Mercury Emissions from Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM), Primary Iron and Steel Production, and Techniques for Countermeasures

Abstract

Throughout the world, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) accounts for the most dominant mercury emissions and in particular, it occupies from about 70% - and even up to 80% - of the total emissions from South America and Sub-Saharan Africa, respectively. Although no ASGM is being operated in Japan, emissions from iron and steel industries are higher than that from non-ferrous metal productions. Close adherence to the Minamata Convention on Mercury is therefore of great significance, as is developing countermeasure technologies in such sectors among the ratifying countries. In this paper, we introduce literature review summaries on mercury emissions from the various sectors and discuss some of the related countermeasure techniques.