The Extractive Industries and Society 3 (2016) 359–360
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Why does Canada export mercury to Cuba? Marcello Veiga* , Bruce Marshall Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history: Received 14 January 2016 Received in revised form 20 January 2016 Accepted 20 January 2016 Available online 6 February 2016
The Minamata Convention is an agreement signed by 128 countries in 2013 to reduce the global trade and production of mercury. However, only 20 countries have ratified the agreement, excluding Canada. Up until now, Environment Canada has only proposed regulations to prohibit the import and manufacture of all mercury-containing products unless these products are specifically excluded or exempted from the regulations. In comparison, the United States ratified the Convention in November, 2013, which completely stopped its mercury exports. In 2011, almost 100% of all mercury imported into Canada came from the US, whereas in 2014, nearly 100% was from Malaysia. In 2011, 118 tonnes or 95% of total mercury exports from Canada was shipped to Cuba, while in 2014 it had increased to 175 tonnes or 98% of the total. This situation raises certain questions: What does Cuba need metallic mercury for, when they do not have any artisanal gold mines? Are they re-exporting to other Latin American countries that do have artisanal gold mines? Why is Canada possibly operating as a middleman to export mercury, when it has already outlined the commitment to stop mercury trading? This issue should be part of the agenda of the new Liberal government in Ottawa, as the current situation clearly shows the need to swiftly ratify the Minamata Convention and begin implementing its recommendations, before evidence of mercury trading becomes an international embarrassment for Canada. ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Mercury exports Artisanal gold mining Minamata Convention Canada Supply chain
1. Introduction In January 2013, 140 countries agreed to sign a binding agreement with the UNEP—United Nations Environment Programme called the Minamata Convention, which has as its core mandate to “protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury”. This consists of establishing better controls on mercury trade, stop mercury mining production and introduce measures to control supply of this toxic element and its compounds. The main objective of the Convention is to reduce anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury to the environment, which will definitely bring important benefits to human health. The key target of the Convention is to have all mercury compounds banned from use and trade by 2020. To date 128 countries have signed the agreement, but only 20 countries have ratified it, committing to implementing legal measures to stop the trade of mercury (UNEP, 2016). An important target of the Convention is to limit the use of mercury currently used by approximately 16 million artisanal gold (AGM) miners in more than 70 developing countries. These miners
* Corresponding author. Fax: +1 6048225599. E-mail addresses:
[email protected],
[email protected] (M. Veiga). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.01.004 2214-790X/ ã 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
are the principal consumers of mercury, which is used to amalgamate gold in a primitive and haphazard way, polluting both themselves and the environment (Veiga et al., 2015). Unfortunately, poverty in rural regions around the world is still increasing and artisanal mining is a preferred way of living for those with no employment opportunities, especially when a gram of gold sells for US $38. AGM produces approximately 400 tonnes/ year of gold, which represents less than 12% of the total global production (Seccatore et al., 2014), but generates more than US $15 billion. AGM production currently uses and releases 1400 tonnes of mercury per year to the environment, representing the world's largest source of mercury pollution caused by human activities (Veiga et al., 2014). The Convention has made it more difficult for artisanal miners to access mercury internationally, as the price of mercury has increased from US $17/kg in March 2010 to US $74/kg in March 2015. At AGM sites, the price for mercury is as high as US $350/kg, as observed in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. 2. Mercury in Canada On November 6, 2013, the United States signed and ratified the Minamata Convention. The Canadian Government signed the agreement on October 10, 2013; however, it has still not ratified it
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(ECCC, 2013). In May 2015, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC, 2015) stated that Canada has reduced mercury (atmospheric) emissions by 90%, stressing that 95% of mercury deposition on Canadian soil comes from foreign sources. It is also clear from statements made by the Canadian Government that its principal concern is to protect the Arctic people and biota from mercury pollution. Canada no longer produces metallic mercury, as Pinchi Lake Mine in British Columbia was officially closed in 2012. This mine operated from 1940 to 1944 and then again from 1968 to 1975, producing nearly 4000 tonnes of metallic mercury for different uses (Donald, 2015). Between 2005 and 2010, some mercury trade has still been observed as a result of recycled mercury mainly from fluorescent lamps and electric switches, and as by-products from a few mines. According to the data from UN COMTRADE (United Nations International Trade Statistics Database), Canada exported 4.2 tonnes of mercury in 2010. Curiously, Canada increased its exports of metallic mercury to Cuba from 117 tonnes (95% of total exports) in 2011 to 178 tonnes (98% of total exports) in 2014. This information is confirmed by the UN COMTRADE and Industry Canada databases, which indicate that mercury exports in 2014 were valued at approximately CDN $1.8 million. As Canada is not producing mercury, this massive amount of metallic mercury came mainly from the US (99.9% of total mercury imports) in 2011 and Malaysia (98.7% of total) in 2014, likely originally from China and India, which exported to Malaysia 327 and 172 tonnes in 2012, respectively. Although Canada has historically not been a major importer or exporter of mercury, these data show that significant trade has occurred in recent years. The ECCC (2014) recognizes the problem and states that “this increase in mercury trade may be the result of mercury being brokered through Canada instead of the United States following the United States Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008, which entered into effect in January 2013.” Furthermore, as mentioned above, the US ratified the Minamata Convention in November, 2013, while Canada has yet to do so. Up until now, Environment Canada has only proposed regulations to prohibit the import and manufacture of all mercury-containing products unless these products are specifically excluded or exempted (usually with a mercury concentration limit) from the regulations. These regulations will not target the import of mercury directly, but are expected to reduce the need to import mercury and products containing mercury, once the final regulations take effect (ECCC, 2014). With 178 tonnes exported in 2014, Canada became the world’s second largest exporter of mercury after Mexico (with almost 300 tonnes). The UN COMTRADE does not report the use of mercury in Cuba and no re-exports are listed. In other words, the fate of mercury in Cuba is unknown. Cuba does operate an old 7000 tonnes/year chlorine-producing plant, which still uses mercury electrolytic cells. If one considers that this plant releases approximately 1 g Hg/tonne of chlorine/year (EuroChlor, 2013), which is high, then it consumes 7 kg of mercury annually. In fact, the Cuban Government started refurbishing this plant in 2015 to become a diaphragm (mercury-free) plant (Juventud Rebelde, 2015). Therefore, the unanswered questions that remain are: what
does Cuba need metallic mercury for, when they do not have any artisanal gold mines? Are they re-exporting to other Latin American countries that do have artisanal gold mines? Why is Canada potentially operating as a middleman to export mercury, when they signed the Minamata Convention in 2013 and since then have outlined the commitment to stop mercury trading? This issue should be part of the agenda of the new Liberal government in Ottawa, as the current situation clearly shows the need to swiftly ratify the Minamata Convention and begin implementing its recommendations, before evidence of mercury trading becomes an international embarrassment for Canada. 3. Concluding remarks What will be the fate of 16 million artisanal gold miners worldwide, who still depend on mercury for their livelihoods? The only means by which this group of unprivileged miners will be able to progress to the legal side of the mining industry is through education. Currently, the Department of Mining Engineering at UBC in Vancouver is committed to implementing training centers for artisanal miners in Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Guyana and Indonesia, where the miners and members of their communities can learn about mercury-free gold ore processing techniques, as well as many other subjects associated with running a small mining business, such as accounting, tailings management, environmental reclamation, mine design, ore processing methods, use of explosives, mine safety, ventilation, environmental and health issues, food security for their communities, local economic diversification, and social issues. References Donald, B., (2015). Decommissioning and Remediation of the Pinchi Lake Mine. Minerals Education Program, Roundup 2015, Vancouver, BC. http://www. mineralsed.ca/i/pdf/Bruce_Donald_RU_2015_PinchiLake_Presentation.pdf. (accessed 11.01.2016). ECCC – Environment and Climate Change Canada, (2013). Canada Signs Global Treaty to Reduce Mercury Emissions. http://ec.gc.ca/default.asp? lang=En&n=976258C6-1&news=D4952BBC-2A91-479E-966A-D62B12E01F85. (accessed 11.01.2016). ECCC – Environment and Climate Change Canada, (2014). Consultation Document on the Proposal to Control the Trade of Mercury. https://ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/ default.asp?lang=En&n=2928F002-1&printfullpage=true#TOClink. (accessed 11.01.2016). ECCC – Environment and Climate Change Canada, (2015). Minamata Convention on Mercury. http://ec.gc.ca/international/default.asp?lang=En&n=5C03713D-1. (accessed 11.01.2016). EuroChlor, (2013). The Mercury Cell Process. http://www.eurochlor.org/thechlorine-universe/how-is-chlorine-produced/the-mercury-cell-process.aspx. (accessed 11.01.2016). Juventud Rebelde, (2015). Progresa ejecución de planta villaclareña de cloro. http:// www.juventudrebelde.cu/cuba/2015-09-11/progresa-ejecucion-de-plantavillaclarena-de-cloro/. (accessed 11.01.2016). Seccatore, J., Veiga, M.M., Origliasso, C., Marin, T., Tomi, G., 2014. An estimation of the artisanal small-scale production of gold in the World. Sci. Total Environ. 496, 662–667. UNEP, (2016). Minamata Convention on Mercury. http://www.mercuryconvention. org/. (accessed 11.01.2016). Veiga, M.M., Angeloci-Santos, G., Meech, J.A., 2014. Review of barriers to reduce mercury use in artisanal gold mining. Extr. Ind. Soc. J. 1 (2), 351–361. Veiga, M.M., Angeloci-Santos, G., Ñiquen, W., Saccatore, J., 2015. Reducing mercury pollution by training Peruvian Artisanal Gold Miners. J. Cleaner Prod. 94.
