A practical approach for the management of resources and reserves in Small-Scale Mining

Gold losses and mercury recovery in artisanal gold mining on the Madeira River, Brazil

“…Nowadays, the impact of the AGM in the area has drastically decreased (Bastos et al, 2006) but the lack of support from governments, poor technical management and a high interest in immediate profits mean that Hg releases and emission remain a problem in the region (Veiga and Hinton, 2002). Improvement of the current situation requires deeper knowledge of the operating methods, and participation of the miners in the transformations and the decision-making process is paramount to convert them into small, responsible entrepreneurs (Seccatore et al, 2013;Hinton et al, 2003). The present study is part of such an effort.…”

Chilean artisanal mining: a gambling scenario

“…This includes geological exploration, analysis, review and modeling of indicated or measured resources and the study of alternative mining scenarios to exploit such resources. Nevertheless, while being largely diffused in a standardized manner in Large-Scale Mining, with large investments applied and state-of-the-art technologies employed, AM does not employ any kind of exploration, modelling or planning (Seccatore et al, 2013). As analyzed in Seccatore et al (2013), what results is a "gambling" scenario for the operators of AM: with the limited economic resources available, they invest directly in the operation, without previous geological exploration, restricting their operational planning on the available information, experience from previous operations and, often, simply on instinct.…”

Matriz de priorização aplicada à pesquisa mineral na pequena mineração.

“…Seccatore et al (2014) propõem uma abordagem para a pesquisa mineral na pequena mineração diferente daquela da mineração de grande porte. Na visão dos autores, a atratividade para o investimento na pequena mineração encontra-se apenas em provar, na fase inicial do negócio, uma reserva mineral mínima suficiente para possibilitar o retorno rápido do investimento.…”