamation, the mercury is burned­off with predictable consequences for

~hile there has been a mass arrivalof "petroleros" to Nambi ja, this newgold "fever" has spread to otherlocations such as: Campanillas (40 to60 gpt), San Carlos (8 to 25 gpt),Cambana (8 to 30 gpt), Guaysimi (30to 50 gpt), Chinapintza and Lapangui(20 to 50 gpt). Approximately200 000 people are involved inexploiting, treating and enhancingthe mineral and then marketing it.They work as unsk i II ed labour,chargers, mulers, gold buyers, etc.These people undertake extraction andexploitation in a non-technical, non­systematic manner guided only by theknow-how of some miners who haveworked in the polymetallic deposit ofPortovelo (Del Oro Province).

_____..iIl.:_ ._~-•._"Hill top mining town of Nambija. Mine workings

are located under the town.(Photo courtesy of Ecuador Order of GeologistS)

Ecuador has been favoured by naturebecause in its soil and subsoil, hugereserves of metallic and non-metallicores have been found. From pre­colonial times, people have beenworking mines for gold, silver,platinum, etc. This effort wasintensified during the colonialperiod due to the Spanish hunger forprecious metals. But afterindependence and the beginning of therepublic, all mines and deposits wereclosed to further exploitation, andremained so until the 1980s.

Some sporadic gold mining activityhas taken place since the beginningof the century. After 1978, farmerscolonising Eastern Ecuadorrediscovered some secondary pre­colorilian deposits in the riverterraces of the East region, in themountains and on the coast. Inexploring and exploiting them, theyalso found the primary depositsoriginally worked by the indigenesand Spanish. At this time the"petrol eros" (artisanal miners ofEcuador) also rediscovered theprimary gold deposit of Nambija.This deposit is located in SouthernEcuador, in Zamora Province, and hasa remarkable d produ tion ( 0ounces/year, 750 ounces per day).Ore grades range from 15 gpt to 400gpt. Nambija produces 70% of thecountry's gold and this production

8MI-7

Costa Rica -

Gold Mining in the Tilaran Cordillera

by Steve WilliamsonIntroduction

The mineral sector plays a minor rolein Costa Rica's economy, beingovershadowed by agriculture andtourism. However, there isconsiderable potential in Costa Ricafor mineral sector development, allthat is lacking is investment.

IIh i le there are a large var iety ofmetallic and non-metallic mineraldeposits in Costa Rica, this reportfocusses on gold mining activity, asit is dominated by small-scale miningoperations. First the location andscope of current gold mining activityis described. Second, twooperations, an undergound mine and anopen-pit operation, are reviewed.Finally, the factors that promote andhinder the development of the small­scale mining sector are discussed.Scope of Current Gold Mining Activity

Rio Chiquita Crushing Plant

There are two main gold miningdistricts in Costa Rica, one in theOsa PeninSUla, on the country'ssouth'west coast, and the other inthe Tilaran Cordillera in the north­west. The deposits in the OsaPeninsula are all reported to beplacers, and are worked byindividuals or syndicates usingartisanal techniques. In the Ti laranregion, the deposits are generallystockwork vein or narrow'veinepithermal deposits (Table 1). Themines in this region vary from smallpits dug by miners (individuals orsyndicates) using picks and shovelsto extract near surface ore andreportedly, mercury amalgamation torecover the gold (e.g. Boston atGongolana) to underground minesemploying rockdrills and dynamite tobreak the ore and relativelysophisticated mill circuits toproduce a concentrate (Mina TresHermanos at Las Juntas).

Mine Descriptions

This section briefly describes theoperations at Mina Tres Hermanos andRio Chiquito in the Ti laranCordillera.

Mina Tres Hermanos(The Three Brothers Mine)

Mina Tr H rIMn05 i Costa Rica'smajor gold producer. Discovered lastcentury, this mine has a long historyof exploitation. . The currentoperation commenced production three

SMI-8

years ago and has a mill capacity of200 tpd (about 72 000 tpy). However,at the present time, productionaverages 120 tpd. This puts the mineat theupper limit of what issometimes defined as a small mine ina developing country. A total of 50miners are employed in the mine. Two12-hour shifts are worked per day, 6days per week.

The deposit consists of a 1·4 meterswide quartz vein, dipping 70-75 0 IJand striking NE-SIJ. Shrinkagestoping is used as the mining method.Hand-held air-leg rock drills areoperated by a crew of 2 to drill outfaces, and dynamite is used to blastthe rock.

The ore is fed through wooden chutesand ore passes down to a haulagelevel where it is then transportedout of the mine to the crusher in 1tonne ore buckets usua II y pushed byhand. The crushed ore is transportedby road several kilometers to thetreatment plant. The average gradeof the ore is 0.20-0.21 ozlt (about6 gpt). A clay rich footwall causesup to 10% dilution in mining. Minerecovery is approximately 90-95% andmill recovery is between 86-90%.

The current operation had a 1.2 yearpre-production period during whichtime the mi II capac i ty was -expandedfrom 80 to 200 tpd at a cost of 1.2million US S and mine development was

carried out a a cost of 0.6-0.8million US S. Ore reserves arereported to stand at SOD 000 tonnesat about 6 gpt, giving the mineanother 10-year life at current ratesof production.

Rio Chiquito Mine

Rio Chiquito was discovered in 1983.However, poor access and heavy rainshampered exploration. In October1986 development of an open pit andconstruction of a heap leachoperation began. In Octo r 1987 themi ne began produc ing. BetweenOctober 1987 and June 1989,approximately 96 000 tonnes of oreand 400 000 tonnes of waste weremined. Since June 1989, the mine hasbeen shut-down whi le explorationcontinues.

The ore body consist of sinters,breccias and quartz veins andstockworks hosted by andesite. Themineralization includes marmatite,pyrite, barite and cinnabar. The orezone is strongly argillized, whileadjacent wall rock has undergonepropylitic alteration. There are twoore types: an oxide, clay rich oreand a sulphide ore. Gold, silver,anc mercury are recov~rt'd from theore. The Ag:Au ratio isapproximately 10:1. The ore body iscentred on a NIJ striking fault, whichdips steeply to the NE. Allmineralization is above the fault and

II

t,

up to 15 meters wide by 80 meterslong.

In the pit 1.5 meters bench heightsare used. No or very little blastingis required. The ore is loaded on 2­tonne trucks and transported 1/2kilometer to the crusher. Oncecrushed, the ore is agglomerated withcements and fed onto the leach padvia a radial stacker. Cyanide issprinkled over the leach pads and thepregnant solution gravitates topregnant so Iut ion ponds. TheMerrill-Crowe process is used toconcentrate the ore. Mercury isremoved from the precipitate byretorting and the final precipitateis sent to the Uni ted States forsmelting.

Eighty people work in the mine on 2shifts. When in operation the plantwas processing on average 300 tpd ofore. Mines recovery was estimated tobe "80X and mi II recovery 70X(0.55 ppm Au in tailing).

The capi ta I cos t for the operat ionwas reported to be in the vicinity of5 mill ion US S, with a 1 year pre­production period. No reliablefigures were available for operatingcosts. The current ore reserves are

250 000 tonnes at approximately1.6 ppm Au.

Factors Affecting the Development ofSmall-Scale Mining in Costa Rica

The Costa Rica government pays a 20Xpremiun to companies for all theirexport earnings. Furthermore, exportearnings are tax exempt and machineryimported to produce export items isexempted from import duties.However, a cc:lq)l icated bureaucracycan cause long delays in receivingequipment when import tax exemptionsare sought. In general, these taxbenefits are only realizable by thelarger scale mining operations whilethe small-scale, especiallyartisanal, miners are unable to takemuch advantage of them.

Of benefit to the mining sector ingeneral is the high standard of EarthSciences education. The Universityof Costa Rica has the only miningschool in Central America.

The main factor hindering mineralresource development in Costa Rica isthe nunber of National Parks. CostaRica is one of the most de-forestedcountries in Central America, yet ithas promoted for itself an image

of being a leader in environmentalconservation. Outwardly, governmentauthorities appear to be sensitive" tothe problem of artisanal miners usingmercury and to the potential loss tothe country's aesthetic value causedby mining operations_ As miningcontributes little to the economy incompar ison to tour! sm, it can bepresuned that mining will take a backseat when there is potentialrecreational uses for the land. Onearea where this is not the case is inthe Osa Peninsula where the localminers apparently defend their rightto mine with much vigor.

In general wage levels are low in themining sector, second only toagricul tural labour. Consequently,comparatively few people are drawninto mining. Furthermore, mostdomestic investors are probablydeterred by the financial risksinvolved in mining and exploration,preferring to invest in other sectorsof the economy. Onlyin the OsaPeninsula does it appear that thepotential rewards from small-scaleartisanal operations are sufficientto draw a significant number ofminers to the region.

* Reporting from Costa Rica for SMI.

Reference:

Addresses:

Republica de Costa Rica, Organizacion de Los Estados Americanos, Oiagnostico des Sector Minero, San Jose,Oicien"bre 1978.

Oirrection de Geologia Minas e HidrocarbonosMinisterio de Recursos Naturales, Energia y MinasDirector: Lic. Jose Francisco CastroAssistant Director: Lic. Rolando Valdez

9 Activity in the North·~est (Tilaran Cordillera)

Name of Operat ion

1.Mina Tres Hermanos

Z.EI Reas

3.Boston

4.Bellavista

5.Rio Chiquito

Location

Las Juntas de Abangares

Las Juntas

Gongolona

Miramar de Punta Arenas

Rio Chiquito, Tileran

Comments

Active underground mine, 120-200 tpd, shrinkage stoplng,crushing on site, treatment plant off-site

Exploration

Exploration, plus 30-100 artisanal miners, non-systematicexploitation

Exploration, about 11 t removed at 1 gpt

Exploration for extensions to the current reserves, 300+ tpdopen pit operation on stand-by

N.B. This is not an exhaustive list of exploration activity.

SMI·9

Indonesia -

Building a Database on Small-Scale Mining of Industrial Minerals

TABLE 1

00. PR'QV[IIICE

ILATE.l' Il IOU, c;)'''., '0. , 'au, ~~-s a ...Gto

~l £U1clef_SEll .lllf .Jce.s1:0 COOI'lQOllI ES LICE_SiD li1llI clCHSiO

I D,I ,,,. 19l1l n "1- .. I.~~Z -.0-4

I ~(ll'"~'" Ij,"",,~~r. W!.! ?\6 l, ~!.4 I .. ',ill Hlll.l

} ""nt S\Alura lQ!l n 1.010 : ". .It nQ

• ,..... ' 'Oill <: n .. ~ !, .!.MI

~ ;,.u 1°51·'0112 7' 5J1 I> oO~ 3,407

" "1l"t"';4Ylu. 10!' IS 5~ ... S ~S 2 345

r ~ '05/. 20 .I.!/>7 5 aQ. 14 617

3 Sou.k ~_ .... ,Q!ID 4J 562 5 l,l)~ t.W

° 11K' "., IOU 9}0 e,-,o 18 12, .~ H.~

10 (emu.' J.". 10110 52" MCO!> I " 6,00' fol,m

11 EDt J,v.. ,Ol!' 'U ".6.31 'S 3 511> 82.1Il!

11 0.1 '00'."'" '~110 ;/0 7.....5 • .. lO,JlI ...Il 1 .. 1 t ,- 5 '.Ol~ 6 16 U.Ilo.~l

'. lMJUI ~.I itlilnt.... 10llQ 26 ),l' 7 200 I,ML

" (C'ntrtl Ultll'!Ollr\nn "'!Ill 7 III 5 1'4 na16 UM' UI'"""... lOll U M 5 e;51 , JOT

17 E8t (.t lftMtUft lOa) 64 127 1 '6.3 17.1,

,& ~,,,.~ 5"1_' 1083 12 1.5J.l ~ t.9 1 ~7

I' Cet"tr.t s.u.tJit8.i 10!) ..a 65' 6 $U 2,nZ

20 S"",h ~".... , """ 21' 2.L!2 0 1,_as 13,7M

21 SourMU( s-u,~, '081 JI M' S lOS :l,211.l

22 U... I; tfl./'U h'C·'s-;.tr. 10Sl 14 1.;.<11 5 67 \0 M1

Z) e.1t 1I1,rU l'e""lHIIr_ to!:! 3 ""1 1 ro I ZDl

~. -"UN ,O!l/o .. U2 4 ... 1.Z22

ZS frl*", ".V" lOs:, 11 So. 7 156 1.0\1

2,1>10 n,947 33,540 331,79'

Introduction

Regulation, improvement andsupervision of mining activities inIndonesia fall within the spheres ofresponsibility of both local andcentral governments. All data andinformation relating to miningoperations including information onmine planning and design, mineimprovement, decision making,supervision, etc. are basicallyderived from two sources - either.routine administrative reports andrecords of the mining company orgovernment statistical reports basedon field investigations.

\/hite coal and metall ic mineralmInIng actiVItIes generally operateon a large scale and have proved tohave reasonable administrative andreporting systems in place,industrial minerals operations mostlyoecur as sma ll- sca1e ventures, withlittle or no formal reportingprocedures. Unti 1 the mid 1970's,the government had vi rtuall y noorganized information concerning thenature, scope and scale of industrialminerals mining and processingactivities, and had made littleeffort to collect such information.Th i slack of attent ion to theindustrial minerals sector wasrelated to a nunber of factorsincluding - the near surface anduncomplicated nature of the depositswhich lent themselves to mining andprocessing using simple affordabletechnology and to being workedinformally, the limi pa ility 0

loea 1 governments to moni tor andsupervise their development,communication difficulties whichexisted between mining companies andgovernment agene; es, as we II as alack of cooperation betweengovernment agencies. Apart from theabove, many industrial mineralproducers operated and cont inue tooperate illegally.

The unavailabil ity of routineadministrative reports from thissector of mining activity meant thatthe development of any sort of formaldescriptive database would involvethe use of direct assessmenttechniques for data collection, i.e.field investigations and surveys. Tothis end, a proposal for collectingdata on " industrial'· mineralsextraction and processing in the

SMI-10

field was implemented in 19n withWest Java province serving as thepilot study area. Data collection waseventually extended to all provinces,excluding only the city of Jakarta.

A complete survey was made of alllegal operations, while illegal mineswere "sampled". As a result of thiseffort, the evaluators identifiedover 80,000 small-scale mining andprocess ing enterpri ses. Theyestimated that over 365,000Indonesians were directly employed inthis sector, and that close to Rupiah107 billion (at 1983 constant prices)of gross value had been added to thenational economy by this sector.

Scope of Study

Data collection was I imited toindustrial mineral operations,including such commodities as stone,clays, sand and gravel, phosphates,rock sal ts, marble, limestone,dolomite, calcite, kaolin, bentonite,

11)0 Includ1ng l icet'lsed c~if:s

sulfur, gemstones, and diamonds. Itinvolved both licensed and unl icensedmining companies in production duringthe survey periods.

Data Collection Procedure

Due to the limited manpower availableto the Ministry of Mines and Energyfor such a labour intensive task, thesurvey was carried out under theauspices of the Mineral TechnologyDevelopment Centre based in Bandungbut with the assistance of theCentral Bureau of Statistics. Aspecial task force was assembled andmembers were sent to various regionsto be attached to local governmentorganizations. First a directory ofall mining companies operating in thearea was compiled. This was followedby detailed data collection. Adetailed survey and record ofoperations was collected fromlicensed mining companies, employingover 20 people, while unlicensedoperations were sample surveyed.

Information Aspects TABLE 2

00. 15I~g'j'I...CL L.T:EI1 gAor. PIlIQDUCl Pilla. {flit lion -0 .... QII05IJi W"Lui" &DOU '""" une .~IQIIII"

u et*tr.ul 'tiel ,t'IQ:nJC A' (DIS Uf "'Ia"1C£IiiUD NQiiiI lICENUD r~ll\ ''''' 'P.I U"'.'-O'\ IIIp.)

I D,d. it. 1000l \ O<l.nl l.Tl1.HI 6.l65.161 1._IN.•5'

1 'lIloru" 'Ii'-'llller. l~ 510.61< l.UI.OGl • 1J7.1'l1 1171 W.l6Z

J vtllllt ~u~r. 1911< I 005.015 1 lYl.96' , 944.6'1 I oau l6lI.09'II

• J_, 1981 IW,lOI 191._ ''IIl.1ol1 $8' 86' .070, .'1Il4 IQI'IQZ 1,116."" 1.439.'" llal.9'M 5./lD,ll.lI.llI<

.. h,.,,,,I .. 1961 '00,119 409._ 591.116 164, t7•.2111

, L_ ,~ I 673.192 1 ItO.~' I ~.~O , 117 9;,11.117

a SOIU'tfl 'h.-.,.rt .- '.&30.912 W.11IO \.911.....a l.~l. \'IO.11l

9 YItU JI""" IV~ ".7'5'. CoOl ,7.~.n, IT._.lolI! 10, lOOj 1QCLQOO

'0 Cft'1tnt J..oq ..... 1 611.46Z 12._,11) II '1"I.S6l T.....9 . .,~.<l'lll

11 t.-It Jan 10&1 .. 15<.601 " lIlA. I'/< I·.nl._ II 9n Ill.9l1

11 !l.f. 'aonn_tl ,.." ....... ~ lOOO.lll6 ,.lMl._ .no 219.1M

IJ loll 1010 0.061 ii.r".O<I 0.119. \IS 1.000~oH...~

'< lou~". (AlIIMiltl=..n l.."O 59.'Z] VO.1&a »7 S82 .n On.96'IS C'1ft'It'J"'•• eel t NU"!t1ft IO!O 110.~1 J'l.116i ,",'.W ,.... 611.l'I$

'6 "'"I c:.li ......f .... 1951 Oll.a~6 3l0.3J.< r'6 m ',on,'ol.lL3

11 tt... (.ll...,tM 19&1 1 168.619 • 167.ila 1,'117 ,tol ',l6j.I~.00CI

III Han.k l.iJta'*t'l' 'OM 11'.130 • IAI.Vir • m.ll9" 6'1 600._

.9 filftu'.l 'l.u1 ..... 19~ 11".'71 151.1.. I J9Ls-4& Mo. 100.000

10 IlKItl' UlI""d1 l~ 1,1(100,650 I.R7Z0' 1._.11' ',!M,1l9.1711

II kutfl.... k.l1.~1 '0&1 16J..6]1 'Sl.a,. 59'.'5'] l'.. ,..lIlll.1CI1I

II l.LHt: INn r~url "&:/ 19.11& I l!>ll.9'i • 1<0.561 1o:5l:1i,ltS.lli6

U lUI llluu 1r"li;:1.af, 'Oill ,r.lO' 'OJ.IOl l1lUOI q,101.·'o

l' fit. hI-Ill IU, .. ~ ... ~ JIO.;" lii7.»1 S<',Ml,.'Z

a lr'." •.-".. 1U- lU.S1i6 !9l ••iil ""'.I~ Ml 111.191

10, lP9J.lll ''.In.l17 \06,951,1'52 ~. 961.116.000

I,I

,.­I

For all classes of operation, certainbasic data was collected, includingname of cClq)8ny and legal status,addresses and mine locationCs),responsible parties; lease specificsCif licensed) e.g. license number,total lease area, lease duration,issuing office; and basic operatingdata concerning mineral depositCs),estimated reserves, mining andprocessing methoc:ls, sources of funds,total manpower, productivity,production capacities, equipmentconfigurations, operating costbreakdown, marketing arrangements,and the estimated value of thecommodities produced per unit ofproduction.

Data collection activities started in~est Java province in 1977 and wereextended to cover most of the rest ofthe country during the years whichfollowed. As of 1984-1985, 51separate data gathering exercises hadbeen completed, providing up-to-dateinformation on all provinces, exceptfor East Timor. East Timor wassurveyed for the first time in 1990.Jakarta was also excluded from thesurvey, insofar as Jakarta'sindustrial minerals consumption issupplied principally from sourcesouts ide Jakarta ci ty provi nceboundaries, especially from \lestJava.

From the identified 80,617 small­scale industrial mineral enterprisesoperating in Indonesia, only 2,670were found to be licensed Crf. Table1). There were approximately 30illegal operations for every legalone. However, the ratio varieddramatically between provinces, from4 to 1 in U Kalimantan to 9 1 to 1for Bali. In Haluku province, therewere no licensed operations.

During the study perioc:l, it was foundthat the province with the mosthighly evolved and diversified sectorwas ~est Java where 18 differenttypes of industrial minerals werebeing exploited. In general, thelevel and diversity of activity washigher on Java C9-18 comnK)dities)than elsewhere C4-9 comnK)dities).

The total recorded manpower employedin industrial mineral mining activitywas 365,343 people, of which 33,549were employed by licensed cClq)8nieswith the remaining majority involvedn unlIcensed operations. 01" the

total avai lable manpower, i.e. theeconomically act~ve population of61.4 milli on people, the industri alminerals sector absorbed on average

0.6X, ranging from 0.1X in CentralKalimantan to 4.35X in Bali.

In terms of proc:luct ion va lue Crf •Table 2), however, the ratio ofunlicensed to licensed was only 2 to1, Rupiah 81 million vs. 39 million,suggesting that the licensedoperations either operated moreefficiently or were larger scale orboth. Convl!rted to 1983 constBntprice values, the gross value addedby th is sector was Rupi ah 107billion, which was about D.21X of theprovinces' gross regional domesticproc:luct. The largest proc:lucers ofvalue were the three Java provinces,led by \lest Java.

Discussion

Indones ians have long been engaged inmining a wide range of minerals, Theextraction of kaolin, sand andgravel, lime, marble, phosphate,bentonite, manganese, gold anddiamonds, however, has historicallyoccured on a limited scale. Thegovernment has recogni zed that theminIng of these cOlllllOdltles isconmonly carried out in ways that areoften detrimental to the nationalinterest. For eX~le, illegalsmall-scale activity seems to act as

a restraint on the operations oflicensed mines; it has often hadserious negative environmentali"""cts. As well, it has and cancontinue to be an obstacle tooptimizing resourCe utilization, and •as an illicit venture fail tocontribute its fair share togovernment revenues. In Indonesia,illegal mining has also hadquest ionab\ e soci a l i~aets. As iI

highly individual istic activity, itmakes little or no contribution tothe general cOllllUlity welfare, andhas often served as a vehi cle forincreasing exploitation anddisparities between a monied classand those of less fortunate means.

Efforts to rationalize and i~rove

such operations are often handicappedby the fact that the mines areconmonly operated by individualswithout reference to any appropriateor systematic managerial system orapproach. In spite of all theseproblems, such activities haveclearly generated a high level ofemployment, which is seen as apositive ~npact. The go ernnent 15now promot ing a concept of sma ll­scale mining appropriate to theIndonesian context, called"Pertambangan Ska la Kec il." It is

SMI-11

Objectives of PSK

2) Encouraging cOIlIIUnity economicdevelopment through mining activitybased on social group consensus,needs, and capabilities;

4) Enabl ing the government andestablished mining enterprises toimprove social group participation inthe mining sector;

3) Bridging existing gaps betweensoc ial group capabi lit ies and thoseof established large miningcompanies;

Acknow Iedgement: The author wishesto thank Mr. Roberto Arce, Mr. OscarDavila, the National Chamber of SmallMines and the Ministry of Mining andMetallurgy for their generousassistance in providing informationfor this report.

FADEMIN - continued from page 2

* This report was written by Steve~illiamson in Bolivia for SMI.

References

Arce, R., 1978, "Small-Scale Miningin Bolivia," in Meyer and Carman(eds), The Future of S~ll-Scale

Mining, UNITAR, pp. 219 - 227.

Conclusion

The social and economic benefits ofFADEMIN's assistance programs couldbe far reaching. 5m811 mining hasbeen the pioneer of miningdevelopment in Bolivia. All of thelarge mines were first small mines(Arce, 1978). As some 5 000 or moreprospects and mines may be evaluatedunder the auspices of FAOEMIN, itcould become one of the best explora­tion tools the country will have.Furthermore, as small mines arehelped to upgrade to larger scaleoperations, this will provide moreexport earnings, clients for privatebanks and hopefully an improvedstandard of living for inhabitants ofBolivia's mineral rich Altiplano.

References

For further information, pleasecontact Dr. Ukar Soelistijo,Director, Mineral TechnologyDevelopment Centre, Jalan Sudirman623, Bandung, INDONESIA.

Ed. Note: This is an abridged andedited version of a paper entitled"Small-Scale Mining Data CollectionActivities in Indonesia," presentedby Dr. Ukar Soel ist i jo to the SMI~orkshop on International InformationSystems for Small-Scale Mining, heldin Ottawa on June 29, 1990.

Gandataruna, K., 1990, " The role ofthe social group in miningdevelopment in Indonesia (Peran sertarakyat dalam pemgangunan pertambangandi Indonesia)," Pertambangan danEnergi, no. 1, pp. 73 • 76.

7) Protecting communities and socialgroups from irresponsible capital istswho wish to exploit them;

8) Educating and strengthening theabi I ities of social groups to facethe future advance of technology.

6) Bringing into harmony thediffering interests of the variousgroups involved in mining in order tofacilitate the achievement of broadernational development objectives andgoals;

the participation ofin mining activities

existing national

5) Allowing for the wise use of thenation'S mineral endowment, i.e.conservation, as well as betterenvironmental protection and control;

The goals that underlay thedevelopment of a distinctivelyIndonesian approach to thedevelopment of small-scale mininginclude (Gandataruna, 1990):

based on the idea that people arepart of the national resource basefor developing the country. Thisnotion is in keeping with thenational development philosophy thatpeople are not only the object, butalso the subject of development.

1) Enhancingsocial groupswithin theframework;

SMI News

The International NGO Division of the Canadian International Development Agency renewed its operating grant to SMIfor 1991.

The project proposal "International Small Scale Mining Information System" submitted to International DevelopmentResearch Centre (IDRC) in February 1990 was approved by the IDRC's Board of Governors and now awaits Government ofIndia approval.

SMI held a one day workshop on International Information Systems for small Scale Mining in Ottawa, Canada, on June29, 1990. Over 35 people attended from 23 different countries. Papers were presented by G.O. Kesse (Ghana), B.N.Niyogi (India), U. Soelistijo (Indonesia), J. Hruska (Czechoslovakia), E.H. Dahlberg (USA). J. Davidson, SMI'sManaging Director presented an outline of SMI's proposed information system project for comments and discussion.Dr. Soelistijo's paper appears in abridged form in this issue of the Bulletin.

Three SMI Board of Directors vacancies were filled during the past year with the appointments of Sr. Carlos OitiBerbert (Brazil), Ir. Rachman ~iriosudarmo (Indonesia), Prof. Deborah E. Ajakaiye (Nigeria).

SMI-12

.,I

BOOK REVIEW-s.all-scale .ining - guide to appropriate equi~t-

Prepared by James F. McDivitt, Dennis Lock and others on behalf of the Association of Geoscientists for International DevelopmentIntermediate Technology Publications Ltd., 103-105. Southampton Row, London welB 4HH, 100 pp, illus., 1990. ISBN 1 853390127Available for $25.00 US (plus shipping and handling costs) from Small Mining International, P.O. Box 6079, Station "A", Montreal,Quebec, CANADA, H3C 3A7 or 12.50 £ from Intermediate Technology Publications Ltd., in London.

I/J This publ ication , conmissioned by

the Association of Geoscientists forInternational Development (AGID­headquarters in Bangkok) andpublished by Intermediate TechnologyPublications (London) in associationwith the International DevelopmentResearch Centre of Canada, wi thassistance from the Conmonweal thScience Council, is a conmendablefirst attempt to bri ng togetherinformation on a wide range of basicprospecting and mining equipment,suitable for small-scale mining(defined as producing up to 100 000tonnes per year). Mining on a smallscale does not necessarily excludethe use of sophisticated equipment:the Guide covers categories rangingfrom appropriate or intermediatetechnology equipment, often of localfabrication, through standardequipment and equipment speci allymanufactured for small mines, toequipment of high capital cost. Thecriteria governing the choice ofequipment are discussed in anintroduction, followed by a generalreview of small-scale mining'scharacteristics, and its advantagesand disadvantages.

In only 100 pages, compi lers JamesMcDivitt and Dennis Lock and theircollaborators give details of over150 items ("items" in the genericsense: mini-excavators;trommels,etc.), classified in seven sections

covering exploration, surveying,sampling, analysis and testing,drilling, alluvial mining,underground mining, sorting,crushing, grinding, processing,materials handling andtransportation, p4..q)ing, venti lation,power supply, general purposeequipment and safety. A generalintroduction precedes each section.For certain items, the names andaddresses of severa l suppl iers aregiven: 147 companies are listedalphabetically in an Index ofSuppliers. Numbers beside eachsupplier's name refer the reader backto the page on wh ich the item isillustrated.

The items catalogued, ranging fromgold pans to mine winders, areclearly illustrated, either byphotographs or line drawings. Thelayout is clear and uncluttered, onlyone or two items to a (large) page,each item boxed in a bold outl ine.Descriptions of the items are shortbut succinct, normally including thepurpose for which they are used, themanner in which they are used, andhow the item operates to achieve itspurpose just to read thesedescriptions is to learn much. Thecompilers have, to their credit,included many items capable of beingfabricated locally (sluiceboxes,etc.), but inevitably, most of theequipment described is of conmercial

manufacture. Perhaps inevitablyalso, the majority of thesemanufacturers are European or NorthAmerican, although China, India andArgentina are, happi ly represented.If this reviewer has a criticism ofthe list of suppliers, it is not somuch in which suppl iers are included,as in which are left out, Richards(U.K.) or I.H.C. (Netherlands) forsmall-scale mobile alluvial miningunits, for exa"1'le. However, facedwith the monumental task of selectingonly a few names from the hundreds ofsuppliers available, the compilerscannot be blamed for what is,unavoidably, a somewhat subjectivetask. It is after all, a "guide"rather than a catalogue, andhopefully, readers will use it assuch, to obtain an overview of thesort of equipment available for theirown particular requirements, andwhere they mi ght start to look forit. It is to be hoped that theappearance of this guide will promptinterested persons, bothmanufacturers and users, to providethe Intermediate TechnologyDevelopment Group (ITDG) withconstructive feedback, with a view toproducing bigger and bettersubsequent editions.

-A.N. Dempster, Dublin, February,1991

...

PUBLICATIONSGeology of Construction Materials by John E. Prentice, 202 pp, 1990. ISBN 041229740X. Available from Chapman and Hall Ltd.,Cheriton House, North Way, Andover, Hampshire, England SP 10 5 BE for £ 16.50.

~tones by Michael o'Donoghue, 372 pp, 1988. ISBN 041227390X. Available from Chapman and Hall Ltd., Cheriton House, NorthWay, Andover, Hampshire, England SP 10 5 BE for £ 39.00.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTSJune 3-5, 1991. A symposium on the geology of alluvial gold placers will be held in La Paz, Bolivia. Forinformation contact G. Herail (35 77 23 - 32 22 77) or A. Arteaga (35 2036) or write ORSTOM, P.O. Box 9214 LaPaz, BOLIVIA, Fax: 39 14 64, Telex: 3514 ORSTOM BV.

June 10-12, 1991. The Second International Conference on African Mining: African Mining '91 will be held inHarare, Zimbabwe organized by the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. For information contact The ConferenceOffice, The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 44 Portland Place, London ~1N 4BR, ENGLAND, Tel: 01-5803802,Ielex: 261410 IMM G, Fax: 01-436 5388.

October 3-5, 1991. An International Conference on Small-Scale Mining will be held in Calcutta, India hostedby the Mining, Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India in collaboration with SMI, the IntermediateTechnology Development Group, and the National Institute of Small Mines. For information contact the OrganisingSecretary, ICSSM, c/o MGMI, 29, Chowringhee Road, Calcutta-700016, INDIA. Telefax: 91-33-286604. N.B.:Rescheduled due to Gulf crisis.

October 8-11, 1991. III Congreso International Geologico de Mineria will be held in Guayaquil, Ecuador organizedby the Colegio de Geologos del Ecuador. For more information contact Geol. Hugo Lozano Aguirre, CoordinatorGeneral, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales (Universidad de Guayaquil) Av. 25 de Julio y Pio Jaramillo, Casilla 471,Guayaquil, ECUADOR, Tel: 435366.

October 28-30, 1991. A seminar on mechanized drilling and loading in narrow vein mines will be held in Salt LakeCity, Utah, USA, organized by ~orld Mining Equipment. For more information contact Jeannie Lee (ConferenceOfficer), ~orld Mining Equipment, 220 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10001, USA, Tel: (212) 213 6202, Fax:(212) 213 1870.

November 11-13, 1991. An international conference on alluvial mining will be held in London, England organizedby the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. For more information contact the Conference Office, TheInstitution of Mining and Metallurgy, 44 Portland Place, London ~lN 4SR, ENGLAND, Tel: 01-580 3802, Telex:261410 IMM G, Fax: 01-436 5388.

November 20-21, 1991. Minemetal '91, the Second International Symposium on Mining and Metallurgy will be heldin Havana, Cuba, organized by Cuba's Research Centre for the Mining and Metallurgical Industry in associationwith the Laterite Research Centre. For more information contact the Organizing Committee, Minemetal '91,Palacio de las Convenciones, Apartado 16046, La Habana, CUBA, Tel: 22 5511 al 19, Telex: 511609, Fax: 228382.February 4-6, 1992. A conference and exhibition on Minerals, Metals and the Environment will be held inManchester, England organiZed by the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. For more information contact theConference Office, The Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 44 Portland Place, London ~1N 4SR, ENGLAND, Tel:01-580 3802, Telex: 261410 IMM G, Fax: 01-436 5388.

March 18-21, 1992. The Third Asia/Pacific Mining Conference will be held in Manila, Philippines sponsored bythe ASEAN Federation of Mining Associations and hosted by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines. For moreinformation contact The Conference Manager, 3rd Asia/Pacific Mining Conference, Cahners Exposition Group (S)Pte Ltd., 1 Maritime Sure, #12-01, ~orld Trado Cenrre, Singapore 04 9, Tel: 271 1013, Telex: RS 39200, Fax:274 4666.

May 17-19, 1992. The 10th Industrial Minerals International Congress will be held in San Francisco, USA. Formore information contact Joyce Griffiths (Editor), Industrial Minerals, 16 Lower Marsh, London SEl 7RJ, ENGLAND,Telex: 917706, Fax: (071) 928 6539.

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIESInvestment and Technical Assistance Opportunities

Egypt. Promoter seeks financial and technical assistance on a joint-venture basis in order to exploit anabandoned quarry of red~pink porphyry known as imperial stnes, formerly used in ancient Egypt and Rome formonumental works. Areas covers some 50 x 200 metres with estimated depth of 1 200 metres. Rocks are composed

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I,

..

of andesine and hornblende phenocrysts in a ground of glossy mass minerals, coloured through iron oxides andpiedontite. Moustafa Hamdy A.H., Managing Director, Engineering Management & Projects Co., P.O. Box 496, Haadi.Telex: 94039 SALIN-UN.

Ghana. Mining company with licensed concession seeks cooperation and financial assistance, on joint venturebasis, to exploit a gold and diamond deposit. Detailed documentation and maps available on request. SymonKwame Avasim, Managing Director, Basogad Company Ltd., P.O. Box 8054, Accra-North.

Iran (Isla-ic Republic of). Entrepreneur with a mining concession for open-pit perlite and diatomite depositsseeks financial and technical assistance on a joint-venture baisis, with buy-back agreement, to manufacturefilter aids and other industrial products from perlite and diatomite minerals. Chemical analysis of theminerals, land, infrastructure, and low-cost energy available. K. Amini, Silk Road Trading Ltd., No.8, 2ndfloor, Majid Bldg., lman Khomeini Avenue, Bandar Abbas. Telex: 362790 SACO JR.

Nigeria. Entrepreneurs seek financial assistance on a joint-venture basis to cut and polish granite blocksand manufacture floor tiles for export and local markets. Infrastructure, large quarry, labour and technicalstudy of the deposit available. B.A. Momodu, Manager, Jidaire Scientific Co. (Hig.) Ltd., P.O. Box 3333, BeninCity.

Nigeria. Mining company seeks joint-venture partners, with technical know-how, to assist in the quarrying ofsuch mineral deposits as: dolomite, limestone, kaolin, gypsum, bentonite and baryte, and their processing intoindustrial chemicals. J.E. Agenmonmen, Vice-President, Freedom Development Co. Ltd., P.O. Box 2589, Benin City.Telex: 41351 FREECO NG.

Sri Lanka. Mica-mining company seeks know-how and technical advice to process scrap mica into mica sheets.Suren Abeysuriya, Impels Granite Exports (Pvt) Ltd., 85 1/1 'Ward Place, Colombo 7. Telex: 22082 X-POINT.Telefax: 94-1-699754

Zambia. Co-operative union seeks joint-venture partners, plant and equipment, technical hnow-how, trainingand financial assistance to mine dolomitic limestone and manufacture agricultural lime for fertilizers.Composition varies form almost pure calcium carbonate to impure dolomitic marble containing silicate minerals.Joel Chitafu, Chairman, Ndola Rural District Co-operative Union Limited, P.O. Box 86, Masaiti.

Extracted from recent issues of the UNIDO newsletter .

Water 'control and preconcentrating system of an alluvial gold sluicing operation in Ghana

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SMI BulletinPubli shed by theInternational Agency for small-Scale MiningL'Agence Internatlonale pour les Petites Exploitations Mini~res

SMI Is a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening andsupporting the small mining sector as an aide to rural development,social and economic, especially~ but not exclusively, in developing

countries.

Jeffrey Davidson, Chantale PatenaudeEditors

Small Mining International - SMIP.O. Box 6079

Station "A". MontrealQuebec, Canada, H3C 3A7Telephone (514) 340-4040Telefax (514) 340-4191

Jeffrey Davidson, Managing Director

Board of Directors: Roger A. Blais, President, Professor of Engineering at Ecole Polytechnique of Montrealand founding Vice-President of AGIO (Canada); E. Henk Dahlberg, Vice-President, former Director of theGeological Survey and Mini ster of Development of Sur.lname (USA); Malcolm ScobIe, Secretary-Treasurer, DI rectorof the Mining Program at McGill University, (Canada); Calvin Pride, formerly with ID~C's Division of Earthand Engineering Sciences (Tanzania); Antony ~. Berger, Consulting Geologist and founding Secretary-Treasurerof AGIO (Canada); James McDivitt, Mineral Economist, Colorado School of Mines (USA); Mousseau Tremblay, Directorof ID~C's Division of Earth and Engineering Sciences (Canada); Lloyd Quashle, Private Consultant, formerly fromGhana (Canada); S.L. Chakravorty, former Managing Director of West Bengal Mineral Development Corporation andHonorary Chief Adviser MGMI (India); Eugene Thiers, Senior Consultant, SRI International (USA); Wang Ke, Vice­President, China National Non-Ferrous Metals Import and Export Corp. (China); J.-L. Caty, Directeur de lare<:he che geol 9i e, Mini st~re de I' Energi e et des Ressources du Qut!bec (Canada); Rene Dufeur, Di recteur, GenieMineral, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal (Canada); Carlos Oiti Berbert, President, Companhia de Pesqulsa deRecursos Mlnerais - CPRM (Brazil); Rachman Wiriosudarmo, Director, Mining Industy Development, Department ofMines and Energy (Indonesia); Deborah E. Ajakaiye, Dean of Natural Sciences, University of Jos (Nigeria);Jeffrey Davidson, Lecturer, Mining &Metallurgical Engineering Department, McGill University (Canada).

Contributions in English, French, and SpMish on all aspects relatir"G to _ll-sc:ale .ining, including up­cc.lng ewnts and new pml ications, as well as, ~ts and suggestions are welcc.e_

R~ts for info..-tion on .-bership and .u.cription require.ents can be addressed to Sin 'S Managing Directorat the above address.