The Extractive Industries and Society 3 (2016) 124–128

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

The Extractive Industries and Society

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/exis

Original article

“Golden reality” or the “reality of gold”: Artisanal mining and

socio-environmental conflict in Chinapintza, Ecuador
Luis Sánchez-Vázquez* , María Gabriela Espinosa-Quezada,
María Beatriz Eguiguren-Riofrío
Observatorio de Conflictos Socioambientales, Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, San Cayetano Alto s/n, 11-01-608, Ecuador

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Ecuador has long tradition of artisanal mining, mostly associated with environmental impacts and socio-
Received 22 July 2015 environmental conflict. This article analyses the case of Chinapintza district, located in the area bordering
Received in revised form 9 November 2015 Peru in the south east of the country. The miners in this area aim to obtain the “título minero” (mining
Available online 23 November 2015
claim) in order to regularize their situation to improve their conditions, and therefore reduce the social
and environmental problems associated with their occupation. In this context, the main objective of this
Keywords: study is to determine how the population perceives the different socio-environmental conflicts of the
Perception
Chinapintza area, and to characterize the difficulties encountered by artisanal miners in their efforts to
Socio-environmental conflicts
Artisanal gold mining
organize and regularize their activities according to new legislation. Our main findings confirm the need
Ecuador to redefine the legal framework for artisanal mining and promote training processes for the workers in
order to reduce socio-environmental conflicts.
ã 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction vapours (UNEP, 2013). In turn, the rudimentary techniques used in

Artisanal mining is an important source of livelihood for rural
communities worldwide, especially in developing countries. This
mining is characterised by rudimentary techniques that commonly
result in significant environmental degradation in the immediate
surroundings and poor socio-environmental conditions in the
human settlements where activities are carried out (Sippl, 2015;
Cuvelier et al., 2014; Saldarriaga-Isaza et al., 2013). However,
artisanal mining offers a direct, autonomous and rapid prospect of
earning income, and in view of the lack of job opportunities the
practice is being revived and even growing in certain areas
traditionally linked with this activity (Labonne, 2014).
The main resource extracted by artisanal miners is gold, which
can be readily sold, and a price that is relatively stable regardless of
instability of commodity markets or governments. Mercury is still
used to extract gold even though its misuse can pose serious health
hazards for miners. If it is not used with extreme care, resulting
contamination can directly affect miners and indirectly affect the
inhabitants of the area. Methylmercury can affect the nervous
system and its main route of exposure is by inhalation of the
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: luissanvaz@gmail.com, luissanchez@ugr.es
(L. Sánchez-Vázquez), mgespinosa@utpl.edu.ec (M.G. Espinosa-Quezada),
mbeguiguren@utpl.edu.ec (M.B. Eguiguren-Riofrío).
the artisanal mining may result in a high number of occupational
diseases, as well as many accidents caused by faulty machinery or
problems with land instability, such as rockfalls, landslides, or the
collapse of hillsides, tunnels or galleries (Hinton et al., 2003; Veiga
et al., 2014).
These types of accidents and health problems are observed
regularly in Chinapintza district, which is located in the Paquisha
canton in the Zamora-Chinchipe Province, in the south east of
Ecuador. In this part of the country, mining is a deeply-rooted
activity, and mainly carried out on an artisanal and small scale.
Along with other areas such as Ponce-Enríquez (Azuay), Zaruma-
Portovelo (El Oro) and Nambija, also in the province of Zamora
Chinchipe, Chinapintza is one of the most important areas for
artisanal gold mining in Ecuador (Sandoval, 2010).
There is reference made to the goldfields in Zamora-Chinchipe
as far back as the colonial and pre-colonial times, although it was
not until the 1980s that there was extensive growth in artisanal
mining, especially in Nambija (Ramírez Requelme et al., 2003).
Today, up to 48% of its land is used for mining concessions. Only in
the Podocarpus National Park have the river basins and the towns
been left untouched (Latorre, 2012).
For many years, the artisanal mining activities of Zamora have
been associated with socio-environmental conflict and human
rights issues, problems that are related to the informal and illegal
nature of the sector (Sandoval, 2010). Thus, conflicts have arisen for
different reasons: due to the locals' opposition to the mining;

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2015.11.004
2214-790X/ ã 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 L. Sánchez-Vázquez et al. / The Extractive Industries and Society 3 (2016) 124–128
between artisanal miners and mining entrepreneurs; and as a
result of the granting of big mining concessions to foreign
companies (Warnaars and Bebbington, 2014; Latorre, 2012).
Artisanal miners who were working in the neighbouring district
of Congüime first arrived in Chinapintza in 1978, in search of new
gold deposits. Upon arrival, these individuals exercised the so-
called “right of appropriation”, by settling in what they considered
to be wasteland. Others, such as the military, came to the area from
the 1980s onwards, eager to benefit from the gold mining
operations. The first concession was granted to military interests
in 1986 through the company set up for such purposes by retired
servicemen: Dirección de Industrias del Ejército-DINE (Condo-
minio Minero Chinapintza, 2014). At that time, the state had fewer
administrative requirements, which meant that it could grant
permits and sign contracts more rapidly (Sandoval, 2010). Later on,
different gold mining companies replaced the DINE as the holders
of the mining concessions in the area, namely, Ecuamining and
Ecuasaxxon, which would transfer the “título minero” (mining
claim) over to the current concession holder, ELIPE S.A.1
The artisanal miners of Chinapintza, aggrieved that their claim
had not been recognised, thought that the best way to fight for
their rights would be to organise themselves into associations. In
1991, under the Rodrigo Borja Government, a new mining law was
adopted called “Ley 126” (Law 126), pursuant to which a 25 ha area
of land was granted to the “Nangaritza” Mining Cooperative, the
first artisanal mining organization of the sector. The cooperative
was used as the basis for the artisanal miners of the Chinapintza
area to join forces and strengthen their demands, following the
steps of other cooperatives of artisanal miners in Ecuador, in the
districts of Ponce Enríquez and Nambija (Sandoval, 2010). This
process lasted more than two decades until they were legally
recognised in May 2008, following the establishment of the mining
cooperative “Condominio Minero Chinapintza” (Condominio
Minero Chinapintza, 2014). However, the requested concessions
were never granted to them.
When President Correa came to power in 2007 he initiated the
Mining Dialogue. This process consisted in multilateral working
groups held with different actors involved in mining, and was
rounded off with the approval of the Mining Law of 2009 (Latorre
2012). The intention to tighten up control on socio-environmental
matters, the state's interest in the distribution of benefits, and the
regularization of the artisanal and small-scale mining situation
were recognised by the different actors, although there were
concerns about the implications of this law in terms of attracting
foreign investment to develop large-scale projects2 (Latorre, 2012;
Warnaars and Bebbington, 2014). But in spite of the efforts of the
Ecuadorian state to regulate its artisanal and small-scale mining
situation through the Agencia de Regulación y Control Minero-
ARCOM (Mining Regulation and Control Agency), the majority of
activity continues to be informal in nature (Warnaars and
Bebbington, 2014).
The fact that the artisanal miners in Chinapintza operate
without legal concessions has given rise to the indiscriminate
growth of the activity. Today, mining operations with and without
1
A company belonging to Dynasty Metals and Mining, “a Canadian gold producer
and developer of resources in the South of Ecuador” according to the Ecuadorian
Canadian Chamber of Commerce 2015 http://www.ecucanchamber.org/ecucan/
index.php/directorio-2/item/elipe-s-a.
2
The pro-mining sector criticised the state of having a high share of the profits
(5% minimum of royalties, 70% of the windfall tax), which could frighten off foreign
investment that would opt for other more liberal countries of the region. In contrast
to this, the anti-mining sector saw many of the measures and the increase in the
control over socio-environmental matters to be contradictory to the main
regulations, which by declaring mining to be a public utility and granting it all
kinds of rights, favour an activity that is generally in the hands of transnational
private companies to the detriment of the collective rights (Latorre, 2012).
125
legal mining concessions coexist. Moreover, the authorities have
granted new concessions without analysing the existing demands
and rights. This has all produced a great controversy, which has
increased incidences of conflict in the sector and the scale of socio-
economic impact of its activities.
In this paper, we highlight the relevance of the socio-
environmental conflicts caused by legal grey-areas of the
regulatory framework. We also speculate on the potential for
managing these conflicts through improved governance of
artisanal mining and the training of operators on legal and
socio-environmental issues.
2. Artisanal mining, social movements and socio-
environmental conflict
Although it is true that artisanal mining does benefit the
economic livelihoods of communities, associated socio-environ-
mental problems can negatively affect the living conditions of mine
settlements (Hinton et al., 2003; Adler Miserendino et al., 2013;
Nyame and Grant, 2014). Insofar as analysing socio-environmental
conflicts in the context of political ecology, firstly it has to be taken
into account that this type of impact can turn into a conflict in line
with the prevailing social dynamics (Homer-Dixon, 1999; Ortiz-T.
et al., 2011). Therefore, to get a better grasp on the dynamics of
conflicts that surface in Chinapintza, certain aspects must be
considered, which fall under the label, the “political ecology of the
subsoil”, as popularised by Bebbington and Bury (2013).
The paper seeks to adopt a political ecology approach to analyse
social movements and organised associations (Peet and Watts,
2004; Robbins, 2004). Accordingly, the mining operations are an
essential element in the formation and articulation of identities,
especially when these processes subject the miners to working in
dangerous mining environments that contaminate the surround-
ing area (Peet and Watts, 2004; Bebbington and Bury, 2013). This
phenomenon is exacerbated when there is a public perception that
mining operations carried out by foreign entities receive the
majority of benefits and cause, unjustly, environmental impacts
and damages, which the locals in the mining area must deal with.
These dynamics are the ingredients of an “ecological-distributive
conflict”, according to Martínez-Alier (2004).
In Chinapintza, these processes are conditioning perceptions of
the socio-environmental conflict as shown hereinafter. But not all
conflict in the sector fits in with the scheme of unequal distribution
between costs and profits, because a lot of the impact in the area is
a result of artisanal miners, who consider themselves to be the
legitimate “owners” of the land. This paper, therefore, not only
analyses the ecological-distributive conflicts that arise in the area,
but also the socio-environmental conflicts or those with “environ-
mental content” (Folchi, 2001) that do not necessarily convey this
depicted imbalance between costs and profits of the mining
operations on the natural surroundings.
Different social movements have surfaced around the mining
activity with ambiguous character (Bebbington and Bury, 2013).
There are radical movements against large-scale projects, while
other groups are focused mostly on jobs, outsourcing and more
economic profit (Arellano-Yanguas, 2012). In the majority of cases,
local groups mobilise to maintain and improve their traditional
livelihoods without adopting a fixed position that is necessarily in
favour of or against the mining or a specific project.
As for the artisanal mining, the impact that the activity has on
the environment and public health has been studied in detail. But
in order to fully appreciate the associated conflict, the complexities
of measuring and monitoring the aforesaid impact must be
considered. In Ecuador, other factors must also be taken into
account such as the contamination of the transboundary water
with Peru; the management of hazardous-waste; and the different
126 L. Sánchez-Vázquez et al. / The Extractive Industries and Society 3 (2016) 124–128
conflicts concerning priorities, ambiguities and the tightening up
of the existing policies and regulatory framework (Adler-
Miserendinoet al., 2013).
The majority of international research carried out on the
impact of artisanal and small-scale mining generally focuses on
the technological challenges to eliminate the use of mercury
(Veiga et al., 2014; Balzino et al., 2015; García et al., 2015;
Saldarriaga-Isaza et al., 2015). Although there are certain
alternative mining methods that can be used on an artisanal
level to reduce these risks and impacts, these are not always
successful or effective due to different factors (Hinton et al., 2003;
Veiga et al., 2014).
Nevertheless, some studies stress the need to review and
redefine the legal framework concerning artisanal and small-scale
mining before actually establishing and implementing more
technical solutions (Tschakert and Singha 2007; Adler-Miser-
endino et al., 2013). In fact, the majority of activity in this sector is
informal, lacking the appropriate legal authorisation. The govern-
ment officials blame this situation on the miners' unwillingness to
comply with the requirements. However, very rarely do they think
that it might be because of the government's inability to reinforce
and implement this legislation, or whether this legislation can be
applied in practice (Hilson and Potter, 2005; Geenen, 2012; Van
Bockstael, 2014).
In view of this, certain studies emphasize the fact that more
effort has to be put into environmental educational programmes
and specific training on the legal framework that helps improve the
miners' skills and abilities (Geenen, 2012; Adler-Miserendino et al.,
2013; Veiga et al., 2014). In this paper, therefore, we aim to
highlight the potential to manage socio-environmental conflicts
through improved training of the miners and a review of the legal
framework.
A classic approach in conflict analysis is to focus on perceptions
of key actors (Rosenberg, 2003; Fischer, 2011), which is being used
increasingly in the study of socio-environmental conflicts. This is
related to the complexity of the environmental problems and
resulting conflicts, and therefore calls for new methodological
approaches to be adopted that deal with these conflicts and focus
on the “importance of the subjective perceptions and socially
constructed reality” (Pahl-Wostl, 2007, p. 561).
3. How conflict is perceived in Chinapintza: the impact on the
environment and the “mining title”
3.1. Methodology
The research draws on findings from semi-structured inter-
views conducted with miners, the aim of which was to survey the
opinion of Chinapintza residents on the conflict. Our findings
derive from interviews conducted during 2012 and 2013 among
the members of the mining associations of Chinapintza, which
form the mine cooperative, “Condominio Minero Chinapintza”. The
interviews focused on the process of obtaining a mining claim, and
how this could help to reduce the intensity of socio-environmental
conflict at different levels.
Another important point considered during the study was the
different skills that were promoted during the workshops carried
out by our research team. These targeted different social groups in
the area, including women, young people and children. This
helped to build more trust with the population, as well as obtain
relevant information by means of participant observation and
through a series of informal interviews held with workshop
participants.
Finally, a review of the documents from the archives of the
artisanal mining association, “Condominio Minero Chinapintza”,
was carried out.
3.2. Perception of the conflict: the “reality of gold” in Chinapintza
The obtained data reinforce the expected results; it is clear that
a high level of conflict is observed on a social, environmental and
work–related level among the inhabitants of Chinapintza. The
living conditions of the miners and their families are very
challenging, and most residents live in dwellings made of wood
and tin. The mountains are riddled with adits and holes, and the air
is full of dampness and toxic fumes, making the living conditions of
Chinapintza inhospitable at times. One of the miners interviewed
remarked that “this is not a golden reality”, which seems to line up
perfectly with reality.
The most important issue of concern for the miners is the
informality. Not possessing the regulatory mining title has
triggered permanent conflict with the resident mine concession
holders, which is considered to be the source of other conflicts. For
example, the informal miners pointed out that as they are not legal
they cannot buy machinery or get loans and are therefore
vulnerable to extortionate prices for fuel and explosives. They
want to regularize their operations, therefore, in a bid to improve
their quality of life and that of their families.
The inhabitants of the area believe that the immigration of
outsiders to Chinapintza has contributed to the increase in
delinquency, which they associate with the increase in prostitution
and the lack of safety on the streets, worsened by the fact that there
are no police checkpoints. These conditions are not directly related
to the informality of the miners but rather with the intrinsic
characteristics of the artisanal mining activities, as has been well
described by other authors (Hilson, 2009; Maconachie and Hilson,
2011; Hinton et al., 2003).
In the context of the environment, workers appeared aware that
their work exposes them to physical-chemical hazards. These
include the constant noise of the “crushers” in the houses. These
are machines that pulverise the rock to reduce large pieces into
smaller pieces. One of the miners interviewed stated that the noise
“distracts us, it makes us nervous and gives us headaches”.
The chemical risks are mainly related to handling cyanide and
mercury without respecting the safety standards. Another
environmental issue mentioned concerned the tunnels, which
have been excavated for mining activities near the homes of some
of the members of the community, cause surficial instability and
increase the likelihood of rockfalls and landslides. These concerns
are in line with the anti-mining claims in the region, as pointed out
in other studies (Sandoval, 2010; Latorre, 2012), which is
undoubtedly related to what happened in the 1980s and 1990s
in the neighbouring sector of Nambija. This mining district had the
title of “the world's most dangerous gold town” due to the high
incidences of violence and crime rates and the extreme environ-
mental pollution, making it “one of the most inhospitable places on
earth” (Pitta, 2015). On 9 May 1993, a large section of the mountain
above the mines collapsed, burying the settlement and killing
initially 60 people (The New York Times, 1993), although this figure
would reach at least 400. The definite number will probably never
be known, since there are no official records of the number of
people living or working in Nambija. The catastrophic events of this
day “represent one of the worst mining disasters ever” (Pitta,
2015).
For miners, there are two sides to their work. First, it is a source
of income and subsistence as there is a lack of jobs in the area. But it
is also a health risk for them and their families. The miners
emphasized the fact that as they work illegally they do not have the
adequate tools or equipment to guarantee health and safety
standards when carrying out artisanal mining underground. In all
likelihood, a lack of proper training and knowledge and their poor
economic conditions are the main reasons why they fail to invest in
safer procedures.
 L. Sánchez-Vázquez et al. / The Extractive Industries and Society 3 (2016) 124–128
There are other aspects, too, such as job instability; the lack of
social security; the lack of materials for processing; the danger of
unskilled workers handling explosives; and the risk of accidents.
3.3. The quest for legal recognition
The artisanal miners of Chinapintza believe that the conflict in
their settlement is highly conditioned by their legal situation,
unlike “the mining concession holders”, the groups that histori-
cally have occupied legalized mining concessions, from the
military to the successive corporate concession holders (currently
belonging to the Canadian company ELIPE S.A.). The miners of
Chinapintza have documentation that states that they were the
first settlers in the area in 1978. That means that they have been
mining for more than 30 years (Condominio Minero Chinapintza,
2014). They claim that there was an “invasion” of the Condominio
Minero Chinapintza by the concession holders. According to one of
the members of the association, “the State granted mining
concessions on our settlement”.
To support and reinforce their arguments, the miners also make
continual reference to the successive technical inspections carried
out in 2006 by the Regional Directorate of Mining of Zamora. Those
inspections discovered that the mining activities carried out by
ELIPE S.A lacked the necessary documentation, and therefore
operations were stopped and the concession holder punished with
a fine.3 When another inspection was conducted, the experts found
that the underground mining activities continued despite the
decision to cease operations and impose the fine. Furthermore, the
report highlights the environmental mismanagement in the area,
stating:
. . . there is rubbish everywhere, bits of hose, plastics, wood,
empty containers, scrap metal, etc. The fuel is leaking out of the
compressor and contaminating the land around it. There aren’t
any rubbish tips and the sterile material is dumped on the banks
of the Chinapintza Stream, no signs are observed in the mine
facilities and workers do not wear the right industrial safety
gear.4
The artisanal miners also claimed in interviews that the
corporate concession holder does not fulfil the environmental
and occupational health requirements demanded by the law. One
even went as far as to say that “the Government does not comply
with the Constitution or the Law, it grants the concession to
Canadian companies”.
Nevertheless, the main cause of conflict, according to the
artisanal miners interviewed, is still the regularization. As an
informal operator, it is often a struggle to improve one's economic
situation and working conditions because, as one explained, “we
can't work freely”. Of the moves made to facilitate regularization,
miners highlighted their efforts to consolidate themselves as a
group by setting up the artisanal mining cooperative, “Cooperativa
Minera Chinapintza”. They have also presented ideas for training to
the competent authorities; organised peaceful demonstrations;
and gotten in touch with public institutions in the country such as
the Provincial Government of Zamora, regional universities, and
the central government, through the Sub-secretary of Mines and
the Mining Regulation and Control Agency (ARCOM), in an effort to
solicit advice and assistance.
When asked about the process, some miners claim that the
struggle for legalization has helped them, in the words of one
3
Report written by the members of the Regional Directorate of Mining of Zamora,
on the 4th of October, 2006 for the Regional Director of Mining of Zamora.
4 Cuvelier, J., Vlassenroot, K., Olin, N., 2014. Resources, conflict and governance: a
Report from the Technical Inspection on the Jerusalén Mining Area Code 353, on
17 December 2007, carried out by the Expert from the Regional-Zamora Mining
Registry for the Regional Director of Mining of Zamora.
127
operator, “feel part of a group”, and that this struggle is essential to
achieve better living and working conditions.
4. Conclusion
The socio-environmental conflict in Chinapintza is seen to be
associated with the regularisation process of artisanal mining. The
artisanal miners interviewed view this matter as the chief cause of
the conflicts and risks they fact. In terms of the dangers they face,
which were commonly associated informality, the miners inter-
viewed highlighted a range of issues, including the unsafe handling
of explosives, cyanide and mercury, and the impact of on the
environment and the health of those involved in operations, as
well as the hazardous work practices.
The process involved in obtaining the mining title is a symbol of
the fight of those who settled in the area of Chinapintza in 1978,
and has become an element of social cohesion and the
strengthening of local identity. In Chinapintza, we have observed
that regularization has contributed to a strengthening of the
miners' movement, both in terms of formation and articulation of
identities, as well as facilitated an attainment of legal status.
However, the regularisation process continues, and has proved
to be a source of great frustration among the artisanal miners of the
area, which often leads to conflict. The miners interviewed believe
it is unfair that those who discovered the gold fields in the area
even “when it was wasteland” do not even have the necessary
permits to work the area legally, nor are provided with the
guidance to operate safely. This is what miners are fighting for:
their rights.
Although bringing informal artisanal mining activities into the
legal domain can be challenging (Maconachie and Hilson, 2011),
previous experiences in other Ecuadorian artisanal mining districts
such as Ponce Enríquez or Nambija, suggest that cooperatives play
an instrumental role in facilitating formalisation. In both of these
cases, regulation allowed for a greater leeway in the negotiation
process between the miners, the State and the mining companies
(Sandoval, 2010).
The findings reported in this paper highlight the need to
redefine the legal framework for artisanal and small-scale mining
in Ecuador in order to facilitate regularisation and promote more
effectively improved training and skills-training for operators.
References
Balzino, M., Seccatore, J., Marin, T., Tomi, G.D., Veiga, M.M., 2015. Gold losses and
mercury recovery in artisanal gold mining on the Madeira River, Brazil. J.
Cleaner Prod. 102, 370–377. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.05.012.
Subterranean Struggles: New Dynamics of Mining, Oil and Gas in Latin America. In:
Bebbington, A., Bury, J. (Eds.), University of Texas Press, Austin.
Condominio Minero Chinapintza (2014) Condominio Minero Chinapintza Archives
(1978–2014).
Ecuadorian Canadian Chamber of Commerce (2015). (accessed 15.07.15.).
Geenen, S., 2012. A dangerous bet: the challenges of formalizing artisanal mining in
the Democratic Republic of Congo. Resour. Policy 3, 322–330. doi:http://dx.doi.
org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2012.02.004.
Hilson, G., Potter, C., 2005. Structural adjustment and subsistence industry:
artisanal gold mining in Ghana. Dev. Change 1, 103–131.
Hilson, G., 2009. Small-scale mining, poverty and economic development in sub-
Saharan Africa: an overview. Resour. Policy 34 (1–2), 1–5.
Hinton, J.J., Veiga, M.M., Veiga, T.C., 2003. Clean artisanal gold mining: a utopian
approach? J. Cleaner Prod. 2, 99–115. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0959-6526
(02)00031-8.
Homer-Dixon, T., 1999. Environment, Scarcity and Violence. Princeton University
Press, Princeton.
Fischer, I., 2011. Several eyes for an eye: the impact of biased perceptions and noise
on conflict escalation patterns. Peace Conflict: J. Peace Psychol. 1.
?
Arellano-Yanguas, J., 2012. Minería sin fronteras? Conflicto y desarrollo en regiones
mineras del Perú. Instituto de Estudios Peruanos y Pontificia Universidad
Católica del Perú, Lima.
critical review. Extr. Ind. Soc. 2, 340–350. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
exis.2014.07.006.
128 L. Sánchez-Vázquez et al. / The Extractive Industries and Society 3 (2016) 124–128
Labonne, B., 2014. Who is afraid of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)? Extr.
Ind. Soc. 1 (2), 121–123. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2014.03.002.
Latorre, S., 2012. El movimiento ecologista popular anti-minero en el. Ecuador
Debate, Ecuador, pp. 87.
Maconachie, R., Hilson, G., 2011. Safeguarding livelihoods or exacerbating poverty?
Artisanal mining and formalization in West Africa. Nat. Resour. Forum 4, 293–
303.
Martínez-Alier, J., 2004. El ecologismo de los pobres. Conflictos ambientales y
lenguajes de valoración. Barcelona, Icaria.
Folchi, M., 2001. Conflictos de contenido ambiental y ecologismo de los pobres: no
siempre pobres, ni siempre ecologistas. Ecol. Política 22, 79–100.
Adler-Miserendino, R.A., Bridget, B.A., Adler, S.E., Guimarães, J.R.D., Lees, P.S.J.,
Niquen, W., Velasquez-López, P.C., Veiga, M.M., 2013. Challenges to measuring,
monitoring, and addressing the cumulative impacts of artisanal and small-scale
gold mining in Ecuador. Resour. Policy 4, 713–722. doi:http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.resourpol.2013.03.007.
Nyame, F.K., Grant, J.A., 2014. The political economy of transitory mining in Ghana:
understanding the trajectories, triumphs, and tribulations of artisanal and
small-scale operators. Extr. Ind. Soc. 1 (1), 75–85. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.exis.2014.01.006.
García, O., Veiga, M.M., Cordy, P., Suescún, O.E., Molina, J.M., Roeser, M., 2015.
Artisanal gold mining in Antioquia, Colombia: a successful case of mercury
reduction. J. Cleaner Prod. 90 (March (1)), 244–252. doi:http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.11.032.
Pablo, Ortiz-T., Terán, Juan Fernando, Zárate Díaz, Coralia, 2011. Mirar Los Conflictos
Socioambientales: Una Relectura de Conceptos, Metodos y Contextos. Quito,
Secretaría de Pueblos, Movimientos Sociales y Participación Ciudadana/Abya-
Yala.
Pahl-Wostl, C., 2007. The implications of complexity for integrated resources
management. Environ. Model. Software 22 (5), 561–569.
Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements, In: Peet, R.,
Watts, M. (Eds.), Second ed. Routledge, London.
Pitta, T., 2015. Catastrophe: A Guide to World’s Worst Industrial Disasters. Alpha
Editions, Athens.
Ramírez Requelme, M.E., Ramos, J.F.F., Angélica, R.S., Brabo, E.S., 2003. Assessment of
Hg-contamination in soils and stream sediments in the mineral district of
Nambija, Ecuadorian Amazon (example of an impacted area affected by
artisanal gold mining). Appl. Geochem. 18 (3), 371–381. doi:http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/S0883-2927(02)00088-4.
Robbins, P., 2004. Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction. Blackwell, Malden.
Rosenberg, M., 2003. Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Puddledancer
Press, Encinitas.
Saldarriaga-Isaza, A., Villegas-Palacio, C., Arango, S., 2013. The public good dilemma
of a non-renewable common resource: a look at the facts of artisanal gold
mining. Resour. Policy 224–232, 0301–4207. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
resourpol.2013.02.001 ISSN.
Saldarriaga-Isaza, A., Villegas-Palacio, C., Arango, S., 2015. Phasing out mercury
through collective action in artisanal gold mining: evidence from a framed field
experiment. Ecol. Econ. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.04.004.
Sandoval, F., 2010. Minería, minerales y desarrollo sustentable en el Ecuador.
Fundación Ambiente y Sociedad, Quito (coord.).
Sippl, K., 2015. Private and civil society governors of mercury pollution from
artisanal and small-scale gold mining: a network analytic approach. Extr. Ind.
Soc. 2 (2), 198–208. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2015.01.008.
The New York Times, 1993. Ecuador Landslide Buries Mining Site, Killing at Least 60.
May 11, 1993. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/11/world/ecuador-landslide-
buries-mining-site-killing-at-least-60.html (accessed 23.10.15.).
Tschakert, P., Singha, K., 2007. Contaminated identities: mercury and
marginalization in Ghana’s artisanal mining sector. Geoforum 6, 1304–1321.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2007.05.002.
UNEP (2013) Mercury, time to act. Nairobi, UNEP.
Van Bockstael, S., 2014. The persistence of informality: perspectives on the future of
artisanal mining in Liberia. Futures 62, 10–20. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
futures.2014.02.004 Part A.
Veiga, M.M., Angeloci-Santos, G., Meech, J.A., 2014. Review of barriers to reduce
mercury use in artisanal gold mining. Extr. Ind. Soc. 1 (2), 351–361. doi:http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2014.03.004.
Warnaars, X., Bebbington, A., 2014. Negotiable differences? Conflicts over mining
and development in South East Ecuador. In: Gilberthorpe, E., Hinson, G. (Eds.),
Natural Resource Extraction and Indigenous Livelihoods Development
Challenges in an Era of Globalization. Ashgate Publishing Limited, Farnham, pp.
109–128.