81310560-Projet pilote visant à quantifier et réduire l'usage de mercure dans les centres de traitement minier en Mauritanie

Description du marché

Mauritania's mining sector accounts for nearly a quarter of government revenues and attracts significant foreign direct investment. In the National Strategy for Accelerated Growth and Shared Prosperity (SCAPP2016-2030), the Government has chosen the extractive sector as one of the sectors with high growth and employment potential. As a result, the Ministry of Petroleum, Mines and Energy has adopted a sector strategy aimed at growing and diversifying the extractive sector, as well as better integrating it into the national economy. Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, GIZ and BGR (Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources) are jointly supporting MPEM in implementing this strategy. The GIZ, through the project "Développement Économique Intégré dans le secteur Minier (DEIM)" (Integrated Economic Development in the Mining Sector) is involved in two areas, namely "Promoting local added value/local content" and "Supporting the formalization and supervision of artisanal and small-scale mining". The action described in this technical note falls within the first area of intervention of the DEIM project. Artisanal gold mining emerged in Mauritania in 2016, and since then has undergone spectacular development. Activities were initially concentrated in the Inchiri Province in the west of the country, and since 2017 they have also spread to the far north of the country. The public authorities had to react quickly by putting in place a regulatory framework allowing access to this activity as well as its supervision. Since its inception, the industry has undergone significant change, with the introduction of new processes and equipment, resulting in very rapid and sometimes difficult-to-control development. The main environmental and social problems associated with the business are related to the impact of human activity on the immediate environment of extraction sites, the use of hazardous products (mainly mercury) and the risk of pollution posed by the discharge of processing waste. Faced with this situation, measures have been put in place to mitigate the negative impacts of the activity, in particular by grouping together the processing activities linked to gold EMAP in a smaller area (Chami processing center in the Dakhlet Nouadhibou Province and Zouerate processing center in the Tiris Zemmour Province) in order to enable a more efficient use of resources, better monitoring and management of risks, particularly environmental risks. Regulations organizing the profession, defining activity corridors and product marketing, and governing the conditions for granting small-scale mining permits have been adopted. In addition, as part of its action plan for the implementation of the 2017 National Sustainable Development Strategy, the Ministry of the Environment is planning a series of measures to reduce pollution and emissions from artisanal mining activities, as well as the implementation of a plan to reduce the use or elimination of mercury or other harmful products in accordance with the Minamata Convention ratified by Mauritania. It is within this framework that the MPME, through the General Directorate of Mines and the MAADEN Mauritania National Agency, has decided to take steps to introduce an alternative, mercury-free artisanal gold processing technique at the Chami and Zouerate processing centers. In February 2022, the DEIM project in direct cooperation with MAADEN Mauritania began preparatory work on site to carry out comparative tests to ensure the effectiveness of gravimetric treatment using borax (Benguet Method) in terms of yield, and the subsequent introduction of the mercury-free treatment pilot project at the Chami and Zouerate treatment centers. Within this framework, the DEIM project aims through this call for tender to recruit a firm that will be responsible for achieving two objectives: quantifying and reducing the impact of mercury in artisanal mining areas through a decontamination feasibility study and a mercury-free artisanal gold processing project.

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