Coexistence between large-scale mining (LSM) and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Perú and Colombia

Abstract

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is common in mineral-rich locations in the developing world, generating a significant share of production for commodities such as gold. This sector is expanding due to economic and environmental pressures. Large-scale mining (LSM) will also need to expand to meet future demand for minerals and metal resources. The likelihood that these expansions will result in further points of contact between the LSM and ASM sectors is high. In this scenario, coexistence between ASM and LSM is key and should be seen as the capacity to build synergies and operate together. Our aim is to document the characteristics of sites where a LSM-ASM coexistence has been attempted, to identify key characteristics that are permissive or indicative of success. We built a database of sites in Colombia and Peru where ASM and LSM both occur, documenting the technical characteristics such as deposit and mineralization type, mining methods, recovery process and the social context including ethnicity, demographics, economic activities, and social organizations. We observed that coexistence occurs between ASM and both junior and senior LSM companies, covering all the stages of the mining cycle. Coexistence scenarios are most common in gold projects but cover a wide variety of deposit types including epithermal, porphyry and VMS among others. We observed differences in the mining laws between Colombia and Perú which result in contrasting approaches to ASM formalization, leading to variation in the observed coexistence scenarios. We conclude that governments have taken significant efforts to create tools for LSM companies and holders of mining titles to reach agreements with ASM miners. However, governments have failed to give ancestral ASM miners who do not belong to an ethnic minority the tools to defend their livelihoods, resulting in power-imbalanced negotiations. Nevertheless, the success of these agreements largely depends on the willingness of the parties to collaborate.