Can large-scale technology raise small-miner income and reduce mercury? Prospects for female waste-rock collectors selling ore to non-mercury processing plants.
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| Title: | Can large-scale technology raise small-miner income and reduce mercury? Prospects for female waste-rock collectors selling ore to non-mercury processing plants. |
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| Authors: | Tobin, Danny1 (AUTHOR) daniel.tobin@duke.edu, Pfaff, Alexander2 (AUTHOR), Monroy, Dayron3 (AUTHOR), Salgado-Almeida, Bryan4 (AUTHOR), Kiefer, Adam M.5 (AUTHOR), Garces, Daniel6 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Environment & Development Economics. Apr2026, Vol. 31 Issue 23, p210-235. 26p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Gold mining, *Economic impact, *Mercury poisoning, *Mines & mineral resources, Women employees, Ecuadorians |
| Geographic Terms: | Ecuador |
| Abstract: | Artisanal-and-small-scale gold mining supports millions of livelihoods in the Global South but is the largest anthropogenic source of mercury emissions. Many initiatives promote mercury-free technologies that small miners could employ. Few document mercury impacts. We study an alternative: instead of processing themselves, small miners sell their ore to plants employing larger-scale, mercury-free technologies that also raise gold yields. Some ore-selling occurs without policy intervention, yet impacts on incomes and mercury use remain unclear. We assess ore-selling preferences of female waste-rock collectors (jancheras) in Ecuador, using a discrete-choice experiment. Results demonstrate that jancheras generally are open to ore-selling, yet often reject options similar to a recent pilot intervention. Offers that address formalization hurdles (invoicing), inabilities to meet quantity minima (given limits upon association, storage, and credit), and constraints on trust (including in plants' ore testing) could increase adoption by tailoring related interventions to the preferences of and challenges for defined populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Environment & Development Economics is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | GreenFILE |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: 8gh DbLabel: GreenFILE An: 194751374 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Can large-scale technology raise small-miner income and reduce mercury? Prospects for female waste-rock collectors selling ore to non-mercury processing plants. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tobin%2C+Danny%22">Tobin, Danny</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> daniel.tobin@duke.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pfaff%2C+Alexander%22">Pfaff, Alexander</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Monroy%2C+Dayron%22">Monroy, Dayron</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Salgado-Almeida%2C+Bryan%22">Salgado-Almeida, Bryan</searchLink><relatesTo>4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kiefer%2C+Adam+M%2E%22">Kiefer, Adam M.</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Garces%2C+Daniel%22">Garces, Daniel</searchLink><relatesTo>6</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Environment+%26+Development+Economics%22">Environment & Development Economics</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 31 Issue 23, p210-235. 26p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gold+mining%22">Gold mining</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Economic+impact%22">Economic impact</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mercury+poisoning%22">Mercury poisoning</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mines+%26+mineral+resources%22">Mines & mineral resources</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Women+employees%22">Women employees</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ecuadorians%22">Ecuadorians</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ecuador%22">Ecuador</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Artisanal-and-small-scale gold mining supports millions of livelihoods in the Global South but is the largest anthropogenic source of mercury emissions. Many initiatives promote mercury-free technologies that small miners could employ. Few document mercury impacts. We study an alternative: instead of processing themselves, small miners sell their ore to plants employing larger-scale, mercury-free technologies that also raise gold yields. Some ore-selling occurs without policy intervention, yet impacts on incomes and mercury use remain unclear. We assess ore-selling preferences of female waste-rock collectors (jancheras) in Ecuador, using a discrete-choice experiment. Results demonstrate that jancheras generally are open to ore-selling, yet often reject options similar to a recent pilot intervention. Offers that address formalization hurdles (invoicing), inabilities to meet quantity minima (given limits upon association, storage, and credit), and constraints on trust (including in plants' ore testing) could increase adoption by tailoring related interventions to the preferences of and challenges for defined populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Environment & Development Economics is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1017/S1355770X2510017X Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 26 StartPage: 210 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Gold mining Type: general – SubjectFull: Economic impact Type: general – SubjectFull: Mercury poisoning Type: general – SubjectFull: Mines & mineral resources Type: general – SubjectFull: Women employees Type: general – SubjectFull: Ecuadorians Type: general – SubjectFull: Ecuador Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Can large-scale technology raise small-miner income and reduce mercury? Prospects for female waste-rock collectors selling ore to non-mercury processing plants. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Tobin, Danny – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Pfaff, Alexander – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Monroy, Dayron – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Salgado-Almeida, Bryan – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Kiefer, Adam M. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Garces, Daniel IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 04 Text: Apr2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 1355770X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 31 – Type: issue Value: 23 Titles: – TitleFull: Environment & Development Economics Type: main |
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