Introduction

The role of small-scale mining worldwide, both in developed and developing countries, should not be underestimated. It must be taken into consideration that the definition "small-scale mining" varies greatly from country to country. The criteria used here are cost of investment (less than 1,000,000- US$), number of employees (up to 100 employees), crude ore production rate (less than 100,000 t/a), annual sales, size of the mining concession, amount of reserves, or a combination of these individual criteria. These criteria are still under discussion, and uniform guidelines based on objective criteria have not yet been established.

Consequently small-scale mining in developing countries is defined by subjective criteria, some of which characterize this sector as a craft-activity:

- the absence or low degree of mechanization due to a high proportion of heavy manual labor,

- low safety standards,

- poorly-trained personnel,

- lack of technical personnel in the plant, resulting in deficient planning in both mining and processing activities,

- comparatively poor utilization of resources due to nonselective mining of high-grade ores and poor recovery,

- low pay scale,

- low work productivity,

- periods of non-continuous mining, as a result of mining only seasonally or when world market prices reach a certain minimum level,

- insufficient consideration of environmental impact

- chronic lack of capital,

- some illegal operations due to mining without concession rights.

In general, the situation in small-scale mining can be characterized as a vicious circle that, without external assistance, can hardly be broken:

Figure

Despite the difficult conditions that beset small-scale mining, the industry holds a substantial position in mining worldwide. Of the total world mining production, a considerable proportion is accounted for by small-scale mining.

Table: Precentage of Total World Production of Selected Raw Materials/Minerals represented by Small-Scale Mining (Source: Noetstaller)

Metals				Industrial minerals
beryllium	100 %	iron	12 %	fluorite	90 %	barite	60 %
mercury	90 %	lead	11 %	graphite	90 %	sand and gravel	30 %
tungsten	80 %	zinc	11 %	talc	90 %	stones for building	30 %
chrome	50 %	cobalt	10 %	vermiculite	90 %	salt	20 %
antimony	45 %	gold	10 %	pumice	90 %	coal	20 %
manganese	18 %	silver	10 %	feldespar	80 %	asbestos	10 %
tin	15 %	copper	8 %	clay	75 %	phosphate	10 %
				gypsum	70 %

For many developing countries throughout the world, small-scale mining provides an important source of income as well as a significant source of foreign monetary exchange.

Table: The Most Important Small-Scale Mining Countries and Coresponding Minerals Processed (Source: Noetstaller)

Country	Raw Material mined by Small-Scale Mining
Latin America
Argentine	antimony, asbestos, beryl, lithium, mercury, bismuth, tungsten
Bolivia	antimony, lead, gold, sulphur, silver, tungsten, zinc, tin
Brazil	beryl, chromite, gold, precious stones, titanium, tin
Chile	barite, lead, gold, copper, manganese, mercury, sulphur, coal
Dominican Republic	gold
Guatemala	antimony, lead, mica, manganese, tin, tungsten
Colombia	antimony, lead, chromite, precious stones, iron, gold, coal, platinum mercury, zinc,
Cuba	copper, manganese, pyrite
Mexico	fluorite, mercury, sulphur, uranium, tin
Peru	antimony, lead, diatomite, gold, copper, manganese, molybdenum, silver, bismuth, zinc, tin
Venezuela	asbestos, diamonds, gold
Ecuador	gold
Asia
Myanmar	antimony, manganese, tin, tungsten
China	antimony, iron, coal, tin, tungsten
India	barite, borates, iron, mica, coal, manganese, tin
Indonesia	gold, tin
Iran	barite, lead, copper, zinc
Malaysia	gold, iron, manganese, zinc, tin, tungsten
Papua-New Guinea	gold
Philippines	chromite, gold, coal, copper, silver, zinc
Thailand	antimony, tin, tungsten
Turkey	lead, chromite, copper, magnesite, mercury, zinc
Africa
Algeria	antimony, barite, diatomite, mercury, zinc
Ethiopia	gold, manganese, platinum
Gabon	gold
Ghana	diamonds, gold
Kenya	beryl, precious stones, gold, copper, silver
Lesotho	diamonds
Liberia	diamonds, gold
Madagaskar	gold, rare earth, bismuth
Morocco	antimony, barite, lead, manganese, zinc, tin
Nigeria	asbestos, barite, lead, gold, zinc, tin
Rwanda	beryl, gold, tin, tungsten
Sierra Leone	diamonds
Tunesia	lead, mercury, zinc
Tanzania	diamonds, mica, gold, magnesite, precious stones, tin, tungsten
Uganda	beryl, bismuth, tungsten
Central African Rep.	diamonds, gold
Zimbabwe	antimony, beryl, chromite, precious stones, mica, gold, copper, lithium, manganese, silver

Small-scale mining activities and mine workers have an integral interrelationship with their surroundings -nature, culture and people, technology and economy: mining disturbs nature through the depletion of its natural resources and its deleterious impact on the environment, which it is dependent upon for its energy and raw materials. Mining on the one hand, and culture and people on the other, have greatly influenced each other since prehistoric times: mining activities provided culturally significant metals and precious stones; mining has always, still to this day, led the way for rural and technological development. Mining, with its tools and equipment, utilizes this technology to generate income through the materials it produces. This interrelationship can be depicted as follows:

Figure

A comprehensive promotion of small-scale mining must consider the social suitability, assessed needs, profitability and environmental compatibility; only then can subsequent improvements in the working conditions of small-scale miners be achieved. In particular, the following measures are essential:

Table: Catalogue of possible Promotion Measures for the various Stages of Production

	On-site technical and organizational consultation	Research and development	Policy on raw materials
Exploration	Training in: - analysis - deposit geology and mineralogy - geological mapping	Development of appropriate: - methods of analysis - instrument kits	National assistance through: - regional exploration programs - providing suitable maps - service facilities - reducing bureaucratic requirements
Mining, Exploitation	Training in organization and implementation of: - exploration activities - safety measures - mining operation - mecanization - training in the operation of machines	Development of appropriate: - mining methods and equipment - haulage facilities - safety procedures - ventilation methods	Implementation of: - security and health control - technical advice Devising a social security system for small-scale mining
Beneficiation	Training in: - operation of machines - planning, operation, optimization and supervision of beneficiation plants - water management - handling/treatment of chemicals which are hazardous to health and the environment	Development of appropriate: - crushing and grinding equipment - beneficiation techniques and machines for small-scale mining, e.g.: - mobile systems - heap leaching - flotation - mechanization of equipment - analysis of concentrates	Promotion and construction of: - central processing plants - infrastructure for - transportation - water source facilities
Marketing, Investments	Training in: - plant management - marketing - accounting - profitability calculations - credit/loan facilitation - cooperatives	Development of appropriate: - credit schemes for small- scale mining - organizational structures - advertising	formulation of raw material policy suited to small-scale mining - debureaucratization - legalizing small mines - government purchase of products at market prices - management consulting - credit and tax incentives

The objective of this technical handbook on small-scale mining is to provide technical alternatives and organizational improvements for small-scale mining. The goal of these technical innovations is to assist the small-scale mining industry in numerous ways in solving its problems; specifically, this can be accomplished by:

- improving operational success by increasing mine output,
- job generation with low specific cost,
- improving the quality of social and economic living conditions,
- increasing production through semi-mechanization¹⁾ using regenerative sources of energy,
- improving job safety, and
- minimizing environmental impact.

¹⁾Semi-mecanization is defined here as a form of mechanization in which only individual steps of the total mining and beneficiation operations are mechyanized (e.g. mechanization of the crushing process by use of a breaker). Additionally, semi-mechanization also defines an operation in which the control and feeding of the machine are performed entirely manually.

The techniques or methods discussed in this handbook are summarized according to five categories: analysis, surface and underground mining, beneficiation, and energy supply. In addition to purely technical solutions, the handbook also provides alternatives for improvement of organizational problems typical to small-scale mining. In conjunction with that, historical mining machines, modern small-scale mining equipment, and traditional techniques were examined within the scope of the investigation. The integration of the historical, modern and traditional elements serves as the basis here for the development of an appropriate technology.

This technology is aimed not only at the small-scale miners themselves. The majority of the mining and dressing techniques identified to be applicable for small-scale mining, due to their suitability for local production, offer various approaches to the promotion of crafts and small manufacturing industries.

The craftsmen and the small to medium-scale manufacturers can especially profit from the production of machines and facilities for the small-scale mining industry and resulting diversification of product lines when

- competetive products do not yet exist on the local market, and

- if the local market for mining and processing equipment is protected from the import market as a result of, amongst others, import duties, shortage of foreign exchange, and high transportation costs.

Small-scale craftmen or manufacturers associated with the mining industry can:

- deliver faster and cheaper

- more accurately meet the customers needs

- benefit from the relationship to become independent and self-organized

- shorten repair and maintenance time, which is especially important in seasonal small-scale mining operations.

The following results are expected from the application of the recommended technical and organizational improvements for small-scale mining in developing countries:

- local production of equipment for appropriate mining and beneficiation technology by craftshops and small-scale manufacturers. This would be developed to meet demand within the country itself and, in addition, could lead to the intensification of a South-South cooperation

- consultancy for small-scale mining operations, accompanied by installation of appropriate equipment, support for adaption developments, etc.

- educational measures; training of small-scale mining personnel, planners and consultants in suitable educational facilities, for example in the areas of analysis, geology, mineral-deposit geology, work organization and techniques in mining and beneficiation, work safety, marketing and economics

- development of new concepts for environmentally and economically advantageous energy supply systems, such as the use of renewable energy sources

- development and implementation of environmental protection measures in small-scale mining (e.g. decreasing the amount of lumber needed for mine supports, reducing or even eliminating mercury emissions in the gold amalgamation process, addressing problems of cyanide-leaching in gold-ore processing, reducing contamination of waste water by, for example, reagents from flotation processing or slurry effluents from beneficiation operations).

The effects of such a politically-instigated developmental program would include creating and securing jobs in the non-agricultural sector, qualifying workers in the mining and craft industries, import-substitution of raw materials in the industrial, energy, and agricultural sectors, substituting locally- manufactured for imported machinery and equipment, as well as contributing to regional development.

As a whole, these measures lead to the internalizing of costs and income in the areas influenced by mining i.e. the mines themselves, the craft and manufacturing industries, as well as the suppliers of raw materials.