1. Presenter: N.Batbayar MRPAM
Artisanal and Small Scale Mining in Mongolia: Problems, Potentials and Governmental Perspectives
Presenter: N.Batbayar
MRPAM

2. Background Information
Location:
Central Asia, landlocked between Russia & China
Total territory:
sq. km
Population:
Capital City:
Ulaanbaatar
Climate:
Continental

3. Distribution Map on Artisanal and Small Scale Mining

4. Current situation: 19 Aimags Over 80 Sums Over 100 points
About 65,600 artisanal miners on regular basis
About 10 types of mineral resources

5. Types of mineral resources mined out by ASMs
Mineral resources Percentage of ASMs
Gold hard rock and placer mines %
Fluorspar %
Coal %
Color stone %
Tin %
Tungsten %
Mica %
Gypsum %
Natural salt %
Petrified wood %

6. Economic significance
Gold ,6 kg
Fluorspar ,400 tons
Coal ,000 tons
Total US $ 23,218,100
GDP 0,9 %
Total industrial
Output 3.1%
Total mining
Products 6,2%
In black economy the amounts will be increased by 3 – 5 times more.

7. Advantages:
Increase tax income amounts to be retained into the state budget
Employment generation
Increase in revolving cash at local level
Complete use of mineral resources and reduce wastes

8. Disadvantages: Destroy vegetation cover Soil erosion Dust
Water pollution
Dryness of water sources
Use of chemicals e.g. mercury & cyanide
Adverse impact on human health & population gene fund

9. Continued: Local administration Formal mining companies,
Local communities,
Conflicts among parties
Difficulties in access to school, health care & social welfare service
Increase in crimes and violations

10. Continued: Casualties Accidents
Illegal trade of gold and precious metals,
Use of mercury, cyanide & natrium,
Smuggling of explosives through black economy

11. MRPAM
Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (MRPAM), a Governmental Regulatory Agency in Mongolia, is the State Administrative Organization that regulates all the relations and policies with regard to the issuance of licenses and special permits of exploration and mining of mineral resources and oil and keeping/maintaining of geological and mining cadastre records, and enforcement of legislations e.g. the Mongolian Laws on Minerals, Earth Bowel, Oil, and Oil Products, and relevant regulations, Governmental Action Plans, and policy guidelines of Ministry of Industry and Trade.

12. Measures by the Government:
““Provisional Regulation on Artisanal and Small Scale Mining” was issued by an Order by Minister of Industry and Trade provisional and artisanal and small scale mining operations in the country are regulated,
Under the National Program on Development of Mineral Resource Sector up to 2015 a Sub-Program on Development of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining up to 2015 is developed and discussed.
Draft Law on Artisanal and Small Scale Mining that is to regulate ASM operation according to the responsible mining principles was developed and submitted it to the Parliament for discussion and approval.
A department of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining MRPAM was newly established at MRPAM.
Since 2005 the MRPAM is implementing a project Sustainable Artisanal Mining with support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
A national committee is organized to strengthen cooperation for improved ASM legal and regulatory framework

13. Problems:
Approval of draft Law on Artisanal and Small Scale Mining is delayed.
ASMs do frequently migrate from place to place;
It is still a question what forms of organizations are more workable for ASMs”
No appropriate ASM technologies and operational safety rules are developed.
No neutralizing and detoxifying of chemicals e.g. mercury, & cyanide

14. Governmental Perspectives:
ASM is potential for the following three mining sites:
1. Conduct ASM in the mining sites with non-industrial resource reserves that were identified by exploration within mining companies’ licensed areas;
2. Allow ASM in the mining sites that are not economically important for industrial mining after resource reserves of the sites are identified by geological survey-exploration;
3. Conduct ASM in techno-genic deposits in mined out areas;

15. Continued:
These proposed actions by the Government of Mongolia are ideal for immediate future and midterm action plans and the policy support on generation of alternative income sources for artisanal miners and transformation of small scale mining into middle and large scale mining operations.

16. Thanks for your attention.