Alliance for Responsible Mining, 2011
This document seeks to generate awareness and provide guidelines to policy makers and other interested stakeholders in the formalization of this sub-sector of the mining economy. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated in 1999 that ASM employed 13 million peoplei worldwide, making an important contribution to poverty alleviation in rural areas. Despite this positive contribution, the sector often brings a series of environmental and social problems to the areas in which it occurs.