About 20% of gold exports come from the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (MAPE), which, for the most part, is within the informal sector of the economy, despite the fact that Peru is the main producer of this mineral in Latin America and the eighth in the world.
In this framework, the NGO Solidaridad and the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MINEM), through the General Directorate of Mining Training (DGFM), offer workshops to miners, between men and women, from all over the country to strengthen the policy national in favor of small and artisanal mining as part of the Revaloro project.
“One of the fundamental pillars of the Revaloro project is the visibility and empowerment of unions of men and women dedicated to ASM. In this case, Solidaridad, through an agreement with the DGFM, has been working to strengthen the National ASM Policy in order for the miner to be heard and participate as decision-makers in their sector ”, stated Luis Landa, Coordinator of the Revaloro project of the NGO Solidaridad.
More than 100 miners from Madre de Dios, Arequipa and La Libertad participated in face-to-face workshops
Members of DGFM and Solidaridad highlighted the importance of having a public policy for small-scale mining and artisanal mining during the first workshop in Madre de Dios. In these spaces for dialogue, these entities seek to validate in a consensual way the problems that afflict the mining community, as well as to collect alternative solutions based on their proposals.
The workshops were attended by important representatives of the Government such as the congressman from the region Eduardo Salhuana Cavides; the Vice Minister of Mines of MINEM, Jorge Chávez Cresta; the president of the Federation of Small Miners and Artisanal Miners of Arequipa; Máximo Adolfo Franco Bequer; the director of DGFM, Alberto Rojas, among other prominent figures.
“The purpose of this policy is to consolidate a country vision for the sustainable development of small mining and artisanal mining, which will contribute, among other aspects, with the insertion into the formal economy of tens of thousands of miners who work in this stratum, under an approach of respect for the environment, personal safety and other regulations ”, explained Alberto Rojas, director of DGFM.
During the second workshop in Trujillo, the union federations of Cajamarca, La Libertad, Áncash and Piura pointed out that, mainly, the issue of ownership of the concession should be considered in politics, as well as the need for the miner to have the possibility to pay taxes and make their activity sustainable over time.
Finally, mining unions from Arequipa, Apurímac, Ica and Ayacucho reminded the authorities that small miners in the process of formalization are not the same as illegal miners. In the case of Arequipa, where the third workshop was held, the majority of artisanal miners in the process of formalization affirmed that they carry out their activity in barren and desert areas, suitable for mining, and that they only need the political will of the rulers to improve the rules that allow its formalization.
Solidaridad and MINEM will hold new workshops in Nazca, Cajamarca and Apurímac by 2022
Alberto Rojas, director of the MINEM (DGFM), announced that by 2022 the MINEM plans to hold new macro-regional workshops in Nazca, Cajamarca and Apurímac, in order to receive more contributions, proposals and concerns from mining actors in the country. In this way, a sector with a broad impact on the local and regional economy will be strengthened.
