Deep within the rugged expanses of Mozambique’s central and northern provinces,stretching across Manica, Tete, Zambézia, Nampula, Niassa, and Cabo Delgado,more than 100,000 artisanal miners toil daily to extract gold from the earth. Responsible for 100 percent of the nation’s artisanal gold production, these small-scale prospectors form the backbone of a sprawling informal economy. Yet, beneath the promise of wealth lies a quiet health and environmental crisis driven by a toxic, persistent accomplice: mercury.
Now, the Mozambican government is launching a transformative campaign to turn this dangerous, informal frontier into a safe, sustainable, formal industry. By drawing on international best practices, Mozambique is preparing to join PlanetGOLD,a global initiative spanning 23 countries that has already prevented the emission of more than 1,200 tons of mercury. The ultimate objective is clear: eliminate the hazardous chemical from gold processing while integrating artisanal miners into the formal economy.
Although the country’s mining safety regulations have banned mercury since 2006, the chemical remains widely used across mining camps because of its low cost and ease of amalgamating gold. However, the human and environmental toll is staggering. The World Health Organization ranks mercury among the top ten chemicals of major public health concern, noting its ability to inflict severe, permanent neurological and physical damage,causing kidney failure, hand tremors, memory loss, muscle atrophy, and lifelong disabilities, while poisoning local water tables and soil.
Mozambique is now committing to a decisive shift over the next five years through targeted legislative reforms across the mining, environmental, and climate change sectors. This strategic push builds on its commitments as a signatory to the Minamata Convention on Mercury and follows its earlier pilot work under a GEF/UNIDO National Action Plan.
“The reform will enable Mozambique to join the global PlanetGold project, which aims to eliminate mercury use in gold mining,” explained Sónia Muando, National Director of Environment and Climate Change at the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries, speaking during a recent preparatory seminar. “The government is committed to changing this situation over the next five years through the implementation of legislative reforms in the mining and environment/climate change sectors.”
The overhaul relies on a coordinated, two-pronged governmental strategy. The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, through the National Mining Institute, will lead the formalization pillar,transitioning wildcat prospectors into licensed cooperatives, issuing official small-scale mining titles, and establishing transparent, state-backed gold-buying centers that pay fair market prices. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries will spearhead the environmental and health pillar, monitoring contaminated waterways, rehabilitating degraded landscapes, and introducing clean processing technologies.
Crucially, removing mercury does not mean sacrificing yields. Drawing on lessons from African peers like Kenya, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania, as well as Mongolia, Mozambique plans to champion chemical-free gravimetric techniques,such as concentration tables, sluices, and centrifugal concentrators,alongside the highly effective borax method.
“Experience gained in countries already participating in PlanetGOLD points out to replacing mercury with gravimetric technologies and the borax method,” noted project consultant Edward Ndirangu. “The latter is capable of recovering up to 95 percent of gold without toxic chemicals and yields better results than the amalgamation process. Participation will allow Mozambique to access financing, technical assistance, and formal international markets for traceable, mercury-free gold.”
For a nation striving to balance economic opportunity with environmental stewardship, the road ahead is anchored by ambitious metrics. Under its National Adaptation Plan, Mozambique aims to formalize at least 60 percent of active artisanal miners and slash mercury use in small-scale gold mining by 50 percent by 2030. If successful, the country won’t just clean up its gold supply chain,it will safeguard the health and livelihoods of tens of thousands of mining families for generations to come.
