Tarras-Wahlberg N H
Swedish Geological AB, Box 19090, 104 32 Stockholm, Sweden.
J Environ Manage. 2002 Jun;65(2):165-79. doi: 10.1006/jema.2002.0542.
This paper considers technical measures and policy initiatives needed to improve environmental management in the Portovelo-Zaruma mining district of southern Ecuador. In this area, gold is mined by a large number of small-scale and artisanal operators, and discharges of cyanide and metal-laden tailings have had a severe impact on the shared Ecuadorian-Peruvian Puyango river system. It is shown to be technically possible to confine mining waste and tailings at a reasonable cost. However, the complex topography of the mining district forces tailings management to be communal, where all operators are connected to one central tailings impoundment. This, in turn, implies two things: (i) that a large number of operators must agree to pool resources to bring such a facility into reality; and (ii) that miners must move away from rudimentary operations that survive on a day-to-day basis, towards bigger, mechanized and longer-term sustainable operations that are based on proven ore reserves. It is deemed unlikely that existing environmental regulations and the provision of technical solutions will be sufficient to resolve the environmental problems. Important impediments relate to the limited financial resources available to each individual miner and the problems of pooling these resources, and to the fact that the main impacts of pollution are suffered downstream of the mining district and, hence, do not affect the miners themselves. Three policy measures are therefore suggested. First, the enforcement of existing regulations must be improved, and this may be achieved by the strengthening of the central authority charged with supervision and control of mining activities. Second, local government involvement and local public participation in environmental management needs to be promoted. Third, a clear policy should be defined which promotes the reorganisation of small operations into larger units that are strong enough to sustain rational exploration and environmental obligations. The case study suggests that mining policy in lesser-developed countries should develop to enable small-scale and artisanal miners to form entities that are of a sufficiently large scale to allow adequate and cost-effective environmental protection.
本文探讨了改善厄瓜多尔南部波特维洛-萨鲁马矿区环境管理所需的技术措施和政策举措。在该地区，大量小规模和个体采矿者从事金矿开采，氰化物和含金属尾矿的排放对厄瓜多尔和秘鲁共享的普扬戈河河水系造成了严重影响。研究表明，以合理成本限制采矿废弃物和尾矿在技术上是可行的。然而，矿区复杂的地形使得尾矿管理必须采用社区化方式，即所有采矿者都连接到一个中央尾矿库。这反过来意味着两件事：（i）大量采矿者必须同意集中资源，以使这样的设施得以实现；（ii）采矿者必须从日常维持生计的原始作业方式，转向基于已探明矿石储量的更大规模、机械化和更长期可持续的作业方式。现有的环境法规和技术解决方案不太可能足以解决环境问题。重要的障碍包括每个个体采矿者可用资金有限以及集中这些资源存在问题，还包括污染的主要影响发生在矿区下游，因此不会影响采矿者自身。因此，建议采取三项政策措施。首先，必须加强现有法规的执行力度，这可以通过加强负责监督和控制采矿活动的中央机构来实现。其次，需要促进地方政府参与以及当地公众参与环境管理。第三，应制定明确的政策，推动将小规模作业重组为更大的单位，这些单位要有足够实力来维持合理的勘探活动并履行环境义务。该案例研究表明，欠发达国家的采矿政策应不断发展，以使小规模和个体采矿者能够组建规模足够大的实体，从而实现充分且具有成本效益的环境保护。
