EIA_Mining_program.pdf

LAC-EA-15-01

ENV/Mining Program

ENVIRONMENTAL

ASSESSMENT OF THE

ENV/MINING PROGRAM

Report for Subcontract No. BR-SUBK-FP-031

Ambiental Consultores y Cía. Ltda.

September 4, 2014

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. This document was prepared by (Ambiental Consultores y Cía Ltda.) for Chemonics International to complete the activities under Contract No AID-514-TO-11-00002.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ v

1. Introduction

2. Proposed Actions

2.1 Location of the ENV/Mining Program

2.2 Description of the activities proposed by ENV/Mining

3. Baseline

3.1 Legal Framework Applicable in Colombia for Informal Mining:

3.2 Institutional Framework Involved with ENV/Mining:

3.3 Gold Mining in Colombia

3.4 Impacts of Illegal Gold Mining in Colombia:

4. Environmental and Socioecomonic Characterization of the Area of Influence

5. Description of Alternatives

6. Environmental Impact Assessment

6.1 Geographic Assessment:

6.2 Comparative Analysis of the Alternatives:

6.3 Selection of the Suggested Alternative:

7. Management Plan

8. Environmental Assessment Team

9. References i

TABLES

Table 2-1 Municipalities where ENV/Mining Program activities will be carried out Table 3-1 Mining Definitions Table 6-1 Comparison of Alternatives Table 7-1. Program Location Proposed by Alternative C Table 7-2 Mitigation measures for rehabilitation/restoration of degraded alluvial-mined lands . 56

PHOTOGRAPHS

Photograph 1-1 A. mangium on severely degraded, nutrient-poor soils Photograph 2-1 Alluvial Gold Mining in the Lower Cauca Photograph 2-2 Alluvial Gold Mining in the Lower Cauca Photograph 2-3 Alluvial Gold Mining in the Lower Cauca Photograph 2-4 Pilot Project for the Recover of Areas Damaged by Mining Photograph 2-5. Plowing Furrows for Seedling Establishment Photograph 2-6 Plantation of Acacia mangium in the Bajo (Lower) Cauca Photograph 2-7 Plantation of Acacia mangium in the Rayo River, Tarazá

MAPS

Map 2.1 Departments in which the ENV/Mining activities will be carried out Map 2.2 Municipalities in which the ENV/Mining activities will be carried out Map 6.1. Lower Cauca Subregion Map 6.2. Lower Cauca Subregion Map 6.3. Northeastern Area and the Municipality of Buriticá Map 6.4. Northeastern Area of Antioquia and the Municipality of Buriticá Map 6.5. Upper, Middle, and Lower San Juan River Map 6.6. Upper, Middle, and Lower San Juan River Map 6.7. Middle and Upper Atrato River Subregion Map 6.8. Middle and Upper Atrato River Subregion

EXHIBITS

Exhibit 3.1. Gold Production in Colombia Exhibit 3.2. Gold Production in Colombia by Departments Exhibit 3.3. Mining Production Units Surveyed by Department Exhibit 3.4 Mercury Cycle Exhibit 3.5 Transformation of Mercury in Water ii

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1. Environmental and Socioeconomic Characterization of the Area of Influence.

ANNEX 2. Alternatives for Production Projects in the Department of Choco.

ANNEX 3. Interviews.

ANNEX 4. Scope Statement

ANNEX 5. LAC – IEE – 14 – 02

ANNEX 6. Maps ANNEX 7. Terms of Reference iii

ACRONYMS

ASGM – Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining

ANM - National Mining Agency

BEO - Bureau Environmental Officer

BIOREDD+ - USAID/Colombia’s Biodiversity Project, focus on Reducing Emissions from

Deforestation and Degradation

BMP – Best Management Practices

CDM – Clean Development Mechanism

CFR – Code of Federal Regulations

CODECHOCO – Colombian Environmental Agency for the Department of Chocó

CORANTIOQUIA - Colombian Environmental Agency for the Department of Antioquia

EA - Environmental Assessment

EMP - Environmental Management Plans

ENV/Mineria – USAID/Colombia’s BIOREDD+/Mining Project

NTFP - non-timber forest products

RIA - Reforestadora Integral de Antioquia S.A.

SIMCO - Colombian Mining Information System

UPM – Unidades de Production Minera (Mining Production Units)

USAID - United States Agency for International Development

WP - Work Plans iv

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Colombia is currently facing a major challenge with respect to the exploitation of its mineral resources. The country acknowledges the economic value and potential of its mining sector and is working to support an operative mining sector that will generate employment and wealth, without resulting in major negative impacts on the physical, biotic, and social environment.

Gold, one of the minerals with the greatest wealth generating potentials, is unfortunately embroiled in a complex situation of illegality and informality with enormous environmental and social consequences on the country. The failure to apply firm environmental practices and the prevalent use of mercury in gold mining has caused irreparable environmental damage on soils, the atmosphere, and water sources in Colombia, and has negatively impacted communities living in the mining regions. In addition, the failure to implement industrial safety and occupational health practices contributes to dangerous working conditions for miners. Furthermore, illegality and informality in mining promotes a culture of illegality and abandonment of environmental stewardship.

With the goal of collaborating with Colombia in the legalization and formalization of gold mining, the reduction in the use of mercury, and the rehabilitation of areas impacted by informal gold mining, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) created the ENV/Mining Program, whose execution requires evaluation through an Environmental Assessment (EA) to consider any potential, significant negative environmental impacts of the Program. This program will not promote or condemn mining. The program promotes legal Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM). Like this, this EA does not look at the environmental impacts of a mining operation as such. It focuses on the activities performed to achieve program goals. The actions undertaken as part of ENV/Mining are mitigation activities themselves: reduced use of mercury and recuperation of degraded areas by mining operations.

The EA is constructed around these activities.

As mentioned above, an EA of the ENV/Mining Program was carried out per the guidelines set forth in Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 216.3 (a) (4), identifying the significant issues related to the actions proposed by USAID/Colombia. These significant issues are evaluated through an analysis of three possible alternatives: (i) Alternative A, the “no action” alternative, is to not take any action; (ii) Alternative B would be to proceed with the proposed activities of the ENV/Mining Program and; (iii) Alternative C would be to proceed with the proposed activities of the ENV/Mining Program, but with a broader scope and some additional considerations.

The EA determined that the alternative that best responds to the significant issues identified, within the framework of the current budget and time allocated to the Program, is Alternative B:

proceeding with the proposed activities of the USAID/Colombia ENV/Mining Program. The implementation of the ENV/Mining Program will help mitigate significant negative impacts from unauthorized small-scale gold mining in the project area by reducing the use of mercury, formalization of mining activities, and restoration of lands damaged by informal gold mining.

The program targets ASGM operations that are or can become legal and its activities are mitigation actions themselves. Included in this EA is a management plan, presenting actions for mitigation, monitoring, training, and associated costs for these activities.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Colombia has been a mining territory dating back to before the Spanish Conquest. Indigenous peoples long exploited and adored minerals such as gold, followed by the Spanish conquistadors who later colonized these territories who extracted these minerals on a large scale, giving rise to the complex history of gold mining in Colombia. Following the Colonial era, Colombia continued to be a country with an extensive mining industry. This economic activity was carried out using traditional methods throughout many regions of the country and continues to be one of the only sources of income for entire communities. Mining currently poses major social, environmental, economic, and political challenges to Colombia. The country has significant mineral resources and aims for mining to be one of the five engines of the national economy.

Unfortunately, mining is carried out primarily in areas with little State presence or control. As such, many mining operations work in a clandestine manner in areas with insecure public order where excessive and uncontrolled amounts of chemicals such as cyanide and mercury (particularly in gold mining) are used and operations are carried out without regard of environmental and worker safeguards. This has led to many unfortunate, negative consequences on the country's natural resources and social fabric.

The BIOREDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to support Colombia's efforts in the sustainable natural resource management through the achievement of four main components: (i) strengthen environmental governance; (ii) improve climate change adaptation and mitigation; (iii) improve conservation of biodiversity and; (iv) reduce of the use of mercury in gold mining in the departments of Antioquia and Chocó recover areas degraded by gold mining, which constitutes the ENV/Mining Program. ENV/Mining Program intends to make an important contribution to improving the environmental and social performance of the country’s mining sector and is the subject of the current environmental assessment (EA).

The purpose of this EA is to: (i) analyze the potential environmental impacts (positive and negative) arising from the activities proposed by ENV/Mining to address environmental issues associated with informal ASGM in two geographic regions of Colombia: Antioquia and Chocó and; (ii) comply with USAID Environmental Regulation 22 CFR 216. The "need for action" of this activity is focused on how to improve an undesirable "existing condition" (synonymous with the baseline) of the informal gold mining sector, to a "desired future condition" that results in better environmental, social, and economic outcomes.

The proposed activities under the ENV/Mining Program are rooted in a goal to help ASGM operations that within the current legal framework could be legalized in selected geographies in Antioquia and Chocó, while becoming, more environmentally and socially sustainable, formalized, and entrepreneurially sound. The "desired future condition" of this action is aimed at the following areas: (i) reducing the use of mercury for the extraction of gold in specific areas of the departments of Antioquia and Chocó; and (ii) rehabilitating areas that have been affected by unregulated activities of alluvial gold mining.

This "desired future condition" will be attained by the ENV/Mining Program through a set of proposed activities in support of the ASGM sector:

• Support to mining rights legalization

• Formalize agreements with local, regional, and national government authorities

• Create alliances between informal miners and large formal mining companies

• Organize and strengthen small mining associations

• Support the preparation and approval of mine work plans (PTO: Plan de trabajo y obras) by the relevant authorities

• Support the preparation and approval Environmental Management Plans (EMP) by the relevant authorities

• Support enforcement of environmental, social, Industrial Safety and Occupational Health, and tax regulations by the State

• Promote gold mining technologies that reduce or eliminate mercury from the production cycle while maintaining or increasing gold recovery.

The "desired future condition" for lands negatively impacted by informal gold mining will be achieved through the following activities:

• Establishment of long-term (30 years) legally binding agreements between land owners, small miners associations and regional government for the establishment of commercial forestry plantations

• Re-contour lands degraded by informal and illegal gold mining

• Facilitate land use change from degraded areas by unauthorized mining operations

(pasivo ambiental1) to commercial forestry plantations

• Assist landowners to obtain forest use permits for plantations to authorize future harvest and generate income

• Support fast income generating activities like beekeeping to generate income for small miners while commercial plantations mature

• Support land titling in degraded areas, where feasible.

• Create a more favorable social, political, and physical environment to allow natural ecosystem functions and conserve biodiversity

• Support enforcement of environmental, social, Industrial Safety and Occupational Health, and tax regulations by the State.

Per the guidelines set forth in Title 22 of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 216.3 (a) (4), the USAID Bureau Environmental Officer (BEO) for Latin America and the Caribbean determined that the proposed action was likely to cause significant negative impacts on the environment and therefore issued a "Positive Determination", whereby an Environmental Assessment (EA) is required.

One of the main tasks of the EA process is to identify the significant environmental issues associated with the ENV/Mining Program proposed by USAID/Colombia. This identification or

1 Pasivo ambiental is defined as a degraded area by unauthorized mining activity where nobody is legally responsible for the environmental damage.

scoping process engaged representatives of the Colombian government, private institutions, USAID/Colombia staff, and contractors in preparation of the Scope Statement that included:

● Definition of the scope and importance of the problem areas to be analyzed in the EA, including potential direct and indirect effects and cumulative impacts of the Program on the environment

● Identification and elimination of non-significant issues from the EA

● Description of the EA preparation process and timeframe, variations required in the EA format, and a decision-making time-table

● Description of how the assessment will be conducted and what disciplines will participate therein.

The Scoping Statement and the EA satisfy USAID'S commitment to protect the social and biophysical environment from the potential negative impacts of its projects. The "Environmental Threshold Decision” LAC-IEE-14-02, issued on October 16, 2013 by the BEO for Latin America and the Caribbean stipulates a "Positive Determination".

The “positive determination” was issued for the following proposed Program activities:

● Reduction of the use of mercury by small informal mining organizations

● Rehabilitation work in areas affected by unauthorized mining activities.

Essential sections of the Scope Statement include:

● Significant issues: These are issues within the scope of the ENV/Mining Program and were considered highly important according to the Program objectives

● Non-significant issues: Although these issues are within the scope of the ENV/Mining Program, they are considered to have a low impact and can be analyzed in less depth

● Connected actions: These are actions associated with or ancillary to the main actions proposed by the ENV/Mining Program, which are noted but not subject to in-depth analysis

● Issues beyond the scope of the Program: These issues are directly linked to the illegal mining sector in which ENV/Mining Program will operate, but are considered to be outside the scope of Program objectives.

Summary of Scoping Statement Results

The following significant and non-significant issues arose directly as a result of stakeholder input obtained during formulation of the approved Scoping Statement.

Significant issues

Informality in the possession, use, and exploitation of lands subject to gold mining. The ENV/Mining Program is not meant to directly resolve the issue of formalization in the possession, use, and exploitation of the land per se. However, proposed actions to rehabilitate land degraded by unauthorized gold mining (pasivo ambiental) will have the effect of promoting legalization processes.

Informality in the process of acquiring, processing, and marketing gold. Informality in gold mining has caused and continues to cause serious impacts on the environment. The primary impacts from informality along the marketing chain for gold to be addressed by the ENV/Mining Program include: degradation and loss of soil; damage to water resources and biodiversity;

deforestation; failure to implement and uphold industrial safety and occupational health standards and; very poor organization of informal mining activity.

Use of mercury in the gold mining process. Reducing the use of mercury in selected geographies within the departments of Antioquia and Chocó is one of the main goals of the proposed ENV/Mining Program activities. By legalizing and formalizing ASGM activities and improving the technology used in gold extraction processes, the use of mercury is expected to decrease, thus reducing emissions and exposure from mercury gases, contamination of soils and water resources, negative impacts on biodiversity, and the health risks to workers, their families, and communities where gold mining is carried out.

Non-significant issues

Planting of Acacia mangium. Acacia mangium, an exotic, potentially invasive species, is a fundamental part of rehabilitation efforts of lands degraded by alluvial gold mining. A. mangium is an exotic, non-native species in Colombia, originally from Australia. The weighing of benefits and potential risks of its use in the ENV/Mining Program requires careful consideration and justification. The following references relate to A. mangium as a potential invasive species:

● “Cookies on Invasive Species Compendium” (http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/2325 ) Introduced A. mangium has been found to be associated with invasion events in Africa, Western Australia, American Samoa, Chuuk (Federated States of Micronesia), Sabah (Malaysia), and Bangladesh (Haysom and Murphy, 2003). It is also recorded as invasive in Brazil (Instituto Horus, 2011).

● “Global Invasive Species Database” http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=198&fr=1&sts=&lang=EN – and -http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/plants-fungi/acacia-mangium-brown-salwood)

- A. mangium is a fast-growing tree that produces many seeds. Used for forestry and ecological restoration, it was widely planted and cultivated in many Pacific islands. It has naturalized in many cases and it is a threat to indigenous flora. Acacia mangium is a major plantation species in the humid tropical lowlands of Asia. Its success is due to its extremely vigorous growth rate, tolerance of highly acidic, low nutrient soils, ability to grow reasonably well where competition is severe (for example Imperata grasslands), relative freedom from disease, wood properties that make it suitable for a wide range of uses, and ease of establishment in cultivation. Plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia are the resource base for a large pulp and paper industry. Other uses include fuel wood and timber for building furniture and particle board.

http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/2325 http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=198&fr=1&sts=&lang=EN%20%E2%80%93%20and%20-%20http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/plants-fungi/acacia-mangium-brown-salwood) http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=198&fr=1&sts=&lang=EN%20%E2%80%93%20and%20-%20http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/plants-fungi/acacia-mangium-brown-salwood)

● “Pacific Islands Ecosystems at Risk” (http://www.hear.org/pier/species/acacia_mangium.htm) Acacia mangium has a high risk to invade sites. Naturalized species in many places in the Pacific region and in the Caribbean region, including American Samoa, Hawaii, Palau, Singapore, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. From the “Global Compendium of Weeds” - it is considered a naturalized, environmental weed.

The planting of A. mangium is contemplated as part of the ENV/Mining Program to rehabilitate severely degraded lands as a result of alluvial gold mining. The planting of A. mangium is considered a non-significant issue for the following reasons:

• A. mangium has been widely planted in the Bajo Cauca region of Antioquia for more than 20 years; thus, it would not be newly introduced to the region under the ENV/Mining activity. During this time, it has not become a serious invasive species, threatening native trees as in other parts of the world. Where A. mangium is grown on a commercial scale in Southeast Asia, there is no evidence the species has become established in intact, native forests to the exclusion of native species.

● The Bajo Cauca region has climatic extremes that compound the already harsh physical and nutritional edaphic conditions of degraded alluvial mined lands. The region has an extended, annual dry season (approximately four months per year) and average annual temperatures are high (28° C). This combination of climatic variations and harsh soil conditions creates conditions too severe for native species. Field trials have demonstrated that on degraded sites (without clay or loam soil fractions), A. mangium is the only species able to thrive under such harsh conditions and in this sense is a “species of last resort” where other species, especially native hardwoods, have little chance of survival.

• As a fast growing, pioneer species, it has been observed in the field that A.

mangium trees create a closed canopy and mature very quickly, and thus serves as a “nurse crop” to improve site conditions favorable for the establishment of native vegetation, including native tree species, as seeds of native species are deposited by wind, birds and other animal beneath the Acacia canopy. Scoping Statement authors saw a mature stand of A. mangium in Bajo Cauca with a well-developed understory composed entirely of native hardwood species; i.e. no natural regeneration of A. mangium. Native species can compete well with A. mangium on better sites, conditions that are not present within degraded alluvial mined lands where this species will be used.

• Based on field observations where A. mangium has been planted on degraded mining sites, as stands of A. mangium mature, understory conditions will create favorable for local native trees and other vegetative species to become established, replicating the process observed on better sites where A. mangium has been planted.

• A. mangium will be very limited in its ability to move beyond degraded mined lands because the species requires exposed mineral soils to germinate. In the Bajo Cauca region, landscapes surrounding degraded mined lands are composed of three primary land http://www.hear.org/pier/species/acacia_mangium.htm uses: (1) pasture lands for cattle; (2) small to medium-sized stands of native hardwood species; and (3) tree plantations primarily composed of rubber trees. All three of these land uses maintain permanent vegetative cover and soil conditions that are unfavorable for germination of A. mangium seeds.

• Extreme seasonal droughts and nutrient poor soils are other conditions that will prohibit the spread of A. mangium by seed outside of the degraded mined areas where it is planted. Even on a degraded mining site, successful establishment of Acacia seedlings requires incorporation of organic matter and fertilizer in the planting hole to aid survival, a “jump start” that seeds deposited outside the degraded mining areas would not have.

• While virtually all potential sites where A. mangium might be used are degraded mining areas, some of which have been mined repeatedly and are therefore extremely damaged.

Nonetheless, soil quality varies and will be taken into account in restoration efforts on a case-by-case basis. For this reason, and to give the process of reintroducing native species a head start, at least ten percent of all trees planted will be native species, which will be planted on the more favorable micro-sites (better soils and more adequate moisture).

● RIA (Reforestadora Integral de Antioquia S.A., a primary ENV/Mining partner) has significant experience planting A. mangium in the Bajo Cauca region and has successfully rehabilitated degraded sites using A. mangium.

Photograph 1.1 - A. mangium on severely degraded, nutrient-poor soils typical of alluvial mined lands not apt for native hardwood species to germinate and survive

Connected actions are ancillary activities to the ENV/Mining Program that can generate additional environmental and socio-economic benefits. These include beekeeping that will be done in association with restoration and reforestation activities on areas damaged by unauthorized gold mining. Connected actions, such as beekeeping, have both an ecological and economic function with the potential to generate income for landowners and ASGM associations while commercial plantations grow to a harvestable age. It is expected that reforestation activities associated with restoration of degraded mined areas will create a significant number of local jobs both during the plantation establishment phase as well as in the medium and long term via plantation maintenance and harvesting trees during the plantation cycle. This will withdraw hand labor to small scale mining operations and will establish a more reliable source of income for community associations. Connected actions will be addressed in conjunction with the recommended alternative.

Issues beyond the scope of the Program

● High economic dependence in the intervention areas on mining

● Issues associated with acid mine drainage and heavy metals

● Influence of armed actors in the informal gold mining activity carried out in the areas of

Antioquia and Chocó.

Environmental Assessment framework

Once the Program's Scoping Statement was completed, submitted, and approved, the EA for the ENV/Mining Program was conducted, framed by the following factors:

• Five-year time horizon to evaluate the environmental impacts of the activities proposed by ENV/Mining Program

• Input from Program stakeholders in order to learn their points of view with regards to activities proposed by the ENV/Mining Program. In the course of conducting the EA, interviews were conducted with representatives of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, National Mining Agency, Codechocó, Antioquia Secretary of Mines, and Program implementing partners (mining associations, Reforestadora Integral de Antioquia - RIA, Gestión y Expansión Empresarial and Armónica, and private companies)

• Consider at least three alternatives

• Assess the three alternatives to determine how they address the significant issues identified in the Scoping Statement and identify a recommended alternative

• Create a Management Plan for the set of activities proposed, which includes mitigation measures, a monitoring plan, a training plan, and a draft budget for the execution of these activities.

2. PROPOSED ACTIONS

USAID/Colombia has created the ENV/Mining Program to transition an existing, unfavorable condition to a desired future condition, and in turn fulfill the specific objectives of raising the environmental, economic and social performance of the informal gold mining sector to one that is legal and formal and environmentally and socially sound. ENV/Mining focuses its efforts and resources on the implementation of two major components: (i) reduction of the use of mercury by the small-scale informal mining sector and; (ii) rehabilitation of areas damaged or degraded by unauthorized gold mining activities. It is important to clarify that while the ENV/Mining Program is focused on incorporating informal gold mining operations into the formal gold mining sector and mitigating the negative environmental impacts of current mining activities, the Program will purposely avoid supporting any actions that may inadvertently expand mining activities beyond current areas nor will the Program attempt to address all current issues relating to gold mining in Colombia.

It is important to note that the activities proposed under the Program’s two components are entirely mitigation driven and generate net positive environmental outcomes. In other words, each component in and of itself is comprised of a set mitigation measures designed to address serious on-going (e.g. indiscriminate use of mercury) and past (e.g. degraded mined out alluvial deposits) negative impacts to the environmental and human health. A detailed description will be provided of the actions proposed by the ENV/Mining Program, starting with the target regions where they are carried out. Later in this assessment, these activities are described in detail and the economic resources available for investment by the Program are discussed.

As small-scale gold mining represents a temporal land use, the Program aims to restore lands degraded by alluvial gold mining to more permanent productive uses. In broad terms, rehabilitation efforts include measures to stabilize soils, prevent ongoing contamination of water resources and return mined-out lands to agreed-upon post-closure uses. Restoration can impose significant costs with the use of heavy equipment to re-contour alluvial mined lands and may inadvertently cause additional impacts if not conducted correctly. For this reason, restoration efforts supported by the Program aim to follow Best Management Practices (Section 7) to re-establish, to the extent possible, the pre-mining topography and natural water courses and quickly reestablish vegetative cover that can jump start the longer-term process of fully restoring ecological and hydrological functions.

2.1 Location of the ENV/Mining Program

The actions of the ENV/Mining Program are to be carried out in 20 municipalities in the departments of Antioquia and Chocó (Table 2-1), providing support to public entities at all levels, mining associations, and small-scale mining production units to promote the legalization and formalization of gold mining, implementation of processes to improve the technical, economic, social and environmental performance of the activity, and to establish public-private agreements for the recovery of areas damaged by informal gold mining. USAID/Colombia selected two regions to carry out the ENV/Mining Program. These regions contain a high concentration of mining activities and have some of the highest levels of gold production in Colombia. Gold mining has the potential of producing some of the most severe environmental and social impacts, making these regions of great concern to Colombia. The ENV/Mining Program will only be carried out in areas not legally protected by the Colombian government, so it will not operate in National Parks, Forest Reserves covered by Law 2, Highland Complexes, or regionally and locally protected areas. Maps 2.1 and 2.2 show the geographic area where the ENV/Mining activities will be carried out.

Table 0-1 Municipalities where ENV/Mining Program activities will be carried out

Department Subregion Municipality

Antioquia

Northeast Remedios Segovia San Roque

Western Buriticá

Lower Cauca

Nechí Tarazá Caucasia El Bagre Cáceres Zaragoza

Chocó

Middle and Upper Atrato River

Bagadó El Carmen de Atrato Lloró Quibdó

Lower, Middle and Upper San Juan River

Condoto Cantón San Pablo Istmina Nóvita Sipí Tadó

Source: ACON- Member of INERCO Group

Map 0.1 Departments where ENV/Mining activities will be carried out

Map 0.2 Municipalities where ENV/Mining activities will be carried out

2.2 Description of the activities proposed by ENV/Mining Program

The primary two components of the ENV/Mining Program are: (i) reduce mercury usage by small-scale, informal gold mining associations; and (ii) rehabilitate select lands that have been significantly degraded as a result of past alluvial gold mining activities. It is important to reiterate that the ENV/Mining Program has been purposefully designed to mitigate some of the most adverse environmental and human health impacts associated with traditional small-scale, informal gold mining and result in net positive environmental outcomes. This EA is focused on the impacts the ENV/Mining program will have and not on the impacts of mining activities per-se.

• Reduction of the use of mercury by small-scale informal gold mining units. This component encompasses two main areas of work: (i) legalization and formalization of small-scale gold mining production associations and; (ii) improving technologies used by those associations.

o Legalization and formalization of small-scale informal gold mining production units.

This component provides support for small scale mining associations to work towards the legalization (per existing Colombian laws and regulations governing the sector) of their operations, which implies their operations have legal mining titles and/or rights Support to the formalization process involves conclusion of agreements between legal claim holders, landowners and mining operators. Both processes, legalization and formalization, require compliance with Colombian and environmental, mining, labor, and fiscal laws and regulations.

• Supporting the rehabilitation of degraded areas by unauthorized mining activities.

o The proposed activities for this component are aimed at working through public-private partnerships to establish commercial forest plots and/or forest plantations in areas that were degraded by gold mining, for which, due to the illegality of gold mining activities, it is not possible to link them legally to the person responsible for environmental liabilities generated on abandoned alluvial gold mined areas (pasivos ambiental). The proposed activities include improving the landscape intervened by mining, re-contouring degraded areas with heavy equipment to achieve an approximation of the original topography, establishing forest tree nurseries, planting a mixture of native and exotic trees, and providing related technical assistance/forestry extension services.

To apply for direct legalization of their operations or to legalize operations through the formalization process, traditional or informal gold miners will be required to submit a Work Program and an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to the appropriate government authorities. Under the guidance of the ENV/Mining Program, these documents will eliminate or significantly reduce the use of mercury in gold processing. The Program plans to reduce the use of mercury used to process gold from the current ratio of 7.5 g of mercury to obtain 1 g of gold.

2.2.1 Legalization and Formalization of Small-scale, Informal Mining Associations

• Strengthen and train small-scale gold mining associations in order for them to provide support to their members in matters relating to the Colombian legal framework in mining, environmental, Industrial Safety and Occupational Health, and tax issues. The associations will be strengthened through subcontracts with firms specializing in two areas: i) the design and application of comprehensive strategies for organizational expansion and development, personnel training, formalization and management, and in the preparation of productive projects. And ii) strategic analysis and project design, from defining internal policies and due diligence to continuous improvement in social and environmental management, legalization and formalization of mining associations and technical assistance in administrative planning, geology, mining, safety and occupational health in mining, and the prevention and mitigation of environmental impacts.

• Advise informal gold miners on the preparation of their Work Plans and EMPs required to legalize their activities per Decree 2715 / 2010. Expert consultants with extensive gold mining experience will carry out this activity.

• Analyze gold mining associations enrolled in the Program to determine the processes they must follow in order to legalize their operations. This analysis determines whether the legalization process should be carried out by public or private means as follows: Public means apply when the mining production unit is located in an area that does not overlap with any other mining title that has already been requested and awarded. If this is the case, the informal mining production unit must submit the Work Plan and EMP to the relevant authorities (ministry of mines, mining secretariat and regional environmental authority) to apply for a mining concession.

Private means are applicable when the mining production unit is located within the mining title of a third party (this is usually the case in Colombia, because most of the mining titles were granted to major national and international mining companies). In these cases, ENV/Mining recommends operating contracts between small operators and the major companies provided the small operators meet labor and tax obligations and comply with the Environmental Management Plans approved for the company’s operations. Under this model, the gold extracted by small operators will be processed by the companies under controlled conditions per the approved Environmental Management Plans and monitored by the competent Colombian environmental authorities.

ENV/Mining also recommends the transfer of areas as a mechanism of legalization and formalization. This method proposes reaching agreements with large companies to revert unused titled claims to the government to open areas that informal miners can apply for.

The ENV/Mining Program has identified companies such as Mineros S.A, Minatura S.A., and Gran Colombia Gold as companies in the areas of influence of the Program that may participate in this initiative.

• Strengthen the regulatory framework in the field of formalization in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Antioquia Secretary of Mines, and Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development. ENV/Mining will collaborate in the development of documents such as the Environmental Guide to Formalization, Regulations for Formalization Subcontracts, and Regulations for the Reversion of Mining Claims.

• Design and implement educational campaigns to promote the culture of legality in the regions where the ENV/Mining activities will be carried out.

2.2.2 Improved Technologies for Informal Small-scale Gold Mining

This area of work includes demonstration of the benefits of alternative non mercury technologies for gold recovery. Gold is now extracted by two different methods (alluvial or “placer” and ore or “hard rock” mining) in the regions where the ENV/Mining Program operates. The Program will only carry out technical activities in alluvial mining areas where non-mercury technologies will be demonstrated at a small-scale pilot center.

In alluvial mining, the gold is “loose”, so it can be separated from sediments and other minerals.

Mercury is currently used in this type of mining to trap fine and coarse gold, making it heavier and allowing better recovery. ENV/Mining has identified technologies such as gravimetric techniques, to obtain the same or improved recovery of gold without the need to use toxic, harmful mercury. These technologies include centrifugal concentrators, trommel screens, condensing tables, and mechanical pans. ENV/Mining plans to install small-scale pilot plants for the processing of alluvial gold with the above equipment that employ non-mercury/gravimetric technologies.

In hard rock mining, underground tunnels are excavated to extract the mineralized vein in which the gold is contained. In this type of mining, the gold may be loose, but it is mainly associated with sulfides. This natural condition requires the extraction of gold using more complex metallurgical techniques than in alluvial mining, involving physical chemical processes that use toxic chemicals, such as cyanide. ENV/Mining will not install pilot plants that use floating and cyanidation processes for the processing of gold ore in the subregions where it will be operating.

ENV/Mining will be limited to providing technical assistance only at the educational level on this method.

In addition to demonstrating non-mercury alternative technologies for the extraction of gold and resulting environmental and health benefits, ENV/Mining will also provide training in simple techniques to improve gold capture and thus reduce the amount of mercury used in the process.

These techniques include boulder screens, inclination control, progressive capture based on size, gate piling, and optimizing flow in proportion with width.

2.2.3 Recovery of Areas Damaged by Informal Mining

This component proposes implementation of pilot post-mining restoration activities in areas damaged and abandoned by informal gold mining by recontouring and reforestation. It is important to clarify that ENV/Mining will rehabilitate damaged areas that have been abandoned by informal mining operators, thus making it impossible to assign responsibility for mitigation of legacy environmental impacts and liabilities.

As noted above, and to be discussed in depth further on in the EA, one of the main impacts associated with alluvial mining is the loss and degradation of soils. In this placer mining, gold is recovered from alluvial plains along rivers and streams by digging and pumping sediments that are then sifted and washed to separate the soil, sand, and gravel mixture from the gold particles.

Once the ore is concentrated, mercury is added to amalgamate the gold as it adheres to the mercury. Finally, the gold is recovered by heating and vaporizing the mercury.

Due to the informality and lack of control by environmental authorities, this entire process is usually carried out without even minimum measures to mitigate environmental impacts or protect miners and others from the risks of handling mercury. Informal alluvial gold mining requires removal of all vegetation and scraping or washing off the soil horizons in order to access the mineral-rich sediment deposits underneath. Thus, the organic and mineral soil layers, which have taken thousands of years to form, are eroded and washed into rivers and streams. As an area is mined with heavy equipment and dredges, vast amounts of water are used to sift and wash gold-laden sediments that are then deposited haphazardly over the mining area. Done repeatedly, the original topography is almost entirely altered and abandoned areas are covered with coarse, infertile material devoid of most nutrients, clays, silts, and organic matter and are often contaminated with mercury. Irregular topographies, altered natural drainages, and infertile “soils” with very low water-holding capacity combine to create conditions that pose significant challenges to mitigating impacts and restoring the original landscape and productive capacity of a given site. Photographs 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3 illustrate the condition of the land before intervention and environmental rehabilitation by actions such as those proposed by the ENV/Mining Program.

Photograph 0-1 Alluvial Gold Mining in Lower Cauca

Photograph 0-2 Alluvial Gold Mining in Lower Cauca

Photograph 0-3 Alluvial Gold Mining in Lower Cauca

Experience by Reforestadora Integral de Antioquia S.A. (RIA) and others in Colombia and elsewhere have demonstrated how to restore such areas notwithstanding their highly degraded state. The ENV/Mining Program intends to expand and refine these restoration practices in collaboration with landowners mitigate and remedy the situation using planting commercial to allow reincorporation of degrades areas into productive uses. RIA is a public-private company that creates and manages forest resources through the production, manufacturing, and sale of wood and non-timber products, thus favoring its industrial development as a competitive company that generates added value based on parameters of efficiency, profitability, and quality2.

The process to recover degraded lands ("pasivos ambientales" in Spanish) requires an initial inventory to identify the target properties, based on a set of technical criteria, and to initiate contact with the landowner to confirm interest in the project. If the area is no longer commercially viable for future mining and the landowner agrees to participate with the ENV/Mining Program, the legal status of the property is then verified. Since most properties do not have publicly registered deeds, following a positive preliminary verification, the Program provides assistance to the landowner to legalize the property. Once the legal and other requirements of the Program are met, a reforestation contract is signed between RIA and the landowner for a 30-year term. This contract establishes the commitments of the both parties and profit-sharing arrangements for the sale of future timber. The landowner is responsible for recontouring the area to be reclaimed to approximate the original topography. RIA is responsible for the costs of planting, maintenance, and subsequent sale of the wood where the economic benefits are distributed 70% - 15 % - 15% between RIA, the landowner, and the association of small-scale producers enrolled in the process, respectively.

Once the contract is signed, the mounds and depressions remaining from mining operations are leveled and filled to reestablish, to the extent possible, the original topography and water channels. This is done using heavy machinery, thus making this operation one of the most expensive in the restoration process.

Photograph 0-4 Pilot Project for the Recover of Areas Damaged by Mining

2 www.Riaforestal.com http://www.riaforestal.com/

Photograph 0-5. Plowing Furrows for Seedling Establishment

Once recontouring is completed, the site is prepared for tree planting by making furrows in the coarse aggregate that covers the reshaped area. Pilot tests conducted by RIA and USAID in the Bajo Cauca region of Antioquia (Photograph 2-6) have shown Acacia mangium to be the best species for the precarious environmental conditions found on abandoned alluvial mined lands. In Program supported areas, planting will consist of 90% A. mangium and 10% native species such as abarco, tambor, caracolí, roble and samán, which will be planted on sites with relatively better edaphic conditions. Photographs 2-6 and 2-7 show partial results from this type of plantation design.

Photograph 0-6 Plantation of Acacia mangium in Bajo Cauca

Photograph 0-7 Plantation of Acacia mangium, Rio Rayo mine, Municipality of Tarazá

To generate income in the short term, the Program plans to introduce beekeeping as an ancillary economic activity to the commercial plantation. A. mangium produces excellent quality nectar that attracts bees, which makes the two activities compatible, generating income for landowners while plantations mature and reach the age of their first commercial thinning.

Under the current program cycle, the ENV/Mining Program has a budget of US$ 6.5 million and an initial duration of two years. However, the intention is to build mechanisms into the Program to ensure that most activities and associated mitigation measures will extend at least for five years. These mechanisms include the private cost- and benefit-sharing restoration and reforestation contracts, provision of legal and technical services by mining associations to their members, and monitoring Program and future activities by the appropriate levels of government of Colombia authorities who are also direct Program stakeholders. The environmental and mitigation management measures discussed in this EA were developed based on the requirements of USAID and include mitigation measures (Section 7), a monitoring timetable, training requirements, and the delegation of recommended responsibilities.

In essence, the main components of the ENV/Mining Program constitute a set of environmental mitigation and remedial measures. This extends to site restoration to remedy existing environmental liabilities where no responsible party can be legally identified, reducing future impacts on the environment and human health by decreasing or eliminating the use of mercury in gold mining, and strengthening small-scale mining associations to raise environmental awareness and provide legal and technical services to members in the future . The reduction or elimination of the use of mercury will have a long-term positive impact on soils, water and air resources, and biodiversity, which will have direct and indirect benefits to the communities living in these mining regions as well.

The ENV/Mining Program includes other measures that are part of the design and implementation of the Program to avoid or reduce environmental impacts from Program activities and build the capacity of national and local organizations to continue activities beyond the life of the Program. Further, as noted above, several “connected actions” are proposed to enhance socio-economic outcomes through generation of income from non-gold mining sources, including commercial tree plantations and beekeeping. The suite of measures and actions that are part and parcel of the ENV/Mining Program include:

• Strengthen the Colombian regulatory framework in relation to the formalization process.

o Strengthen mining associations to provide assistance to their members o Implement processes legalization and formalization of small-scale miners

• Coordinate at the national level with the Colombian Government (National Mining

Agency), Departmental level (Antioquia Secretary of Mines; CODECHOCO), and municipalities to implement the laws and regulations that regulate the sector at the local level.

o Provide support to the legalization and formalization process for small-scale miners o Formulate municipal action plans to reduce mercury use o Strengthen the capacities of the municipalities in mining areas provide technical, legal, and organizational assistance to miners associations o Application for Special Mining Reserve Areas (SRA) for mining communities.

• Improve communication and collaboration between the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of the…