Cambodia's north easternmost province is named after two of its distinctive features: Ratanakiri, a combination of the Khmer words for "gem" (Ratana) and "mountain" (Kiri). Characterised by hills, highlands and ample gemstone deposits, the province is also well known for its lush tropical forests and diverse wildlife on one hand, as well as for intense logging and large-scale agricultural plantations on the other.
On one of these plantations in Ou Chum district, between lines upon lines of rubber trees, dozens of families are digging the red earth for the province's most abundant gem: zircon. Narrow, unsupported shafts reach 10 to 12 meters into the ground, from where the miners take dug-out soil to the surface with tackles made from wood. Young men do most of this physical work, using only manual equipment, every now and then taking a break from the heat and the dirt. Women sit besides piles of excavated material, sifting it by hand in search for the small dark-red stones. Small children play close by, sometimes helping with the sifting. The families are farmers form a nearby village where they return to at the end of the day with a few thousand Riel (one to three dollars) in their pocket, if they're lucky.
For farmers like them, zircon mining is a source of additional revenue in the dry season, when harvesting is over and not much work remains to be done on the farm. However, often already the poorest of their communities, they barely benefit from mining. Most of their finds are small and fissured stones, worth less than a dollar. Sometimes bigger, clearer and more valuable ones turn up, but in return for the permission to dig between the rubber trees the miners have to sell all their findings to the plantation owner. Roaming the site to make sure nothing is hidden away, he is the one to set the price, as many of the miners are not able to determine the value of their finds. From the plantation, the yield is then brought to Banlung, the provincial capital, or other bigger towns where the zircon is heated and cut before it is exported or sold on to Thai traders.
Small-scale mining operations like this one are widespread in Ratanakiri and other parts of Cambodia. Gemstones have been mined in similar traditional, manual ways by generations of farmers. However, gem resources seem to have dwindled in the last few years. Stones mined are now often of low quality and miners must dig deeper to reach deposits, often still relying on their basic equipment.
Moreover, the dynamics of ASM have changed in recent years. Only a small number of the miners are still local farmer families, as more and more migrants from other parts of the province or the country move to mining sites. In 2004, a study found 10,000 people to be directly involved in ASM in Cambodia, while another study from the same year estimated 5000 to 6000 to be employed in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. These numbers are likely to have increased over the past few years due to in-migration. Pressures of population growth as well as countrywide issues around land tenure, private property rights and widespread forced evictions contribute to this, leaving parts of the population without land and employment, making them entirely dependent on mining for their livelihoods.
In search for better and richer deposits, these miners move beyond farmland and plantations, quite often into remote mountainous or forested areas, sometimes in small rush-like movements. Some of these sites can only be reached by foot during the rainy season. At the mining camps, people often live in makeshift shelters made from bamboo, timber and tarpaulin, without access to health care or education. Frequently there is no running water, sanitary facilities or electricity.
Health and Environmental Impacts
To reach deeper deposits, and to exploit them more efficiently, the miners increasingly use mechanic equipment run by petrol. Even though it seems that in gemstone mining no chemicals are used, such increasing mechanisation and the use of water to wash out excavated material causes negative environmental impacts. Local communities and miners, in Ratanakiri predominantly minority peoples, have observed that streams are polluted by run-off from mines, leading to the death of fish, shrimps and crabs. Not only does the communities' diet depend on fish, the streams are also their source of drinking water, which they often consume without boiling. Generally, small-scale gem mining and makeshift camps contribute to deforestation and land erosion. Mining sites are often abandoned without proper refilling of shafts and tunnels, leaving deforested land unsuitable for farming. These impacts, however, also need to be seen in relation to the environmental and social consequences of concessions for large-scale agricultural plantations and (often illegal) logging, two of the main causes of deforestation in Ratanakiri.
While gem resources have been decreasing, migrant miners are increasingly drawn to Cambodia's gold deposits, sometimes located in or around protected ecosystems. In Ratanakiri, the province associated with the richest gold deposits, a forested area in Ou Ya Dav district called "Prey Meas", literally "Gold Forest", has been attracting miners for years - sometimes whole families have moved to the camps in the hope of finding wealth here. Deforestation is extensive, as miners cut timber to support shafts and tunnels. They frequently suffer from malaria and other infectious or parasitic diseases, and are exposed to chemicals used in processing gold, especially through mercury contamination of food sources. Both deforestation and mercury pollution negatively affect minority communities living nearby, as they depend on the forest and rivers for their survival.
Similar impacts are observed at other ASGM sites: At Preuk Mountain in Battambang province, there have been incidences of dead cattle and poisoned fish, presumably through surface and ground water pollution by chemicals used in nearby gold mining operations. In previous years, more and more migrants have come to the site, replacing local farmers and their manual tools with increased mechanisation and the use of mercury and other chemicals.
In Prey Long forest, a large area of primary evergreen forest with exceptional biodiversity situated between Preah Vihear, Stung Treng and Kampong Thom provinces, the high gold price has recently caused a similar rush for the precious metal. Migrants have moved to the sites where previously only local minority people had mined. Mines have sprung up along Prey Long's rivers, contaminating the water with chemicals like cyanide, with disastrous consequences for the environment and communities living further downstream.
Logging and Extractives Impact on ASM Communities
It's not only damaging impacts on health and the environment that local and ASM communities are struggling with. In a move to develop the mining sector, the Cambodian government has been issuing exploration licences to larger-scale local and foreign companies in the past years. Already in 2009, exploration and mining activities were reported in six of Cambodia's 23 protected areas. In Ratanakiri, by 2010, more than 30% of the province's size had been contracted to companies for the prospecting of minerals, with concessions located even within Virachey National Park.
These exploration activities have in some cases led to disputes with local or ASM communities and caused negative environmental impacts. In Ratanakiri, minority peoples have complained about deforestation, land encroachment and pollution of rivers by mining company waste disposals. In Mondulkiri province's Keo Seima district there have been reports of companies using their exploration licences to extract gold without holding a mining licence. And in the Prey Long forest area, companies with exploration licences for iron and gold have reportedly logged timber and fenced off large areas of forest from local minority communities and artisanal miners.
While the government encourages large-scale mine development and investment and allows such companies considerable leeway in their dealings – not least because many of them are connected to the country's ruling elite - the authorities' reaction to ASM has been mostly restrictive. With the argument of having to protect public health and the environment, ASM activity is often criminalised; mines are raided and cracked down on, sometimes by police and military, and miners using mechanic equipment or mining on concession land are arrested.
The challenges and opportunities of ASM have only recently been brought to the attention of Cambodian policymakers through the advocacy of international donors and domestic NGOs. With the support of UNEP, the Ministry of Environment has developed a five-year plan to manage mercury use in gold mining, including capacity building and awareness raising activities. UNDP and Oxfam America, as well as the Extractive Industry Social and Environmental Impacts Network, have developed recommendations and policy options for the authorities, emphasising the importance of formalisation instead of criminalisation. They advocate for an effective regulatory and licensing system for larger-scale companies and ASM, technical and financial assistance for miners as well as the promotion of alternative livelihoods and economic diversification.
As the development of the Cambodian mining sector is progressing, ASM should not be neglected anymore. Considering the enormous risks posed to people and the environment, the Cambodian government as well as mining companies need to take greater responsibility in addressing the challenges of both ASM and LSM in a holistic and equitable way.
Through its Guest Blog Series, the ASM-PACE Programme invites ASM experts to share their knowledge, experiences and opinions on issues pertaining to ASM, and particularly on ASM in protected areas and critical ecosystems, with the aim to foster continued dialogue, country-specific learning and share best practices on ASM interventions.
The blogs posted on this site do not represent the views of the ASM-PACE Programme, its donors or partners, or the author’s organization, unless otherwise specified.
