Mercury and Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Miners (ASGM)

Before MBMM was incorporated, we created the not-for-profit ASM Sluice Program, with the purpose of getting our Popandson sluice technology into the hands of the ASM community. Over the past 15 years, we’ve distributed hundreds of manufacturing/instruction packets for the Popandson sluice enabling fabrication in the field and promoting mercury-free mining practices.

The World Bank funded our participation at the CASM conference in Mongolia, where we demonstrated our Popandson sluice technology as a viable alternative to mercury amalgamation. Forty Popandson sluices along with their building schematics were delivered directly to Mongolian miners.

Currently, we have 18 employees and equipment in over 50 countries. Our largest markets are Africa, Central America, North America and Oceana. Mining is still our single largest demand, but other applications for our processing equipment include scrap metal recycling, PCB recycling, concrete and demolition debris crushing.

Donated a 4’ x 8′ shaker table to Julius Opyio at the MICA cooperative. Traveled to Migori, Kenya for set-up and training. It remains a beneficial resource and healthy alternative to the practice of mercury use in gold mining. Click here to see a video of our final set-up and maiden run of MICA’s new shaker table.

Met with the wonderful team at CIRDI to discuss ways we might combine our efforts to alleviate mercury usage within the ASGM sector. We delivered an in-kind donation of 2 smelting crucibles, 3 fine gold Popandson sluices, and 3 mercury retorts, along with the building schematics for the Popandson sluice, which they will deliver into the field.

Trip to Kenya. We visited the counties of Lolgorian, Migori, Oyugis, and Kakamega where we meet with many individuals focused on making a difference in the health and livelihood of the mining community. During our time in Migori, we participated in an ASGM Formalization and Gender course facilitated by CIRDI, where we taught a segment on mercury-free gold liberation methods including direct smelting and use of our MBMM shaker table.

Attended the COP2 Conference of the Minamata Convention on Mercury in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to stay abreast of latest developments and network with people who share our commitment to improved mining solutions. While in attendance, we distributed flash drives detailing our participation and chemical-free alternatives to gold recovery.

Joined the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership. The partnership consists of stakeholders from governments, industry, non-governmental organizations and academia who are active in reducing mercury pollution and protecting human health and the environment from the impacts of mercury.