Chapter 04 · People & supply chainsSupply Chain & Due Diligence
Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)
Definition
Mining carried out by individuals, groups, families or cooperatives with minimal or no mechanisation, frequently in the informal sector. No single common definition exists: countries variously classify ASM by production volume, workforce size, capital intensity, labour productivity or claim size. ILO-linked estimates put direct employment at around 13 million people (early-2000s figure, still widely cited), with the livelihoods of a further 80–100 million people affected.
References
Definition and definitional variation; ILO ~13 million direct / 80–100 million dependent estimates; poverty-driven character; environmental, health and governance problems; formalisation need.
Overview
What it means
ASM is widespread across Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America, producing a significant share of the world's gold, cobalt, tin, tantalum and gemstones. It is largely poverty-driven: for many communities it is the most promising or only income source.
Yet it carries severe costs — dangerous working conditions, child labour, mercury pollution from gold processing, deforestation and conflict with large-scale mining and indigenous land rights.
How it is used
ASM sits at the centre of responsible-sourcing regimes: the OECD Due Diligence Guidance includes a specific supplement for artisanal gold; formalisation programmes (legal recognition, cooperatives, fair-trade gold schemes such as Fairmined) aim to bring miners into legal, safer, better-paid production; and buyers conduct supply-chain due diligence on ASM-origin minerals.
Why it matters
ASM cannot simply be banned or wished away — it persists as long as poverty makes it necessary. The sustainability task is formalisation and improvement: protecting livelihoods while reducing environmental damage, child labour and links to conflict financing. Transition-mineral demand (cobalt, lithium) is sharpening the stakes.
Definitions and controversy
Employment estimates are dated and uncertain due to informality; definitional variation across countries complicates statistics and regulation.