Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) 's Mining Impacts Calculator estimates the environmental, social and economic impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) operations.The Mining Impacts Calculator includes the impacts of ASGM on deforestation and the human health consequences of mercury contamination in the rivers and ecosystems local populations depend on. In each country where we are implementing the tool, CSF's team trains key stakeholders to apply the tool to their regions and use it to hold mining companies accountable for the environmental and social harm they can cause. CSF prioritizes the training of national and local government representatives, police departments, justice operators, civil society organizations, local communities, and indigenous peoples.
This tool was originally developed for the Brazilian government in 2021 and has been helping the government better protect local communities from the negative impacts of gold mining across the country.
In 2022, with support from the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program, CSF worked to bolster the capacity of institutions in Brazil, Colombia, Peru to assess the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of gold mining by adapting economic tools such as the Mining Impacts Calculator to the Peruvian and Colombian contexts.
In parallel, CSF was a finalist for the Conservation X Labs' Artisanal Mining Grand Challenge: The Amazon for an adaptation of our Mining Impacts Calculator in Ecuador. By 2023, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), CSF began expanding methodologies for the Calculator’s use in Guyana and Suriname, in addition to promoting its formal use in government institutions in Ecuador (for more information in Spanish click here, and in English click here).
In 2024, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation supported CSF's work to expand the tool's scope to include more Amazon regions Amazonas, Ucayali, and San Martín. Currently, in Peru, the tool is estimating the economic impact of illegal gold mining in Loreto and Madre de Dios. In order to ensure the practical application of the Calculator in Peru, CSF is working to incorporate the costs associated with the remediation of water bodies contaminated by the use of mercury as part of the economic valuation analysis. Similarly, the productivity generated by the machinery and/or equipment used in illegal mining (alluvial and/or fluvial) would be added to the economic valuation.
With new support from the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program, we are now adapting this innovative tool for use in Bolivia. This expansion to Bolivia will include capacity-building efforts for local stakeholders to empower them to use the Calculator to assess the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of gold mining at every opportunity.
With the addition of Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador, Colombia, and Bolivia to our Mining Impacts Calculator, and the updated methodology in Peru, organizations in all these countries can now join an ongoing international effort to reduce environmentally destructive mining practices, discourage the use of mercury and promote cleaner mining technologies across the sector.
This regional use of the same Calculator will foster cooperation and collaboration across borders. Organizations in all these countries can now join an ongoing international effort to reduce environmentally destructive mining practices, discourage the use of mercury and promote cleaner mining technologies across the sector.
Thank you to our partners at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the World Bank's Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Program for supporting the expansion of this tool.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
