Goal
Contribute to a better understanding of illicit supply chains and the ability to detect, disrupt, and disable them through an examination and comparison of key convergence nodes in the global supply chains for illicit gold and mercury in Latin America and Africa.
THe Context
Gold and mercury supply chains are often intertwined, with this often contributing to an increased used of mercury by artisanal gold miners. Artisanal miners are often advanced money by traders to cover their basic needs while mining for gold, and they pay this debt back with a percentage of the gold they find. Faced with the pressure of having to meet their debt obligations to traders, many artisanal miners use mercury in their mining as it is often the quickest, cheapest, most efficient, and most readily available option. This option often also happens to be provided by the same traders buying their gold.
Identifying networks and convergence points of illicit supply chains, or the intersections among methods, materials, routes, locations, and actors, may provide greater insights into how systems enable illicit networks and how those networks may be impacted by potential disruptions or interventions. Dismantling these enabling factors at regional or global levels may have a larger impact on combating the use of gold, mercury, and other commodities to further organized crime, terrorist organizations, and armed groups.
What We Are Doing
The project involves an examination and comparison of key convergence nodes in the global supply chains for illicit gold and mercury in Latin America and Africa.
Research will advance knowledge of the illicit gold and mercury supply chains in Peru and Kenya, the international destinations of this gold, and the origins of the mercury entering the countries. It seeks to fill a knowledge gap raised in recent research coordinated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): the co-dependency between the mercury and gold supply chains. This research project is being led by the Colorado School of Mines, in collaboration with I.R. Consilium and IMPACT.
Research includes:
- mapping the routes of gold from inland sites to major export hubs and the routes of mercury from major import hubs to inland mining sites
- major convergence nodes, or collection points, transshipment hubs, and actors through which the illicit mercury and gold supply chains flow and intersect
Project Stories
Analysis Commentary
The Kenyan Connection: Shedding Light on a Global Hub in the Trade of Illicit Gold and Mercury
In 2020, just before COVID-19 shut down many of the world’s borders, an IMPACT researcher had a front row seat to an illegal gold deal in Nairobi. On the table […]
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Analysis Commentary
What is the Role of Women in Gold Smuggling?
In recent years, more attention has been placed on understanding the barriers and opportunities women face in the artisanal gold mining sector. However, there is a noticeable knowledge gap when […]
Read More for What is the Role of Women in Gold Smuggling?