ASM Policy Component

An ASM Policy Component has the role to promote a favourable public policy towards ASM and to act as a facilitator for the creation of adequate regulatory framework conditions for the development of formal and responsible ASM.

This component will support the Mongolian Government in its efforts to regulate the ASM sector and convert the sector into an active part of the formal national economy. Experiences in other countries, among other within another SDC supported project in Peru, have proven that ASM has the potential to develop towards local and formal small enterprises.

To pass the Government’s current draft for a minerals law amendment on artisanal mining in Parliament was the first and most decisive step, which gave ASM its “birth certificate”. A series of challenges lies ahead, especially when it comes to regulate the different ASM relevant legal matters beyond land and mining rights, such as social, health, environmental, fiscal issues, etc.

Within the ASM Policy component, SAM shall play a facilitation role for an enabling legal and regulatory framework, bringing at macro level artisanal miners and international experiences to the table, and demonstrating the feasibility of legal responsible ASM at micro through successful interventions.

The Community Mining Component

has the role to build capacity in local ASM communities for carrying out safe, environmentally and socially responsible, and economically rewarding mining within their territory and to empower local artisanal miners to organize and formalize their operations for that purpose.

Work at partnership level, as carried out during Phase 2, is a starting point. Formal miners’ organizations in permanent or seasonal ASM communities need to be in place to take the lead in community development and professionalization of the mining operations through increased safety, environmental performance, and improved technology. Depending on the legal framework, improved technical and business skills may then lead to the spin-off of ASM cooperatives or companies, as legal entities fully qualified to obtain mineral rights.

Within the community-mining component, SAM shall work closely with artisanal miners, supporting their efforts to acquire the technical, organizational, and social skills to carry out responsible ASM within the Mongolian legal framework. Project implementations in ASM sites shall demonstrate best practice contributing to visible local development and serve as strong arguments for further improvements of an enabling legal framework at macro level.