Artisanal and small-scale mining in Honduras: fostering responsible practices and supply chains

Side event

The Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) and IIED are hosting an event at the 15th OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains exploring the potential and challenges of artisanal and small-scale mining in Honduras.
 

3pm GMT (9am COT)
Online, via Zoom
20 April 2022
Man smiling broadly holds up to the camera a fragment of gold between his thumb and finger

Minas y Cuevas is a Honduran community mining cooperative and a pioneer in implementing more responsible mining practices. It brings together seven community organisations that extract gold in an area formerly occupied by a large-scale mine (Photo: Alliance for Responsible Mining)

Despite its actual and potential contributions to local sustainable development, Honduras’ artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) remains largely unrecognised and lacking in support.

Since the start of 2020 the 'Honduras: land of shining gold' project has been working to support the implementation of the European Union Regulation on Conflict Minerals by fostering responsible mining practices and the creation of supply chains for two ASM communities in this conflict-affected Central American country.

The event will feature two 30-minute question-and-answer panel discussions. The first 30 minutes will focus on national experiences and perspectives from two miners and a government official. The second 30-minute segment will focus on market and international experiences of working in Honduras.

This session will share perspectives and lessons learned from miners, Honduran government officials and companies to shed light on the country’s ASM potential and its key challenges, at a time of major political change. It will be held as a side event during the 15th OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains

This event is hosted by the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) and IIED, and English and Spanish simultaneous interpretation will be available.

Information on this event is also available in Spanish/información sobre el evento en español.

About the speakers

  • Sandra Pineda, administrator, Minas y Cuevas, an ASM association in Macuelizo, Honduras 
  • Sergio Romero, president, Asociación de Mineros de Colón, an ASM association located on the country’s Caribbean coast 
  • A representative from INGHEOMIN (Instituto Hondureño de Geología y Minas), the Honduran mining authority
  • Georg Steiner, chief executive officer, Heimerle + Meule, a German refiner working in Honduras for several years
  • Géraud Brunel, manager Central America and Guianas, Alliance for Responsible Mining

The session will be moderated by Gabriela Flores Zavala, senior associate at IIED. 

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Contact

Gabriela Flores Zavala (gabriela.flores@iied.org), IIED senior associate