Socioeconomic cost of dredge boat gold mining in the Tapajós basin, eastern Amazon
Socioeconomic cost of dredge boat gold mining in the Tapajós basin, eastern Amazon
With the rapid expansion of artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in the Brazilian Amazon, an increasing number of studies have attempted to estimate the impacts and socio-environmental costs of ASGM using economic valuation methods. However, most studies focused on alluvial gold mining and few examined dredge boat mining, leading to an under-estimation of the overall impact of ASGM in some regions. The objective of the present study was to develop a methodology for assessing the socio-environmental costs of dredge boat mining in the Tapajós watershed. We developed a method linking the type of gold mining, type of pump, motor power required, time spent in exploration, and mercury use with the average socioeconomic cost. We identified 13 boats in the Tapajós basin in 2020 using satellite images. The total socioeconomic cost of dredge boat mining was US $6.4 million in 2020 (i.e., US $142,556 per kilogram of gold or US $588,887 per ferry). The estimated dredging impact cost may reach US $14.7 million for an optimistic scenario, which would reach US $443.9 million when considering accumulated impact over 30 years. These findings can contribute to a more accurate economic valuation of illegal dredge boat mining, providing valuable information for estimating compensation fines and planning law enforcement investments to prevent illegal ASGM.
Amazon, Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), Dredge boat gold mining, Economic valuation
Queiroz, Julia
d40053ef-d8ef-49b6-9fca-28803a2f4719
Gasparinetti, Pedro
88d2b967-598b-4d35-8114-dd56e16638b9
Bakker, Leonardo B.
e197d5d1-f839-4f6f-8e7c-9bf62f6c72ff
Lobo, Felipe
e8c24406-d7aa-4d62-8220-31b17eff81be
Nagel, Gustavo Willy
802314b0-95c5-4c78-b250-0778913c0d9b
7 December 2022
Queiroz, Julia
d40053ef-d8ef-49b6-9fca-28803a2f4719
Gasparinetti, Pedro
88d2b967-598b-4d35-8114-dd56e16638b9
Bakker, Leonardo B.
e197d5d1-f839-4f6f-8e7c-9bf62f6c72ff
Lobo, Felipe
e8c24406-d7aa-4d62-8220-31b17eff81be
Nagel, Gustavo Willy
802314b0-95c5-4c78-b250-0778913c0d9b
Queiroz, Julia, Gasparinetti, Pedro, Bakker, Leonardo B., Lobo, Felipe and Nagel, Gustavo Willy
(2022)
Socioeconomic cost of dredge boat gold mining in the Tapajós basin, eastern Amazon.
Resources Policy, 79, [103102].
(doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.103102).
Abstract
With the rapid expansion of artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in the Brazilian Amazon, an increasing number of studies have attempted to estimate the impacts and socio-environmental costs of ASGM using economic valuation methods. However, most studies focused on alluvial gold mining and few examined dredge boat mining, leading to an under-estimation of the overall impact of ASGM in some regions. The objective of the present study was to develop a methodology for assessing the socio-environmental costs of dredge boat mining in the Tapajós watershed. We developed a method linking the type of gold mining, type of pump, motor power required, time spent in exploration, and mercury use with the average socioeconomic cost. We identified 13 boats in the Tapajós basin in 2020 using satellite images. The total socioeconomic cost of dredge boat mining was US $6.4 million in 2020 (i.e., US $142,556 per kilogram of gold or US $588,887 per ferry). The estimated dredging impact cost may reach US $14.7 million for an optimistic scenario, which would reach US $443.9 million when considering accumulated impact over 30 years. These findings can contribute to a more accurate economic valuation of illegal dredge boat mining, providing valuable information for estimating compensation fines and planning law enforcement investments to prevent illegal ASGM.
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Socioeconomic cost of dredge boat gold mining in the Tapajós basin_final reviewed
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Accepted/In Press date: 27 October 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 10 November 2022
Published date: 7 December 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This research was funded by PORTICUS FOUNDATION, grant number “GR-070717”. Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF-Brasil) thanks to the Federal Public Prosecution and the Department of Expertise, Research, and Analysis of the Attorney General's Office for their partnership in carrying out this work, especially the Federal Attorney and Coordinator of the Amazon Task Force, Ana Carolina Haliuc Bragança, and the Supervisor of Expertise in Economics at the Federal Public Prosecution, José Jorge Júnior. We would like to thank Gustavo Geisel, the Federal Police expert, for the technical support.
Keywords:
Amazon, Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), Dredge boat gold mining, Economic valuation
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 474699
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/474699
ISSN: 0301-4207
PURE UUID: 9e6f99af-0de6-4fae-9112-6ce4a736e016
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Date deposited: 01 Mar 2023 18:00
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 23:52
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Contributors
Author:
Julia Queiroz
Author:
Pedro Gasparinetti
Author:
Leonardo B. Bakker
Author:
Felipe Lobo
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